April 16, 2000

GE BACK IN SPOTLIGHT OLD ECONOMY CO. AGAIN MOST VALUABLE AS TECHS TANK

General Electric has once again reclaimed the title it held for most of the 1990s: The World's Most Valuable Company. For the last few months, the tigers of the computer...

THIS WEEK'S WINNERS

* FRANK ZARBDespite vocal criticism and a legal challenge from Alan Davidson, the NASD chairman got members to approve his private-placement plan. * BOB MILLERThe Rite Aid CEO proved Wall...

...AND LOSERS

* ARTHUR SULZBERGER JR.The New York Times chairman saw his company get hit with an embarrassing privacy lawsuit the same week the paper was snubbed by the Pulitzer Prize judges....

MID-CAP FUND SOARS BY PREDICTING RISK AND REWARD

SINCE the end of 1998, Navellier Mid Cap Growth Portfolio has grown from $10 million in assets to the $400 million it boasts today. Clearly, somebody is doing something right....

CRAMER AND KRAMER SNUBBED BY WEBBIES

THE nominations for the Webby awards are in, and TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer may be excused for feeling he's been dissed. Not to mention CBS MarketWatch's Larry Kramer. Both men -...

SELL-OFF POINTS UP FIRMS PLUGGING CLIENTS' STOCK

WALL Street's dirty little not-so-secret secret - the blind loyalty of analysts to their firms' underwriting clients - is as prevalent as ever. S.G. Cowen's morning report Friday included hugely...

BLODGET SAW THE CRASH COMING BUT STILL FARED POORLY

SINCE predicting that 75 percent of all .com companies would disappear in the next five years, Merrill Lynch's star Internet analyst, Henry Blodget, hasn't been surprised to see so many...

WHO WILL BE ELLE'S NEW EDITOR?

THE guessing game is under way to find the new editor-in-chief of glitzy fashion title Elle at Hachette Filipacchi Magazines. Incumbent Elle Editor Elaina Richardson stunned the publishing world late...

LOWER EAST SIDE IS THE REEL THING

Downtown filmmaker Matthew Harrison had a cult hit in 1994 with "Rhythm Thief," the story of a bootlegger selling tapes of punk bands. The flick attracted the attention of Martin...

WHAT I WATCH

WARRINGTON HUDLIN PRODUCER OF "HOUSE PARTY" AND FOUNDER OF DVREPUBLIC.COM "Ally McBeal." Any show which features a white woman who hallucinates about Al Green is all right with me. DIANE...

A STAR RESURFACES - MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY RISES AGAIN WITH THE SUBMARINE THRILLER 'U-571'

THE dimpled grin that's melted countless female hearts is conspicuously absent from Matthew McConaughey's new action flick. And that, says the 30-year-old Texan charmer, is because the submarine lieutenant he...

NEW YUK STATE OF MIND - MEL GIBSON HAS MADE A TV MOVIE ABOUT THE BACKSTAGE LIFE OF THE THREE STOOGES

THE synagogue where 13-year-old Jerome "Curly" Horwitz was bar mitzvahed in 1916 -- Congregation Sons of Israel -- still stands on Benson Avenue in Bath Beach. P.S. 128, the school...

THE SAVVY SHOPPER

Paint (MD+BO)Terre Verte(MD-BO) (MD+BO)11 Prince St., between Bowery and Elizabeth streets, (212) 219-3674(MD-BO) (MD+BO)Sale dates: Through May(MD-BO) (MD+BO)Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.(MD-BO) (MD+BO)Sun. noon-6 p.m.(MD-BO) Several shades of blue Vasari Classic...

SHARON LAWRENCE

Having quit the bar on TV, Sharon Lawrence is now sporting a pair of dance shoes: The former "NYPD Blue" legal eagle stars as Velma Kelly in the current Broadway...

BELLY, BELLY GOOD

Pack up your pashmina and say bub-bye to your trusty old baguette. The only accessory you'll need once warm weather rolls 'round is a well-toned tummy - is a belly...

GRECO-ROMAN TRESSES

Friends, Romans, countrymen: Lend us your - hairstyles? Greco-Roman coifs - characterized by buns that drip with braids and curls - are conquering Hollywood. In the upcoming movie "Gladiator," actress...

PALATABLE PASSOVER - A GREATER BREADTH OF BREADLESS RECIPES

With its dietary restrictions, the big challenge during Passover, which begins at sundown on Wednesday, is finding an adequate variety of interesting things to eat. But with today's growing list...

MEALS & DEALS

If your accountant can't get you a break this tax season, at least Artie's New York Delicatessen will. From Monday to Friday this week, the Upper West Side deli is...

