For entrepreneur Steve Sodell, the Super Bowl started in late October. That's when he and his staff of 12 began renting retail space in shopping malls and hotels across the Phoenix metro area—stuffing shelves with NFL-licensed T-shirts, hats, and other collectibles emblazoned with this year's Super Bowl XLII logo. By the day of the big game on Feb. 3, his makeshift merchandise empire will comprise 24 stores and 42 employees. Ten days later, business shuts down and Sodell starts planning for next year's Super Bowl in Tampa. "We have a very short window of opportunity to make our money," he says.

The race for Super Bowl profits is on. While the New England Patriots attempt to become the first team in the National Football League to reach a perfect 19-0 record, businesses across the country are banking on this game to be a bigger economic driver than any single sporting event in history.

Some records have already been set: The cost of a 30-second commercial during Fox's broadcast, $2.7 million, is the highest ever. So is the price tailgaters will pay to get inside University of Phoenix Stadium, between $700 and $900. But the cavalcade of businesses and entrepreneurs that have come to surround the Super Bowl—from snackmakers and electronics retailers to the bookies in Vegas and the hotel operators in Phoenix—are gearing up and holding onto hope that consumers will put aside concerns of a tightening economy and indulge in this Super Sunday with extravagant parties, big-ticket purchases, and

Gold prices continued to skyrocket Thursday on the falling U.S. dollar, supply concerns and high world-wide demand.

At the market's close Thursday, gold for April delivery traded at $928 an ounce, up from the previous record close on the New York Mercantile Exchange of $926.30 set Wednesday.

Gold for April delivery is currently trading at the highest volume at the exchange. February contracts for gold - the nearest traded contracts - settled at $922.70 an ounce, and March contracts closed at $925.70.

The commodity soared Wednesday as the Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate for the second time in just over a week. Lower interest rates stimulate the economy, but they can also weaken the dollar. With inflation on the rise amid a slumping stock market, many investors have turned to gold as a safety net, sending the price of gold soaring.

"We have seen a lot of momentum trading recently," said Jon Nadler, an analyst with Kitco. "There was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction after the Fed."

Gold futures have risen more than 42% since August. In early January, they surpassed the previous all-time high of $847 an ounce - a record that dated back 28 years.

As inflation and resulting demand for gold drives the price of the precious metal higher, supply concerns

Question: What should I do if my employer doesn't offer a 401(k)? I feel like I took a pay cut when I accepted my job since I am losing a significant benefit. I already do an IRA, but would like to do more. --S. R., Fort Lee, New Jersey

Answer: I don't know whether you effectively took a salary cut in moving to your new job. After all, it's possible that you also gained some benefits or perks that your previous employer didn't provide.

But I can say that not having access to a 401(k) will make it more challenging for you to save for retirement.

So the question is: How do you respond to that challenge and stay on track toward a secure retirement?

Roth vs. traditional IRA

You don't say whether you're doing a regular deductible IRA or a Roth IRA, but I think you should at least consider the Roth for several reasons. One is that you've already put money into a tax-deferred retirement account (the 401(k) at your old job) that will be taxed at ordinary income rates when you withdraw at retirement. Adding a Roth IRA, which offers the prospect of tax-free withdrawals, will allow you to hedge your tax exposure in retirement.

What's more, the fact that Congress set the same contribution limits for both regular and Roth IRAs effectively allows you to put away more money on a tax-advantaged basis by doing a Roth. That ability

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc.'s earnings and revenue growth decelerated more than analysts anticipated during the fourth quarter, magnifying worries that the Internet search leader's moneymaking machine is bogging down as the U.S. economy teeters on the brink of recession.

The quarterly results released Thursday spooked already jittery investors, causing Google's slumping stock price to plunge another 7 percent.

Google earned $1.21 billion, or $3.79 per share, during the final three months of 2007. That's up 17 percent from net income of $1.03 billion, or $3.29 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

It's the first time Google's profit Google's quarterly profit has climbed by less than 25 percent since the Mountain View-based company went public nearly 3 1/2 years ago.

If not for stock awards given to its employees, Google said it would have made $4.43 per share -- a penny below the average estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Chief Executive Eric Schmidt rebuffed the notion that the feeble U.S. economy undercut Google's growth.

"I am happy to say we have not seen a negative impact from the rumors of a future recession," Schmidt