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LOS ANGELES – A 48-year-old homeless man who allegedly broke into Jennifer Aniston’s (search) Malibu home pleaded not guilty Monday to a burglary charge, officials said. David Hesterbey (search) faces first-degree burglary and petty theft charges, officials with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said in a statement. He …

You can sell your house without a broker — and save yourself a ton of money in the process. But there are times when going it alone just doesn’t make sense. You may need to sell fast, or simply not have the time to devote to selling your house yourself. …

NEW YORK – MasterCard Inc. (search) , the second-largest U.S. credit card association, Wednesday said it plans to go public, converting from an organization owned by 1,400 worldwide banks at a time when valuations for credit card stocks are soaring. MasterCard said it will issue Class A common shares to …

Did you know that collectibles, and even country-club memberships qualify for long-term capital-gains rates? Here’s a guide. IF YOU’RE A stock and mutual-fund investor, then you probably know that investments held for more than a year are subject to lower tax rates as long-term capital gains. Generally speaking, if you’re …

NEW YORK – Airlines, hotels and casinos were set to take the biggest economic hit from Hurricane Katrina (search) as it roared along the Gulf of Mexico Monday, but insurers, oil producers and home-improvement retailers may actually benefit in the long run as business returns to normal, analysts said. Katrina …

The holdup attempt might have worked — if the alleged robber hadn’t been armed with only a fork. Shreveport, La., police say a man asked to use the bathroom of a gas station last Wednesday afternoon. Forty minutes later, he emerged from the restroom and walked up to the counter …

BEIJING – China said Tuesday its economy is much bigger and less dependent on exports than previously reported, issuing new data that analysts said make its roaring growth look easier to sustain and could encourage even more foreign investment. A new survey of China’s economy boosted its official output for …

ST. LOUIS – Investigators flagged 19 deaths over the past two years at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in southern Illinois as possibly linked to substandard care, an angry VA official said Monday as he apologized to affected families and pledged reform. The hospital in Marion, Ill., undertook many …

CHICAGO – Mercury from vaccines seems to disappear rapidly from the blood, returning to pre-vaccination levels in one month, according to a small study of children in Argentina. The findings bolster the argument that a mercury-based vaccine preservative doesn’t cause autism in children, although it’s unclear from the study whether …

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Police said they expect the imminent arrest of two beauty pageant employees, as they wrapped up an investigation into a plot to sabotage a Puerto Rican contestant by dousing her garments with pepper spray. The pageant’s security director and a catwalk coordinator, alleged backers of …