NOT ANOTHER PEEP -- YES, ANOTHER PEEP!

What is it about marshmallow animals that makes them such a hot Easter commodity? A cult culture has risen around the mysteriously appealing Peeps -- brightly colored confections in the...

REAL WOMEN REVEAL ...

In the new movie "Gossip," three college students track a rumor for a class project. What was the wildest rumor you've ever heard about a guy? (MD+BO)Amber Smithson, Brooklyn(MD-BO) I...

RECOMMENDED READINGS

(-sbull-) Now that you've read the reviews, check her out in person. Tomorrow, Joyce Carol Oates will read selections from "Blonde," her pseudo-autobiography about Marilyn Monroe, at the Barnes &...

THE BOOK REPORT

(MD+BO)"After the Fire" by Belva Plain, Delacorte, 342 pages, $25.95(MD-BO) Belva Plain is at the top of her game with her 18th novel, a page turner titled "After the Fire."...

PREMIERE FASHION

Talk about Hollywood on the Hudson! Tinseltown must have been pretty empty last week when "The Virgin Suicides" and "American Psycho" held star-studded premieres in New York on consecutive nights....

LEADING MEN LEAD SUMMER LINEUP - HERE COME THE HOLLYWOOD HUNKS - AND A SEASON OF GREAT MOVIES

Brace yourself for a tidal wave of testosterone! Mel, Bruce, Harrison, Eddie, Will, Clint and Keanu all have new movies this summer season. So do Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey, Nicolas...

SUPER SLEEPERS

Predicting which summer films will match the out-of-nowhere success of "The Sixth Sense," "The Blair Witch Project" or "American Pie" is no easy task. But here are some candidates for...

HOFSTRA'S CARMAZZI AT HOME WITH 49ERS

Giovanni Carmazzi is going home. The star quarterback, who led Hofstra to football greatness in recent years, woke up late yesterday morning after an evening out celebrating his 23rd birthday,...

COLUMBINE: A YEAR LATER SURVIVORS' SPIRITS FLOAT ON A TORRENT OF TEARS

LITTLETON, Colo. - Tom Mauser knows that something would be terribly wrong if he didn't break down in tears at least once a week over his son's murder in the...

CABBIES PAY PRICE OF THE WACKO WAR ON COPS

THE U.S. Commission on Civil Rights should at this moment be helping out Fernando Mateo. Right now Mateo is sunk in the grim task of organizing two funerals for two...

YOKO FEARS PAROLE FOR LENNON'S MURDERER

Yoko Ono says she's terrified John Lennon's killer will be sprung from prison and try to coldbloodedly execute her and the ex-Beatle's two kids. "I think that we really have...

CRASH COURSE IN STREET'S NEW RULES LOOKS LIKE EARNINGS REALLY ARE IMPORTANT

Bye-bye, easy money. The rules of the investing game are changing, with last week's stock shock dropping technology issues into bear-market territory for the first time since the 1987 crash....

CARDINAL ALWAYS STANDS TALL IN ; DEFENSE OF ; UNION MEN

NOT many people know it, but John Cardinal O'Connor has been the patron saint of working people in this town for more than a decade. The reason I recognize this...

RUDY'S CAMPAIGN PAYS 130G IN FARE DEAL

Mayor Giuliani's campaign yesterday said it will shell out $130,000 to pay for Hizzoner's airfare over the past three months, while Hillary Rodham Clinton's camp could not immediately say what...

CITY HALL HAILS COOL COPS IN CAB-BUST DRAMA

The Bronx cops who foiled what could have been the eighth livery-cab slaying this year gave a harrowing account of the driver's near-death experience after as they were saluted at...

SHOWBIZ SHARKS CIRCLING ELIAN

IF dolphins are really so smart, they should have saved Elian from the sharks on land instead of just the ones in the ocean. The loony relatives and milling religious...

POLITICAL PARTING OF THE WAYS

WORRIED about making the wrong choice at election time? Then read a combover today. Truth lies in the way a pol parts his hair. Take Rudy's swirl-a-twirl -strictly a left-to-right...

FIDEL WOULD APPROVE OF MIAMI FOES' BULLY-BOY TACTICS

MIAMI THE young woman opened the front-door shutters slowly - like a suspicious doorman at a speak easy. She peered through the slightly opened shutters carefully, expecting the worst from...

MANY LIVES CHANGED FOREVER

Many peoples' lives were changed dramatically by the Columbine High School slayings. Here are some of their stories. Tom Mauser found a new life in the death of his son...

TIPPER DOES LIZA

WHEN Garland Nicholas was a tot in Virginia, of all places, he thought it would be a good idea to don a top hat and lip-synch Liza Minnelli for Show...

