April 7, 2000

GREENSPAN UNDER PRESSURE

NOW what does Alan Greenspan do? You can bet he doesn't surprise Wall Street. The stock market's near catastrophe this week leaves the Federal Reserve chairman in a very dicey...

BIG BOARD'S EXPANSION PLANS HIT SNAG

The New York Stock Exchange is quietly expanding its current space for trading -- even as it continues to negotiate with the city for a new trading floor across the...

INVESTMENT NEWS FIRES 2 FOR BAD-MOUTHING BOSS

Two staffers at Investment News were fired after being accused of leaking information about their boss to The Post. Howard Kapiloff, an assistant managing editor, and Sam Graff, a copy...

MERIWETHER'S FATE: HOMEWORK

Most Wall Street disasters are eventually forgotten, but the $4billion collapse of John Meriwether's hedge fund may live on forever. Harvard's famed business school is using his infamous Long-Term Capital...

IT'S A PRINCELY SUM: ALWALEED PUTS $1B INTO BARGAIN STOCKS

Billionaire Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has snapped up $1 billion in bargains from the week's stock rout -- after waiting two years for the right moment. Alwaleed, 43,...

GAP GETS SLAPPED ; LOSING POINTS WITH INVESTORS

Gap's honeymoon may be coming to an abrupt end. Experts say Wall Street's love affair with the retailing powerhouse is on the rocks, just days after the company released a...

TECHS AND BLUE CHIPS FIRM UP

Stocks posted healthy gains yesterday as investors snatched up technology stocks beaten down in the roller-coaster markets of the last two weeks. Tech companies expected to post strong earnings and...

SODA GOES CYBER ; COKE-AOL IN FIZZ FIGHT WITH PEPSI-YAHOO!

The cola wars are moving online. Hot on the heels of an announcement that Pepsi will create a co-branding partnership with Yahoo!, archrival Coke is said to be in talks...

BMG OUTLINES PLANS TO SPIN WEB MUSIC BY SUMMER

BMG Entertainment laid out its plans for making its music available on the Internet yesterday -- one of the first of the major labels to come forward with a definitive...

NO AWARD TO CONSUMERS UNION IN ISUZU CASE

LOS ANGELES -- A jury delivered a mixed verdict against the publishers of Consumer Reports last night for their cover story on the alleged rollover dangers of Isuzu Troopers. Isuzu...

EARNEST 'SOUTHPAW' IS NO KNOCKOUT

SOUTHPAWInteresting but uninspired documentary on Francis Barrett, an Irish gypsy boxer who became the first from his community to compete internationally.Running time: 77 minutes. Not rated. At the Loews State,...

PAINFUL 3RD-DEGREE 'BURN'

BURN THE FLOOR IT apparently all started at Sir Elton John's 50th birthday party -- and as far as I am concerned, it could very well have ended there. "Burn...

'RUMBLE' FLUSH WITH WRESTLING ACTION

READY TO RUMBLE A pair of nitwits (David Arquette, Scott Caan) help a down-and-out wrestler (Oliver Platt) make a comeback. Toilet-humor farce proud of its own crudeness. With many WCW...

ROMANTIC 'X'-CURSION

RETURN TO ME 1/2 Slow, old-fashioned, but audience-friendly romantic comedy. David Duchovny (who shouldn't give up his day job) and the very appealing Minnie Driver meet cute: She's gotten a...

COLONEL UNDER FIRE

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT 1/2 This combat 'n' courtroom combo is entertaining thanks to the always sterling efforts of Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson -- and despite a mechanical,...

THE STARR REPORT

Birth of a notion Veteran actress Kathy Baker ("The Cider House Rules") will headline an upcoming episode of "Chicago Hope" directed by series star Mark Harmon. In the episode, scheduled...

'MILLIONAIRE' BOOSTS BOOK VALUE

WASHINGTON -- After winning $64,000 on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Brad Herzog won a literary jackpot -- sales of his obscure travel book skyrocketed. Before his TV appearance,...

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS SOAR AGAIN

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS SATAN watched the Stone Temple Pilots from the crushing mosh, slammed with the best of 'em, drank his fill and then, mid-concert, he tossed a fat joint...

