Verizon Wireless

Given the sluggish recovery and a strapped consumer, you'd expect to see corporate America trudging along, not racing for glory. In fact, the Fortune 500 are thriving as a group.

Shoppers often leap at opportunities to snatch up bargains or freebies. And companies are banking on that impulse in light of Leap Day, which comes but once every four years. Here's a handful of the leap year promotions you'll find today.

Once upon a time, Amazon.com loved moms. Its free "Amazon Mom" service offered the same free two-day shipping as Amazon Prime, plus heaps of extra benefits for anyone who thought to ask for them (even dads and cousins.) But no more: Mothers' day is over at Amazon.

There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially now that the market is hitting multiyear highs. Let's go over some of the news that will help shape the week that lies ahead.

It is unusual for a stock's price to double in a year, but several well-known companies' shares have done it recently. The more important question for investors is: Which stock could be next? 24/7 Wall St. offer their list of S&P 500 companies whose stocks could double in 2012.

When it comes to how they treat their customers, some companies follow Santa-like policies. Others are more like the Grinch. But which is which? Consumer Reports offers the skinny on how a number of high-profile businesses behave with its Naughty & Nice Holiday List. Here's a rundown:

Too many of us aren't being smart with our smartphone data consumption, and the results are clear: Clogged wireless broadband networks, dropped connections, rising prices, and worst of all, expensive data bills. But Onavo wants to help us cut, compress, and otherwise tame our wireless use -- and it won't hurt a bit.

Apple shares are trading near their all-time high of $422.86, but most analysts expect them to go much higher. Forty-six analysts tracked by Thomson/First Call have a median price target of $500 -- an approximately 20% rise -- and the most optimistic among them forecasts the stock will hit $666 -- about 60% higher than it trades now.

This may have been a holiday-shortened trading week, but there were plenty of financial nuggets that kept stocks moving. Let's go over some of the news from Netflix, Verizon, Immucor and more that shaped this abridged week in the markets.

Major cellular carriers will soon begin to carry emergency text alerts for the U.S. government in the event of major disasters, turning the mobile devices of 250 million people into emergency alert devices.