FLOATING THE GAY WAY?

WHILE Tipper is a lot hipper than anyone figured, George W. sounds like his father's older brother. He said holding a meeting with gays this past week made him a...

HOW TO SING SOPRANO

WHAT does it take to get a role on "The Sopranos"? It's a tough these days because every wiseguy has a SAG card and every actor wants to be a...

TEACHER-PLAYWRIGHT DIES A 'SUCCESS'

New York playwright and public-school teacher Howard Simon died last week without seeing the rave reviews for his first major production - but he left life believing he was a...

LOTS OF NYERS SEE A BARGAIN BIN OF OPPORTUNITIES

New Yorkers struggling to get out from under Friday's biggest-ever stock-market drop were already greedily eyeing the start of trading tomorrow. "I think it's a great buying opportunity. It flushes...

DAD: I NEVER HIT ELIAN OR HIS MOM

Elian Gonzalez's father vehemently denies ever hitting or abusing the tug-of-war tot or his mother. Juan Miguel Gonzalez says "there is no truth" to allegations he beat up ex-wife Elizabeth...

FIGHT TO SAVE NEEDLE-ATTACK NURSE'S UNBORN INFANT

Doctors were working desperately yesterday to save the fetus of a Bronx emergency room nurse a day after her married doctor-boyfriend plunged a syringe in her leg, trying to induce...

BAY OF PIGS HAUNTS ELIAN CASE

Hundreds of demonstrators sang and prayed yesterday outside the Miami home where Elian Gonzalez is staying, fearing he might be reunited with his father tomorrow - the anniversary of the...

ABBA POP QUEEN LIVES IN TERROR OF FAN FROM HELL

You couldn't turn on the radio in the '70s without hearing her heavenly voice soaring out of the speaker. With infectious ditties like "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo," Agnetha Faltskog and...

ONLINE ODD COUPLE PULL THE PLUG ON MAG PROJECT

The brief, odd-couple affair between online humor magazine McSweeney's and the McSweeney family of suburban Massachusetts has ended in separation. But questions remain as to whether the partnership was real...

U.K. DIET-PILL BAN CARRIES NO WEIGHT IN U.S.

Britain's ban of a widely prescribed U.S. diet pill has again stirred up passions - and confusion - in a three-year-old controversy over what was once hailed as a miracle...

MICK ROLLS ON TO SEXY BRIT ACTRESS

Mick Jagger's thirst for beautiful women just won't stop - the randy rocker is now hot as a pistol for sexy British actress Saffron Burrows. The balloon-lipped Rolling Stones rocker...

CABBIES' FEAR: NEXT FARE MAY BE FATAL FOR LIVERY MEN, EVERY RIDER IS A POTENTIAL KILLER

The Post's Christopher Francescani spent a night riding with livery cabby Rene Gutierrez on the job in some of The Bronx's toughest neighborhoods. He also talked to other livery cabbies...

'ANNIVERSARY' PLOT THWARTED

Two California teens planned to storm their high school and blow away classmates around the anniversary of the Columbine massacre, authorities revealed yesterday. The two 17-year-old boys plotted to attack...

PARTY-POOPING POLICE STRAND KIDS ON H'WAY

A busload of Connecticut kids on their way home from a city birthday bash wound up in a nightmare last night as their driver was busted on a Bronx highway...

BROOKLYN DRIVER SLAIN, ANOTHER CHEATS DEATH

A livery cab driver was shot dead in Brooklyn early yesterday - the second cabby slaying in as many days - and only quick thinking saved a Bronx driver from...

D.C. COPS FIND 'FIREBOMB' IN PROTESTERS' HQ

Washington cops found the makings of a firebomb in a raid on the headquarters of world-finance protesters yesterday - hours before some 600 demonstrators were arrested near the White House...

HAS E. SIDE RAPIST GONE TO W. SIDE?

An Upper West Side woman was raped on her way home from the opera early yesterday - by a "sweet-faced" man whose description resembles the notorious East Side rapist. The...

THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN - SO WHY AM I STILL GLUM?

TOMORROW is Tax Day, people, and let me be the first to say how glad I am that the Nasdaq made like the Wicked Witch of the West this past...

ZIP CODE MAPS ARE UNSOLVED PUZZLES

Survivors of breast cancer who live in the neighborhoods deemed disease hot spots by the New York State Department of Health still want to know why they got sick. But...

OH, BROTHER! $4M SCAM FOR FED TRIAL

A Nigerian man accused of inventing a phony "twin brother" and reporting his death to collect a $4 million life insurance windfall is set to go on trial in federal...

