Dollars and Sense

Employee theft and shoplifting will cost retailers nearly $9 billion this holiday season, and unfortunately it's the upstanding consumer who pays for that loss in the end.

Retailers are competing hard to get inside your wallet this holiday season, and as a result, there are big savings to be found in checkout lines all across the country. We know a few ways you can take advantage of this.

On Wednesday, the Powerball lottery reached a record $587.5 million. So far two winning tickets have been announced, one in Arizona and one in Missouri. But there's at least one more guaranteed winner: the Internal Revenue Service. Lottery winners can take their prize in the form of a lump sum or an annuity paid over the next 29 years...

The median net worth of working-class Americans is now lingering at a 43-year low of $57,000.

Lawmakers in Texas are exploring affordable-education options for people under the financial hammer of the nation’s exploding tuition rates. The most controversial option is a bachelor’s degree for $10,000, which would cover tuition costs and textbooks.

For those holiday shoppers wanting a second chance at the deals they might have missed over Thanksgiving weekend, Cyber Monday awaits. And while there may be a bit less hand-to-hand combat involved, industry experts say that Cyber Monday is great for bargains—as long as you know where to look.

If you are still trying to figure out where to get the best deal on this year’s Thanksgiving dinner, industry analysts say that Target, not Walmart, is your best bet for coming in under $50.

If you still need a list to check twice this holiday season, perhaps a good place to start would be the recently released annual Consumer Reports “Naughty and Nice” list.

While some fanatical Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers are already at the gates waiting to assault the holiday-shopping season with their fearsome craving for stuff, some retail analysts say the gates are actually open now and the race is already in progress. Thom Blischok, chief retail strategist for Booz and Company says, “Cyber Monday has begun, essentially. No question about it.” Read Mor

Good news for college students: the job market is starting to look a little brighter, with 5 percent more employment opportunities predicted for new college graduates this year, according to a recent survey conducted by the Michigan State University’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute.