zipcar

When a major oil company predicts that the era of gas-powered cars is coming to an end soon, the rest of us might want pay attention. According to BP, you've got maybe 18 years left before your car is obsolete -- and probably a lot less than that.

Active Groupon users now have a way to sweeten their relationships with the daily deals leader -- but it's going to cost them. Groupon is rolling out Groupon VIP, a program where deal chasers pay $29.99 a year for enhanced benefits on the site.

Car sharing is sweeping the nation as companies cash in on the largely immobile nature of automobiles. Whether it's through a company-owned fleet or by encouraging neighbors to let each other borrow their wheels, it has never been easier to get by without a car.

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

When traditional financial advice doesn't fit your situation, get creative and save money by ignoring conventional wisdom. Here are five savings strategies that may seem counterintuitive -- until you add up the dramatic results.

News items to watch next week include Groupon's long-awaited IPO, the release of Take-Two Interactive's Grand Theft Auto V, Dunkin' Brands second-ever quarterly report, and more from car rental companies to satellite radio.

After 18 months of letting potential buyers kick its tires, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group announced that it's no longer for sale. This is bad news for Hertz, which seemed to be the last bidder standing after Avis Budget dropped out. The operators' loss is naturally the consumers' gain, and trends look ominous for this industry going forward.

Asset sharing has become a popular theme on Wall Street. There was no shortage of demand when HomeAway and Zipcar went public, and a second-wave of companies, led by airbnb, is currently attracting considerable interest from venture capital firms. Plus, private airplane firm NetJets is owned by a certain oracular billionaire's holding company.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has grand plans to cut through the partisan noise and remind our country's politicians of their problem-solving duties: On Tuesday, he's hosting a gigantic, public telephone town hall, and asking all "concerned Americans" to join his movement and participate.

Plenty of big names are set to report their earnings in August, including the country's largest cable and satellite television providers, several of China's leading dot-coms, radio giant Sirius XM, car rental companies Zipcar and Avis, and the two biggest video game developers.