New York Pension Funds to Challenge Wal-Mart

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

Concerned about Wal-Mart’s reported cover-up of bribery, leaders of New York City’s pension funds said they would vote their 4.7 million company shares against five directors standing for re-election.

Andrew Burton/Reuters

Protesters on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan last week after a bribery scandal in Mexico emerged.

Wal-Mart’s Good-Citizen Efforts Face a Test

By ERIC LICHTBLAU

With controversy building over its role in a Mexican bribery scandal, Wal-Mart’s desire to stay out of the limelight grows.

The Street View project, a plan to photograph and map the world’s streets, also involved gathering information about local wireless networks.

Data Engineer in Google Case Is Identified

By STEVE LOHR and DAVID STREITFELD

A former state investigator looking into Google’s Street View has identified the so-called Engineer Doe.

DealBook

Dewey & LeBoeuf Said to Encourage Partners to Leave

By PETER LATTMAN

Dewey & LeBoeuf, the New York law firm crippled by financial mismanagement, an exodus of partners and a criminal investigation of its former chairman, encouraged its partners on Monday evening to look for another job, according to an internal memo.

DealBook

Employees at a Barnes & Noble in Emeryville, Calif.

Microsoft Deal Adds to Battle Over E-Books

By MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED and JULIE BOSMAN

The deal, which gives Microsoft a 17.6 percent stake, values the Nook unit at $1.7 billion and bolsters the bookseller’s efforts to make its digital business the linchpin of its future growth.

Delta Air Lines is buying the ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer, Pa.

Delta Buys Refinery to Get Control of Fuel Costs

By JAD MOUAWAD

The refinery near Philadelphia, being acquired from ConocoPhillips for $150 million, is meant to offset the risk of higher jet fuel prices.

DealBook

Looking to Make a Profit on Lawsuits, Firms Invest in Them

By WILLIAM ALDEN

The practice of litigation finance is enticing more corporate lawyers to become investors, bankrolling lawsuits in exchange for a piece of the potential winnings.

Giugliano in Campania Journal

A fake 100-euro bill at the anticounterfeiting unit in Rome. Italy has an artisanal flair for counterfeiting, a skill often passed from father to son.

In Southern Italy, Fake Euros That Even the Police Admire

By RACHEL DONADIO 11:19 PM ET

Counterfeiting is a cottage industry in the Campania region, accounting for more than half of the 550,000 to 800,000 fake euro notes pulled from circulation annually by the central bank.

S.&P.; Posts Monthly Loss, Its First Since November

By REUTERS 9:26 PM ET

Stocks on Wall Street edged lower following data that showed Americans only modestly increased spending in March.

European Stocks Drift Lower on Spanish Recession 11:52 AM ET

DealBook

After Criticism, Aviva Chief Forgoes Pay Increase

By JULIA WERDIGIER

Aviva joins numerous other companies that have faced criticism recently about how much top executives are paid relative to shareholder returns and the overall performance.

Insight & Analysis

Economix Blog

Not Wanting Jobs

By NANCY FOLBRE

Too many Americans — and their leaders — seem relatively unconcerned with high levels of unemployment, an economist writes.

Advertising

An ad for a new triple berry filling for Newtons.

Reminders That a Cookie Goes Beyond the Fig

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN

The fig may lack the pizazz of, say, the pomegranate for health-conscious consumers, and Nabisco’s campaign aims to shift the image of Newtons.

DealBook

How Elite Colleges Still Feed Wall Street's Recruiting Machine

By LAURA NEWLAND

Until we address what is drawing students to investment banking, the brain drain to Wall Street won't change, and Wall Street won't, either.

DealBook

Taking Aim at the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

By PETER J. HENNING

Though business groups are pushing for changes in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, recent scandals may put legislative efforts to change it on the back burner.

Bits Blog

Digital Diary: Rihanna and Beyonce Define the Social Web Spectrum

By JENNA WORTHAM

How Rihanna and Beyonce use the social Web tells us something intriguing about a future where everyone has some sort of presence online, a future that we seem to be barreling toward with increasing speed each day. What face will we put forward to the world, via the Web?

Itineraries

The General Services Administration’s 2010 conference was held at the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas.

Agency Scandal Highlights Conference Contracts

By MARTHA C. WHITE

Meeting experts said the uproar over costs for the General Services Administration’s 2010 conference shows negotiations for events are largely misunderstood.

On the Road

Flying a Circuitous Route May Land the Best Airfare

By JOE SHARKEY

One-way tickets and convoluted routes are two of the strategies one business traveler uses to work the system for the lowest airfares.

Frequent Flier

John Mulliken, co-founder and general manager of JossandMain.com, in Las Vegas in January.

Open to Conversation, or a Helicopter Ride

By JOHN MULLIKEN

John Mulliken is co-founder and general manager of jossandmain.com, a daily deals site offering items for the home.

The iEconomy

Braeburn Capital, an Apple subsidiary in Reno, Nev., manages and invests the company’s cash. Nevada has a corporate tax rate of zero, as opposed to the 8.84 percent levied in California, where Apple has its headquarters.

How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Taxes

By CHARLES DUHIGG and DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI

Apple serves as a window on how technology giants have taken advantage of tax codes written for an industrial age and ill suited to today’s digital economy.