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Half of U.S. employees have been bullied at work. Here’s how to stop bad behavior before it costs your company big.

Bayer (BAY.DE)'s Virginia unit -- which mostly makes pesticides -- is at the center of multimillion dollar battle over coal. Massey Energy (MEE), the coal giant that treats Appalachia like a used napkin, claims Bayer owes it $39 million for shipments of coal it hasn't paid for; Bayer claims that Massey owes it $10 million.

Even smart people make financial moves that are downright illogical. Emotions and superstitions have a sneaky way of keeping you from rational financial decisions. But dumb choices can have serious, real-world consequences. Here are some of the biggest blunders we all make, plus tips from the experts on how to keep cool.

AP Photo/Seth WenigJodi Hsu smiles during a sound check before being interviewed by her niece at the StoryCorps studio in New York on Tuesday. On the day after Thanksgiving, thousands of people nationwide will participate in the National Day of Listening, launched by oral-history organization StoryCorps.
On tape are Marie Poppalardo’s loving words regarding her husband, to whom she had been married for 66 years before he died the previous year.

“There’s something about a person’s voice that you can just feel their presence, like the touch of her skin,” said Poppalardo, 66, who lives in Voorhees. “I can remember how she looked when we were talking.”

On Friday, hundreds of people across the country have committed to interviewing loved ones for National Day of Listening, a project started last year by StoryCorps, a nonprofit whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.

Since 2003, StoryCorps has recorded more than 28,000 interviews with more than 50,000 participants, making it one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, said StoryCorps spokesperson Sacha Evans.

On Friday mornings, a three-minute interview excerpt airs during Morning Edition on NPR.

The campaign is promoted on National Public Radio and on the website, Mark Humphrey/APKate Wingate, center, adjusts the microphone for Larry Keyes, left, as he gets ready for his storytelling session in the StoryCorps recording booth at the Nashville Public Library on July 30, 2008 in Nashville, Tenn. “It’s also traditionally known as Black Friday, so we wanted to propose an alternative holiday. You don’t have to just shop all day. It doesn’t cost any money and you can give it to a family member as a gift,” Evans said.

Poppalardo said this time she plans to interview a younger family member on Friday.

“I thought it was a great idea. I’m a teacher and I try to encourage that kind of activity for my students, said Poppalardo, literacy specialist at Burlington County Institute of Technology.

In 2003, two mobile StoryCorps booths began traveling the country to allow people to record their family interviews, Evans said. Permanent booths were eventually set up in San Francisco, New York City and Atlanta.

“We wanted to give people the tools they need to conduct a really good interview and save it and share it with family and friends,” she said.

Participants reserve a 40-minute slot at a booth to record the interview and leave with a CD copy. Interviews recorded are added to the StoryCorps Archive, housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Participants need not enter a booth to record stories. Cell phones, tape recorders, even pen and paper work just as well, Evans said.
Getting the stories down -- in whatever medium -- is what counts.

Poppardello said sharing her mom’s recordings with family recently was touching.

“We huddled around the dining room table so we could hear my mother,” she said. “It’s a wonderful thing to pass on.”

Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesA shopper holds a Banana Republic bag that advertises a sale as he waits for a cab today. Retailers, fearing the weakest holiday shopping season since 1969, have slashed prices on items at stores across the country. Some Banana Republic stores will also be open on Thanksgiving Day this year to encourage shoppers.
It’s an idea that has Westfield shopper Alison Barry excited.

"It might be less crowded than Black Friday," Barry said as she left The Gap on a recent Sunday after returning a pair of jeans. "The economy is so bad I guess they’re looking to prolong the (holiday) season. If you’re in business and you need to make your sales, you do whatever you can."

Big box stores like The Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Wal-Mart are planning to open stores in some locations Thursday. The move comes after one of the worst holiday retail seasons on record with another difficult year anticipated. The National Retail Federation predicts retail sales this November and December will be $437.6 billion, down from $442 billion last year.

"Ten years ago, the only stores that used to be open were groceries and pharmacies," said Ellen Davis, vice president of the retail trade group. "In the past few years, we’ve seen some discount retailers and stand-alone specialty stores opening on Thanksgiving day."

So who shops on Thanksgiving? Customers looking to avoid the crazed crowds and mayhem of Black Friday might be attracted by the expanded hours, she said, as well as those who have already made going to the movies a Thanksgiving tradition.

"For many people, shopping on Thanksgiving will be impromptu," she said.

Gap Inc., which also owns Banana Republic and Old Navy, said about 1,000 stores around the country will be open Thursday from noon to 7 p.m., with employees who volunteer to work being paid time-and-a-half. Old Navy stores in Edgewater, Linden and Turnersville will be among those open, while the closest Gap stores to have Thanksgiving hours will be two locations in Manhattan.

"We had great customer feedback" said Catherine Rhoades, a Gap spokeswoman, on last year’s decision to open stores. "Customers enjoy the flexibility."

Wal-Mart plans to have "many" of its U.S. stores open 24 hours this week, but declined to give specifics.

"We’re really not breaking this data out on a store-by-store basis," said Kelley Cheeseman, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas-based retailer.

Toys "R" Us said it will open its doors at 12:01 a.m. Friday, five hours earlier than in other years. "Basically our midnight openings are a way to attract customers," said company spokeswoman Adrienne Giordano. "By opening earlier, customers can shop early or sleep late."

Opening on Thanksgiving carries both risks and rewards, said James Sawhill, an assistant professor of marketing science at Rutgers University. Stores want to attract customers without appearing too desperate — or Scrooge-like.

"At some point, you’re going to get some backlash," Sawhill said. "You’re opening on Thanksgiving. That means your employees will have to be there. You don’t want to over-commercialize this important American holiday."

Some Westfield shoppers, meanwhile, remained skeptical that open stores will mean open wallets.

"It kind of leaves me flat," John Trelease of Hoboken said as walked with his friend Kathi Fredericks toward a Banana Republic store to buy corduroy pants with a 30 percent off coupon. "I wouldn’t even for a second not consider having dinner with my family. I