BUSINESS

The strain in this relationship between Germany and France was apparent Monday as finance ministers from both countries failed to resolve the question whether the euro zone would benefit from issuing joint European bonds. Berlin rejects the idea, stipulating that struggling economies need to clean up their messes before being given a reason not to.

It?s a good thing we?ve had access to low-cost coal-based electricity, because it has proven for decades to be one of the most important things to ensure small businesses can keep the lights on and the doors open.

The WTTC argues that travel and tourism?s contribution to GDP is faster than most other sectors in the Americas and will grow by 3.6 percent over the next 10 years, a much faster rate than mining (1.5 percent), education (2 percent), chemicals (2.5 percent) and financial services (3.4 percent).

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case on whether attorneys, journalists and human rights groups have standing to challenge the government's expanded power to spy on international communications.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) will change its initial public offering trading procedures as a result of glitches and delays which occurred during Friday's Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) IPO, mistakes for which the exchange operator hopes to pay $13 million to burned investors, sources reported Monday.

On Monday, Apple invested another $210 million to help Foxconn, the company's largest manufacturing partner in Asia, build out a new production line for unspecified components. The plant will hire roughly 35,800 new employees to help assemble components for the company's line of desktop and laptop computers, smartphones, tablets, or possibly new computing devices.

Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday to restructure $3.1 billion in debt and reduce annual interest costs by around $250 million.

China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S. government debt and go straight to the U.S. Treasury, in what is the Treasury's first-ever direct relationship with a foreign government, according to documents viewed by Reuters.

Former CEO of Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), the No. 3 search engine Scott Thompson resigned as a director of Spunk (Nasdaq: SPLK), a week after quitting his job at Yahoo.

Researchers found that more than 2,000 defendants who were falsely convicted of serious crimes have been exonerated in the past 23 years.

Billionaire Carl Icahn raised his share in CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVI) to 80 percent and is completing the replacement of the nine-member board of directors after winning the support of shareholders in the Texas-based refiner and marketer of transportation fuels.

Dharun Ravi, a former Rutgers student, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after being convicted of criminal charges including invasion of privacy and tampering with evidence.The sentencing comes two months after Ravi was convicted of crimes that provoked the suicide of his Rutgers University roommate Tyler Clementi.

Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail for broadcasting Clementi's sexual encounter with a man days before the teenager committed suicide.

Led by New York's Eric Schneiderman, a group of 23 Democratic and Republican attorneys general asked the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to uphold Montana's ban on direct corporate spending in local campaigns.

Baghdad believes such an arrangement contravenes Iraqi laws, while Kurds assert they can sign any contract regarding their natural resources according to the terms of the constitution.

The University of Notre Dame Monday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government for a mandate requiring that religious organizations provide contraception coverage.

Officials with French oil company Total on Monday announced one of the company's producing platforms in the North Sea has stopped leaking natural gas.

Chrysler Group LLC is recalling 67,872 model year 2010 Jeep Wrangler cars equipped with automatic transmissions because of fire hazards associated with the transmission skid plate, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported Monday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) suspended its share-buyback program on Monday, a move CEO Jamie Dimon said was intended to preserve capital.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said on Monday that the bank had suspended repurchases of its stock, but is maintaining its dividend, while working down losing trades in credit derivatives.

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) reported net income fell 5 percent to $177 million, or 55 cents a share, as revenue rose to $1.82 billion in its third quarter ended April 29. A decline in U.S. and international sales of its simple meals, a drop in global sales of its beverage products, a rise in the cost of ingredients and an increase in marketing spending were attributed to the 2-cent decline in EPS from the same quarter last year.

Israel has never sent troops to any other country in its history, the statement added.

Barclays PLC, the UK's second-largest bank by asset, said Monday it plans to sell its entire $6.1 billion stake in U.S. asset manager BlackRock Inc., as the tougher global regulatory environment has made such holding less attractive.

A Chinese conglomerate will buy a major U.S. cinema chain, AMC, for $2.6 billion, in China's biggest takeover of an American company to date.

Home improvement retailer Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) reported a 14.4 percent increase in profit in the first quarter but downgraded its estimated earnings for the year on concerns over momentum in the U.S. housing market on Monday.

I have never understood the public's obsession with the wealth and personal lifestyles of celebrities and the super-affluent

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, plunged more than 13 percent when markets opened Monday, lowering the company?s value by about $8 billion.

This week's economic calendar is relatively light in the U.S. with the releases of existing home sales, durable goods orders, and the University of Michigan consumer confidence survey. Attention will likely focus on data out of Europe. Euro zone PMIs, Germany IFO survey, and first-quarter gross domestic product data for the U.K. will be released.

Shareholders of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, are set to get the shares Tuesday, following Friday?s tumultuous first sales after the $16 billion initial public offering.