Starbucks: Half Empty or Half Full?

OK, so you think you understand this business.

Twelve thousand coffee shops dotting the urban and suburban landscape. Great coffee from exotic places jazzed up into $3 and $4 premium drinks, and unlimited variations of lattes and cappuccinos delivered on pennies' worth of ingredients.

That's a pretty fair take on this growing $8 billion company.

But looking at Starbucks (SBUX Quote) as a place to get good coffee is, well, like looking at a Ferrari as a form of transportation. ...