'ROSWELL'S' ON THE ROPES, SO.... CAN HOT SAUCE SAVE THIS SHOW?

THE fans of "Roswell" are giving WB execs heartburn in their efforts to get the teen-angst sci-fi series renewed for a second season. Spurred on by a fan site, crashdown.com,...

NO DOUBT LETS IT ALL OUT

AFTER a two-year respite from the music world and the giant success of their career-establishing album, "Tragic Kingdom," Southern California's No Doubt is back, with a new disc out on...

'ME MYSELF I' GETS CAUGHT IN 'SLIDING DOORS'

ME MYSELF I 1/2 By far the worst of all the what-if/alternative-life movies of the last few years. Starring Rachel Griffiths.Running time: 104 minutes. Rated R. At the Union Square...

'GOULD' IS OFFBEAT TALE OF AN IRREGULAR JOE

JOE GOULD'S SECRETAn elegant, quietly comical but slightly constricted period piece whose stately pace is all but offset by several impressive performances. Starring Ian Holm, Stanley Tucci and Hope Davis....

BACK IN THE U.S.S.R.

EAST-WEST 1/2 A beautifully made, powerful, frightening but romantic film about a Russo-French family that returns to the Soviet Union after WWII. Starring Sandrine Bonnaire and Catherine Deneuve. Directed by...

RICK ROCKWELL: FAILURE NO MORE

JUST days after his prime-time marriage to Darva Conger was annulled in a Las Vegas courtroom, Rick Rockwell is getting into the match-making business. The part-time comedian and motivational speaker...

'FEVER' RASH OVER AIDS FLAP

SPRING is here, which, in the theater, means curtain speeches to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the charity that helps theater people who are HIV-positive. For the next...

WHAT'S UP, DOCK? A MIR MERGE

Two Russian cosmonauts flawlessly docked their capsule with the Mir space station yesterday as they prepared to turn the aging craft into a space hotel after eight months of vacancy....

NEAT FREAK FACES LOTS OF GOOP DU JOUR

JERRY SEINFELD once performed this bit about the inherent grossness factor of dogs. The germaphobic comedian mused that if extraterrestrials were to observe planet Earth, they undoubtedly would conclude that...

CASTRO PLAYING POKER WITH THE FATE OF A CHILD

BILL CLINTON should be calling Jimmy Carter right now, asking for desperately needed advice in the tragedy of Elian Gonzalez. Doubtless the old peanut farmer would tell Slick Willie: "Ah...

$CATHING REPORT BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS FOR ISRAELI PREZ

JERSUALEM -- Israeli police harshly criticized President Ezer Weizman for accepting cash gifts from a French millionaire -- but said prosecutors should drop the case because the statute of limitations...

SEINFELD 'KIDS' AROUND ; JERRY AND JESSICA ARE HAVING A BABY

Jerry Seinfeld is going from yada, yada, yada to dada, dada, dada -- and the sitcom king says he and his pregnant wife have already picked out a timely name...

DORISMOND 'ALTAR-BOY' REVELATION UNFAIR: RUDY

Mayor Giuliani bristled yesterday when told that -- contrary to his assertion -- police shooting victim Patrick Dorismond really was an altar boy. "I think that's not a correct juxtaposition...

PARK COYOTE'S FIRST YEAR IN QNS. IS A HOWLING SUCCESS

He's still wild and wily, but Courtney the coyote -- captured in Central Park a year ago -- has hunkered down to life in Queens, his keepers said yesterday. "This...

GUARDS NABBED AS JAILHOUSE SMUGGLERS

Two Westchester jail guards were busted yesterday, charged with sneaking booze, food and drugs to federal prisoners at the county lock-up. Bradley Belcher and Yvette Washington repeatedly smuggled vodka and...

TEAM HILLARY GROWS COOL TO HOT ; AD AGENCY'S EFFORTS

THE Clinton campaign is engaged in an internal debate over DeVito/Verdi -- the hot-shot SoHo ad agency hired earlier this year to help produce radio and TV spots for the...

IT'S AS SIMPLE AS A FATHER PICKING UP HIS SON

HAVANA.THE simple man, Juan Gonzalez, wore a dark-blue suit on his body and fear in his eyes. The powerful man, Fidel Castro, wore his standard olive-drab military uniform and confidence...

