NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Grisha Stpanov opened a credit card, charged up $20,000, but never paid it back. That's because Stpanov doesn't exist. Stpanov, or at least his credit profile, was the creation of Arman and Wachagan Hovhannisyan, two brothers from California who were accused of scamming 21 banks and the three major credit reporting bureaus by inventing hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of .. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- In the decade between Sept. 11, 2001, and the death of Osama bin Laden on Sunday, the U.S. government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars with the aim of making Americans safer. Agencies were created, expanded or given new missions. The government hired thousands of new employees to analyze intelligence, track terror financing and support the nation's rapidly expandin.. more

Now it's available to rent for $20,000 a month. Photos courtesy of Realtor.com.By Jessica Dickler, staff writer NEXT: Bedroom Last updated May 03 2011: 6:16 AM ET.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The fallout from lawmakers' delay on the debt ceiling is getting real. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Monday that he would start taking "extraordinary measures" this week to keep the country's debt below its legal limit. In a letter to Congress, he also said that he now estimates he can keep the country out of default until Aug. 2, three weeks later than he estimated.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Keep paying higher taxes or face deep, painful cuts in services. Those are the options Californians are faced with. But if the Democratic governor and Republican lawmakers can't reach a compromise, the people of California might not have a choice in the matter. To help close the $26.6 billion budget shortfall the state is facing, Governor Jerry Brown wants to let residents.. more

NEW YORK�(CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were set to open lower Tuesday, as investors shift focus back to the economy, and await auto sales and factory orders. Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were all down about 0.4% ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance. On Monday, U.S. stocks finished s.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Dish Network and EchoStar Corp. agreed to pay TiVo Inc. $500 million to settle a patent dispute that dates back to 2004, the companies announced Monday. Shares of TiVo (TIVO) rose 6% in morning trading, while Dish Network's (DISH, Fortune 500) stock jumped more than 13%. Shares of satellite TV company EchoStar (SATS) fell 3.4%. TiVo will receive an initial payment of $300 .. more

NEW YORK -- The electric-powered Chevrolet Volt is averaging 1,000 miles on each tankful of gas, according to General Motors. The Volt's gas tank holds 9.3 gallons, so that means drivers are averaging about 111 miles per gallon. As a result, Volt drivers are stopping to fill their gas tanks only about once a month, GM (GM) said. GM collected the fuel economy and fill-up data through the vehicle.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- After jumping more than 3 cents over the weekend, gas prices across America could top $4 a gallon this week, according to one industry analyst. "We're going to hit $4 this week, nationally," said Tom Kloza, chief analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. "There's enough momentum to take us up there." As of Monday, the national average price for a gallon of regular gaso.. more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Thinking of spending a weekend in Paris this spring? Think again. The cost of travel to Europe has increased exponentially, mostly due to surcharges and fees which can add $500 or more to the price of round-trip airfare. With the price of oil surging, travelers to Paris and other European cities will pay an extra $420 as a fuel surcharge, according to BestFares.com. Taxes .. more