Hey lbmoney,

Always happy to help a young (or old, for that matter) Fool. I was just reading Starbucks' 10-K myself, in conjunction with the new Fool Research Report on the company. I love the free coffee coupon Starbucks places in its report!

Commercial paper, as you note, is listed under "Cash and cash equivalents." It is basically a short-term debt instrument issued by a corporation or a bank. It usually has a maturity in the area of 3, 6 or 9 months.

PP&E stands for "Property, Plant & Equipment". You'll find this listed under "Assets" on the balance sheet, where it represents the fair value of the property, plant and, you guessed it, equipment. You'll also find in the Statement of Cash Flows an entry for additions to PP&E, which shows how much the company has spend on fixed assets.

Here's a useful resource for when you run into terms you are not familiar with:

http://www.investorwords.com/

'Course, you get better answers right here!

Fool on!
BrianZ