BLAST RATTLES ULSTER BEFORE QUEEN'S VISIT

A tense Northern Ireland continued preparations for Queen Elizabeth's visit in five days -- following a bomb blast at a British army base and the discovery of a suspicious bag...

BLACK FIREFIGHTERS SUE FDNY FOR 'BIASED' HIRING

The city's Fire Department is a lily-white organization run by an "old-boy system" that fails to recruit minorities and shuts black officers out of top positions, three black lieutenants charged...

'MODEST' HERO HAILED FOR ELFLESS VALOR IN '48 WAR

The Israeli government finally decorated one of its bravest fighters yesterday -an American Marine who led a ragtag bunch of U.S. volunteers in the 1948 War of Independence. "Better late...

CHURCH WOOING WOMEN WHO'VE HAD ABORTIONS

The Catholic Church has launched a nationwide campaign urging women who have had abortions to return to the fold. Because the Vatican considers abortion a mortal sin, some women who...

BILL: AL CONFIDED FEARS TO ME BEFORE GOING PUBLIC

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton said yesterday that Vice President Al Gore privately voiced concerns weeks before publicly breaking with him over the future of Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez. "I don't...

FREE-SPEECH ADVOCATES WIN BACK THEIR CITY HALL SOAPBOX

A First Amendment "stair-down" between activists and Mayor Giuliani ended yesterday after a federal judge ruled the city can't ban large groups from protesting and holding press conferences on the...

COPS STICK IT TO AGNELLO WITH MILES OF FRESH TAPES

Investigators recorded more than 5,000 hours of conversations of John Gotti's son-in-law and his associates in the scrap-metal industry as part of their massive racketeering case against him, The Post...

RESPECTED REGIS GETS ALL THE DIRT

Just call him Regis Philbin -- Father Confessor to the stars. First, it was David Letterman, unexpectedly pouring his troubles out to guest Philbin on "Late Show" in January --...

TYSON EBAY AUCTION BELOW THE BELT

Turns out ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson got belted -- twice. Two of his championship belts -- which Iron Mike reported stolen -- turned up for sale on the eBay online...

CATSKILLS CASINO CLEARS HURDLE

ALBANY -- The U.S. Department of Interior yesterday gave its thumbs-up to a plan to open an Indian-run casino in the Catskills. The project's fate now lies in the hands...

MIAMI'S CUBAN COMMUNITY CIRCLES THE WAGONS

The around-the-clock demonstration outside the Miami home where Elian Gonzalez is staying heated up last night after a day of fast-breaking developments in the case. The crowd of chanting, praying...

RUDY: I'M THE 'INTEGRITY' CANDIDATE ; CAMPAIGN SPOTS LIKEN HIZZONER TO MCCAIN

Mayor Giuliani kicked off a big-bucks statewide "Integrity" advertising blitz yesterday -- linking him with popular Sen. John McCain -- in a bid to halt his recent slide in the...

QNS. MUGGER'S THREAT: YOUR MONEY -- OR I SHOOT THE BABY

Cops are hunting for a sicko Queens mugger who terrorizes young mothers by pointing his gun at their babies and threatening to shoot if the horrified parents don't hand over...

MIAMI KIN TO LOSE ELIAN CUSTODY ; TALKS WITH INS END AS DAD WAITS IN D.C.

The feds are set today to take the first step toward reuniting Elian Gonzalez and his father -- officially stripping the tot's Miami relatives of custody after last-ditch talks broke...

LEVY: FLUSH FILTHY-SCHOOL JANITORS' JOBS

Interim Schools Chancellor Harold Levy said he wants custodians fired for unsanitary conditions found in school bathrooms. "There's enough money in the schools to provide paper towels and soap," Levy...

CRITICS: WE CAN BARE-LY SEE KATHLEEN

The naked truth about Kathleen Turner's unclothed performance in "The Graduate" is that it's brave -- but barely visible, mostly unenthused London theater critics say. The 45-year-old Tinseltown sex siren...

