The 2010 IPO scene has sure been interesting. A stock market riddled with volatility, heavy selling action and fears of a double-dip recession doesn’t sound much like a favorable climate for initial public offerings. But don’t tell that to the 171 companies that have filed to go public with IPOs in 2010.

Rumors abound that Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) plans to make an offer to acquire Skype in an effort to short-circuit Skype's planned IPO. Ebay, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) sold 70% of Skype to a group of private investors led by Silver Lake Partners in November 2009 after the auction site couldn't figure out a way to make money with the VoIP service.

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) made a huge splash with its line of Via Ready Brew java, which tallied $100 million in sales after only 10 months on the market. The Via packets have been a big hit due to portability, a relatively low price tag of $1 a drink -- and of course, a Starbucks quality flavor.

There is a ton of dirt happening in the world of M&A right now. There are many deals to watch and many deals that "may be" items to watch. Some are confirmed, some are pending, and some are merely speculated.

When big-time investor Carl Icahn makes a big move, everybody notices. Since the beginning of the year, Icahn has increased his stake in Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) by nearly 50 million shares, some 22.7 million of which he acquired within the last couple of months.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and its 787 Dreamliner are more than three years behind schedule and has cost the company billions in penalties paid to customers due to the delays. The company's latest plan had called for the first Dreamliner to be delivered early in the first quarter of 2011. Now Boeing says the delivery will not happen until the middle of the first quarter.

In an idea that may go over only too well with the airline industry, more consumers say they want a “families-only” section on flights, according to a new poll by travel and fare-comparison website Skyscanner.

You have to wonder if Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is starting to get nostalgic for last decade. 2000 was just a better year for Microsoft than 2010. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is now the world's most valuable technology company, Windows 2000 and its immediate successor Windows XP still have a larger install base than either the Windows 7 operating system, and the Pocket PC 2000, the original Windows Phone released in the April of 2000, is an all but forgotten footnote in the smartphone pantheon.

With existing and new home sales down dramatically this week, you’d expect homebuilder stocks such as Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), KB Home (NYSE: KBH), Pulte Group (NYSE: PHM), as well as stocks in building materials makers and home improvement retailers, to see similar declines. You’d be wrong.

Wendy’s/Arby’s Group (NYSE: WEN) is taking the Wendy’s restaurant slogan “Quality is Our Recipe” to a new level – this time, with all-natural French fries in test markets. And interestingly, the new recipe comes at a time when Wendy’s French fries are already popular. A recent Zagat survey ranked Wendy’s fries fourth best, behind McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), Five Guys and In-N-Out Burger.

The housing market in general was hit right in the face this week with two abysmally weak reports on sales. New home sales dropped -12.4% in July while existing sales dropped a massive -27%. Just like with last summer's cash-for-clunkers auto rebate program, much of the slowdown is payback for the extra sales activity seen during the government's homebuyer tax credit.

For what it is worth, platinum is about to flip negative for the year, palladium is up 18%, while gold and silver are holding up -- having risen about 11.8% and 6.7%, respectively.

Apple TV has proved to be the black sheep at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) as one of the few recent duds amid otherwise dynamic and successful multimedia devices. Since its release in 2007, Apple TV has been largely ignored even as digital and on-demand television has become the preferred TV viewing method.

GameStop (NYSE: GME) opened a new retail outlet in Palo Alto, California yesterday that company brass is calling the "store of the future." That’s good timing for GameStop, since the video game retail stock is in dire need of something positive in its future.

Higher fares and higher fees may soon greet U.S. airline customers, as some industry experts cautiously predict increases in demand that could slowly recover from the last two years of economic turmoil.