McDonald's Corp. is expanding a program that ditches frozen patties in favor of fresh beef, making another break with decades of fast-food practices in a bid to revitalize the chain. Fresh beef is now being used in some sandwiches in more than 75 restaurants in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area, McDonald's said in a statement, extending trials that began in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, where the company is preparing fresh beef in 55 locations.

Americans increasingly would rather spend their money making memories - travel, sporting events, concerts, meals out - than on another outfit, retail consultants say. So, after years of choosing the speed and wide selection offered by big-box retailers such as Home Depot or online merchants like Amazon.com, customers are demanding higher engagement if they're going to buy something in a store.

Cotton, the most widely used natural fiber, is considered the world's dirtiest crop because of its heavy use of pesticides - its cultivation accounts for 17.5 percent of global insecticide sales. So in recent years, several apparel and home-goods companies, including Eileen Fisher, Patagonia, and Nike, have used organic cotton, grown by farmers who eschew pesticides and enrich their soil with compost. That's good for the environment but raises another big problem: Organic cotton is too expensive for average shoppers.

America's 23 million small businesses should represent a giant market for big companies, particularly as small businesses leave the Great Recession in the rear-view mirror and look to invest in new equipment. One problem: Main Street doesn't seem to like large corporations much.

A shortage of skilled manufacturing labor is on the way, says a new study by Boston Consulting Group. But, says the firm, it hasn't arrived yet.

In 2001, Jim O'Neill kicked off a decade-long investment boom with a catchy acronym for the four largest emerging-market economies - BRIC, for Brazil, Russia, India and China. The Goldman Sachs Asset Management chairman is now promoting a new foursome of fast-track countries: Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey. Call them MIST countries.

China's retailers, already struggling because of an economic slowdown, got another jolt of bad news when Wal-Mart Stores announced recently it had finally received Chinese government approval for a proposal to buy a majority stake in Yihaodian, a Shanghai company that is a leader in the country's booming online retail industry.