C affeine lovers visited Starbucks Corp. SBUX-Q more often – and spent more money when they did – during its first quarter, the world’s largest coffee chain said Wednesday, more than tripling its profit. The Seattle company that made grande and venti household words earned $241.5-million (U.S.), or 32 cents per share, for the three months that ended in late December.

E Bay Inc. EBAY-Q beat Wall Street profit estimates in its holiday quarter, helped by double-digit revenue growth in PayPal and its main online marketplaces unit, and forecast 2010 results above expectations.

H usky Energy Inc. HST-T and BP PLC BP-N are ready to proceed with their $2.5-billion Sunrise oil sands project, the partners said Wednesday, after cutting costs for the development by more than $1-billion.

Fidelity Investments President Rodger Lawson is retiring at the end of March after two-and-a-half years reorganizing a company that’s now on better financial footing, but also about 9,000 employees smaller than when he arrived. Fidelity on Wednesday announced the 63-year-old’s plans to step down from the No. 2 post at the nation’s largest mutual fund company, which manages $1.2 trillion in fund assets.

Citi never sleeps, according to Citigroup’s advertising slogan. But for all us taxpayers who bailed out the lumbering banking giant, it probably would be best if Citigroup just went to sleep and never woke up.

Strong support systems — along with a mentoring culture and time management training — are just a couple of the factors that keep life insurance producers’ feet planted at one company, according to a report from LIMRA International Inc. In a new study released by the research group, 64% of 1,200 surveyed life insurance producers indicated that they are very likely to stay for the next three years. Meanwhile, 17% of the surveyed producers said that they are either somewhat or very likely to head out the door in that time frame.

In another sign that the commercial property market may have bottomed out, the Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index showed a 1% gain in November. The broad measure of commercial prices had been trending down, losing 44% over the two years from its peak in October 2007.