Blog Posts by Rebecca Stropoli

Green Mountain (GMCR) and Starbucks (SBUX) are both taking a gulp of the iced fruit drink market today in what is apt timing during a summer already marked by sweltering heat waves.

Green Mountain has unveiled two new cold drinks designed for its Keurig coffee brewers, including its first-ever iced fruit drink, Vitamin Burst. At the same time, Starbucks is debuting its Refreshers line; these beverages combine green coffee extract with fruit juice.  The promo push for this new drink includes a 12 oz. Friday the 13th freebie at stores across the country.

Green Mountain stock wasn't energized by its icy announcement; in fact, in midday trade, shares were down more than 6 percent. This follows yesterday's slide of around 4 percent, in which GMCR slipped below its 50- and 200-day moving averages. In a stock that is down about 50 percent year to date, 75 percent since this time last year and 80 percent from its all-time high, you could say today's slip sticks with the recent trend.

But the

As oil has dropped about 30 percent from its February high of $109.77 — crude prices hit eight-month lows of under $80 a barrel this week — consumers have found themselves walking away from the gas pumps with fuller wallets. Since the April high of $3.99 a gallon, average gas prices in the U.S. have slipped to $3.47; this is down from around $3.70 at this time last year. (Brent crude, considered the international benchmark, is down to $90 a barrel from a 2012 high of $128.)

Why have prices fallen so much? There are many factors to consider, but the basic formula is fairly simple: Decreased demand plus increased output equals a drop in value. Demand has abated amid mounting fears of a global economic slowdown (Europe and China and jobs, oh my), while global output has increased as Middle East tensions have eased and U.S. production has soared.

Saudi Arabia is pumping out more oil, Libya is exporting again and there is no longer an immediate concern that Iran will be closing

Starbucks (SBUX) is spending a bit of bread to get into the bakery business: The coffee giant plans to lay out $100 million in cash to purchase San-Francisco-based Bay Bread and its La Boulange brand. This is the largest acquisition Starbucks has made yet (its purchase of Seattle Coffee Co. for $81 million in stock previously held this title), and it speaks to CEO Howard Schultz's desire to better-satisfy hungry customers.

The company referenced customer demand for "more wholesome and delicious food options" when it announced the deal on June 4, and it seems the La Boulange menu -- which, along with organic breads, includes everything from warm goat cheese salads to flank steak sandwiches to mac 'n' cheese with truffle oil -- might help achieve such a goal.

Food sales at Starbucks have already jumped in the past couple of years, and its culinary offerings bring in about $1.5 billion of its annual U.S. revenue; its current menu varies by region (food is shipped in by local

Ah, was it just a week ago today that the world was waiting in wide-eyed anticipation for Facebook (FB) to begin trading on the Nasdaq? Yes, waiting...and waiting...and waiting, as 11:00 a.m. ET came and went and trading did not commence? And thus began the debacle that has been Facebook's initial public offering -- botched trades, lawsuits and market losses, oh, my.

Again -- has it really been only a week? This afternoon, as we head toward market close before a long holiday weekend, the stock is trading at $31 and change -- close to $7 below its offering price of $38. In its first week as a public company, it has traded in a range of $30.94-$45 (and that $45 was a very brief pop on its first day out of the gate, when it closed just 23 cents above $38).

But does the typical Facebook user care about the IPO? Does it matter to them if the company has a $100 billion valuation or a $10 billion one? If it continues to trade on the Nasdaq or moves over to the NYSE (as if that would solve any

The Federal Trade Commission has spoken and Skechers USA (SKX) owes $40 million in the latest example of bad behavior in advertising. It turns out that slipping on Skechers $100 Shape-ups shoes will not give you a Kim Kardashian-like body; the reality star appeared in ads to tout the product the company claimed would help you get trim and tone up, due to its specially curved bottom (the kind of bottom the shoes won't help you get).

If you bought a pair of the shoes -- or of Skechers Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-up shoes -- you can go here to file for a refund, which most of the settlement will go toward paying out. It remains to be seen how much you might get, as it depends on how many dissatisfied customers file. A separate settlement involving 44 states and D.C. will pay out $5 million.

In a statement, the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection Director David Vladeck said Skechers' advertising assertions "went beyond stronger and more toned muscles. The company even made

Do you remember the days of the three-martini lunch (or as Jimmy Carter put it, the "the $50 martini lunch")? Or a time when a lunch hour could actually take -- an hour? Or even the standard half an hour?

Perhaps not. In a society that is increasingly work-obsessed and overly "connected," the lunch break, for many, is not a "break" at all, but a sandwich or salad hastily consumed at our desks as we continue on with our workday. Last year, a survey by human resources consulting firm Right Management found that "one-third of employees have lunch at their desk each day" and "another one-third takes no lunch, or only occasionally."

"Lunch patterns allow us to infer a few things about the North American workplace…and one thing that we already know is that the pressure for productivity and performance can be relentless," said Michael Haid, senior VP of talent management at Right Management, in a release on the study.

Many Workers Take No Break

Another recent study by CareerBuilder found