DAD, SON STILL WORLDS APART EVEN IN AMERICA

Elian Gonzalez's father was whisked off to suburban serenity yesterday - worlds away from the raucous scene that surrounds his 6-year-old son in Miami. A phalanx of media occupied the...

STATE SCHOOLS COMMISH RIPS CITY FOR UNCERTIFIED TEACHERS

The state education boss blasted the Board of Education yesterday for having too many unqualified teachers in failing schools - and hinted he will force the city to fill them...

A SHOCKINGLY EFFECTIVE RX FOR EATING DISORDER

The Food and Drug Administration has approved an unusual, battery-powered implant that gives tiny electric shocks to the stomachs of people who risk starving to death because of a rare...

BIG TEST FOR SURFSIDE

Judging by the polls ranking leading Kentucky Derby contenders, this year's Run for the Roses will be held a month early in southern California. Five of the six 3-year-olds entered...

RADIOHEADS HELP PUSH YANKEENETS RIPOFF

SPEAKING of tickets, you know what today is? It's April 7, the first Nets game within the YankeeNets' come-on featuring the must-buy of two "playoff drive" Net tickets in order...

THINGS STARTING TO HEAT UP

THE fishing season is not exactly in full swing, but there are opportunities in the marine waters for flounder, cod, blackfish and striped bass. The trout season is under way...

UN FINO VINO LIKELY TO SKIP WOOD

Sunny Meadow Farm's Un Fino Vino worked six furlongs over the Belmont Park main track yesterday morning in 1:12 handily, the fastest of three works at the distance. According to...

ANDARIESE WAS SCALPED ; SHELVED ANALYST PAID DEARLY FOR GARDEN'S OLD SINS

FOR John Andariese, it wasn't the sin as much as it was the timing. His timing was terrible, the worst. From what we can gather, Andariese a few weeks ago...

O'NEILL IS DON CLOSE

SEATTLE -- Six Yankees were given a piece of paper with a series of lifetime statistics for two players, but with no names initially identifying the mystery men. They were...

MCLEAN WANTS TO DODGE DRAFT

The expansion draft that would have presented no problem whatsoever for the Rangers now presents a very real problem. That's the initial and immediate impact of Mike Richter's knee surgery...

ELS HASSLED FOR SLOW PLAY

MASTERS NOTES AUGUSTA -- Ernie Els is nicknamed "The Big Easy" for his unflappable, mild-mannered demeanor. Yesterday, Els showed uncharacteristic fire when be believed a tournament official rushed his group...

PAULSON'S NOT STANDING PAT

AUGUSTA -- And the first-round Masters leaders is ... Dennis Paulson. Paulson, a 37-year-old journeyman still in search of his first PGA Tour victory, was asked yesterday after he stamped...

MARBURY'S KNEE JUST NEEDS REST

Stephon Marbury heard the news he wanted to hear yesterday: he is suffering from patella tendinitis. That sort of tells you how the closing days of the Nets' season are...

SKINS' NO. 3 PICK TEMPTS JETS

If the offer is legitimate, it certainly warrants consideration, doesn't it? Reports out of Washington indicate the Redskins may be willing to trade the No. 3 overall pick in the...

TIGER KEEPS HIS COOL: DESPITE 75, WOODS STILL IN STRIKING DISTANCE

AUGUSTA -- The time seemed right for one of those Tiger Tantrums we used to see a couple of years ago when Tiger Woods would hit a bad shot and...

BAD START WON'T MELT CONE

SEATTLE -- David Cone finds himself in familiar territory today, a neighborhood he accepts if not totally understands. Shelled by the Angels Wednesday night, Cone is aware of the questions...

A-ROD HASN'T MADE STEINBRENNER'S A-LIST

YANKEE NOTES SEATTLE -- One theory making its way around the baseball universe is that George Steinbrenner hasn't made a firm offer to Derek Jeter because The Boss is interested...

GOOD OL' BOYS CLUB NICKLAUS (74), PLAYER & PALMER STEAL SHOW

AUGUSTA -- They strode, legends of their sport all, from hole to hole around the storied grounds of Augusta National -- grounds they made so fabled by their magic over...

ROUGH FINISH CAN'T SPOIL LEHMAN'S DAY

AUGUSTA -- Tom Lehman looked like he had survived the gusty winds, the expanded rough and all the other elements that made for a difficult opening round of the 64th...

