* Bank of America agrees to $8.5 billion settlement on Countrywide mortgage claims
* Semil Shah: Is Google asking the wrong question with social?
* Fighting fraud in China: Make employees sign “pre-resignation letters”
* Morning Call: U.S. futures point higher, London rises early, the euro steadies and the Nikkei hits a 7-week high.
* Peter Cohan: Why start-ups matter
* Small violins: Bernie Madoff feels like a piñata
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* It’s not the water: What makes New York bagels taste so good
* Scott Kirsner: VC firm turns portfolio company execs into scouts
* Bond Girl: New Jersey’s credit line with JP Morgan is not that big a deal
* Thank you: Travel search start-up Hipmunk will identify which available flights are WiFi-enabled
* Mobile payment startup Square makes it official: $100 million in new VC funding at a $1 billion valuation
* The Cayman Islands and Cyprus face a potent rival when it comes to tax havens: Reuters: Cheyenne, Wyoming
* Tweet of the Day: @larryvc: When a #VC asks, “What is the use case?” – it means, “I don’t really understand what you do.”