JORDAN'S SWEET DEAL ; AIRNESS SITTING PRETTY ON WIZARD WINDFALL

MICHAEL JORDAN's take, I'm told, for agreeing to take control of the disenchanting Wizards is a comforting $56 million spread over five years; though I'm hard pressed to understand how...

INJURY BUG BITES DUDLEY & WALLACE

Two fringe Knicks, John Wallace and Chris Dudley, were not only unavailable last night but won't be available for the next five games, maybe longer. Dudley said he is suffering...

JAX WOULD GET VAN GUNDY'S VOTE

KNICK NOTES Was that Jeff Van Gundy casting a ballot for his antagonist, Phil Jackson, for Coach of the Year? The Knicks face the Magic tonight in Orlando, where Doc...

THUMB'S UP FOR HOUSTON IN SCHIFFER'S SCREEN TEST

Outraged by a scathing movie review in Wednesday's Post in which Allan Houston was panned for his performance in the just-released film "Black and White," co-star Claudia Schiffer shot back...

MILLER TWINS SHARE ONE SULLIVAN AWARD

Twin sisters Kelly and Coco Miller have been sharing everything since they were born. Last night was no exception as the Minnesota natives were presented the 70th annual Amateur Athletic...

DEVILS DISPLAY ZERO FORTITUDE

Sabres 5 Devils 0 They need multiple miracles now, these Devils. They need one to hang on for their fourth straight conference regular-season championship. They'll need another to survive the...

WIZARDS LOOK UP TO WALKER

When Michael Jordan took over the Wizards, he hired Darrell Walker as coach. Considering that Walker had only a brief, and unremarkable, coaching history, Jordan's choice seemed, in large part,...

EWING: WE GOTTA FINISH STRONG

Knicks 101 Wizards 92 Patrick Ewing says the Knicks don't have to win the Atlantic Division to get back to The Finals. Although it would be nice to hop from...

DEIRDRE PUTS PEDAL TO FLOOR

In the Olympic Games in September, road cyclist Deirdre Murphy will get a chance to live her dream. The top 21 countries in the world get an automatic berth at...

AN AMAZIN' MESS: HAMPTON, METS SLIDE TO ANOTHER PITIFUL LOSS

Padres 8 Mets 5 They not only can't hit when it counts, they can't field. One of them can't slide. Guess which one? The only saving grace for the Mets...

LEITER PLAYS IT SAFE, SKIPS START TOMORROW

MET NOTES The Mets are hurting physically, too. It's bad enough the Mets bats have gone silent, but now one of their aces is silent, too. At least for a...

METS' ACE IN A HOLE: HAMPTON'S APPLE DEBUT GOES SOUR

IT COULD have been worse. On Mike Hampton's opening night in New York, he could have had his car confiscated by Rudy Giuliani. Or, been marched on by Al Sharpton....

LEITER, GM DISAGREE ON HAMPTON'S IMPACT

THE Mets have an ace, finally, a bonafide, top-of-the-rotation, 20-game winner named Mike Hampton, who could have walked to the mound for his Shea debut last night on a red...

AN AMAZIN' MESS:NOW PUNCHLESS METS SPRING LEAKS IN FIELD AS HAMPTON FLOPS

Padres 8 Mets 5 They not only can't hit when it counts, they can't field. One of them can't slide. Guess which one? The only saving grace for the 2-3...

NO NEED TO PANIC :SLUMPING METS CONFIDENT THEY'RE READY TO BUST OUT

They're ready to bust out all over. That's the word from the Mets, who since returning from Japan, have presented their version of the Sadaharu Oh offense. Oh as in...

KNICKS LOSE BACKUP POWER: INJURY BUG TAKES OUT DUDLEY, WALLACE

With Chris Childs suspended two games because of the Kobe Bryant fight and Latrell Sprewell trying to play through a respiratory infection, the Knicks were already looking to expand their...

CLAUDE DEMOTED BY 'PROMOTION'

It could hardly be construed as a wake-up call, since Claude Lemieux was only too aware of his slump. Larry Robinson would not call it a demotion, but it was...