UNDERSTAFFING BLAMED ; IN SCHOOL RAPES

Schools are "ticking time bombs" for sex crimes because there aren't enough monitors, counselors and security guards to track troubled students, worried parents and educators charge. Their complaints take on...

QUESTIONS HAUNT CANCER 'HOT SPOTS'

Bettyann Glasser has a sense of humor about what caused a rash of breast cancer in her Upper East Side neighborhood - an area with one of the highest concentrations...

WALTON LEAGUE HEADS WETLANDS EFFORT

THE IZAAK Walton League of America is heading an important effort to protect wetlands by raising public awareness about their uniqueness, beauty and importance through local wetland stewardship projects. May...

PATERNO GIVES 'EM THE OL' 1-2

And they never won the national championship? Taken No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, yesterday, Penn State's Courtney Brown and LaVar Arrington became just the third set of players from...

MOGILNY IS EYEING ULTIMATE GOAL

IF not for the number and nameplate on the back of his jersey, you'd never be able to pick out the only man on the ice in this year's NHL...

BELLINGER TAKES HEAT IN BRONX HOT CORNER

The ball came rushing up at Yankee third baseman Clay Bellinger yesterday, with Ramiro Mendoza's perfect game on the line. He needed perfect timing and a lot of luck to...

NOT PICKS OF THE LITTER JINTS TAB GREAT DAYNE AND JETS SELECT FOUR, BUT BOTH LOSE GROUND

Ultimately, the question that faces Giants like a zone blitz isn't whether they made the right choice by tabbing power back Ron Dayne of Wisconsin over shifty Shaun Alexander of...

BOBBY NEEDS WINS QUICKLY BOBBY DESPERATE FOR AMAZIN' WINS

ALL that protects Bobby Valentine now is winning. His ally list within the Met organization, no multi-volume set to begin with, has become shorter than the list of Perry Como's...

RUSCH JOB NOT ENOUGH

Pirates2 Mets0 PITTSBURGH - Meanwhile, the Mets played a baseball game yesterday. No. 5 starter Glendon Rusch made a sensational debut, but it was wasted because the Mets - a...

PANTHER: PAVEL IS DIFFERENCE

The one Panther who has beaten the Devils in the playoffs says Florida has one big edge over the 1998 Senators who KO'd New Jersey. "We never had a Pavel...

AILIN' DANEYKO HOPES TO PLAY

While Ken Daneyko's great playoff streak is in peril, another scary one further imperils the Devils. The defenseman who turns 36 tomorrow has played all 109 playoff games in Devil...

COMMISSIONS SAY: END WEIGH-IN FARCE - STATES CHANGE AFTER GATTI FIASCO

LAS VEGAS - We'll have to wait and see whether the ineptitude of the New York State Athletic Commission will turn out to be just another embarrassment for Gov. Pataki...

KNICKS A BASKET CASE - PSYCHED OUT BY RAPTORS AS PLAYOFF MATCHUP NEARS

CLEVELAND - The Knicks entered last night's match at Gund Arena having lost two straight games to the wretched Cavaliers. Oh, how the Knicks would like to have those two...

RON'S ALREADY A HIT WITH SOME FANS

Some hoped for Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. Others wanted Alabama running back Shaun Alexander. So, not surprisingly, reaction was mixed from Giant fans yesterday when their team used the...

BRONX BOO-BIRDS SERENADE CLAY

The ball came rushing up at Yankee third baseman Clay Bellinger yesterday, with Ramiro Mendoza's perfect game on the line. He needed perfect timing and a lot of luck to...

'PEGASUS" FLIES IN WOOD : 'FUSAICHI' EARNS FAVORITE ROLE FOR THE ROSES

Fusaichi Pegasus, the $4 million wondercolt from California, ran to his price tag yesterday at Aqueduct, stamping himself the solid favorite for the 126th Kentucky Derby three weeks away with...

V MANAGES TO SURVIVE : PHILLIPS LEAVES PITTSBURGH WITHOUT VALENTINE'S SCALP

PITTSBURGH - After making a special trip here on Friday, Mets GM Steve Phillips left last night and Bobby Valentine was still his manager despite this latest "mess," which is...

BRUTALLY FRANK WINS

Brutally Frank, under a heads-up ride by Shaun Bridgmohan, was up in the final jumps to upset odds-on Kelly Kip in yesterday's Grade 3, $100,000 Bold Ruler Handicap at Aqueduct....

BOOS & AAHS FROM GREEN LAND

Still reeling from one of the most unpopular trades in team history last week, Jets fans felt the knife dig in a little deeper yesterday when the linebacker-heavy club took...

SOUR WIN FOR LEMON DROP KID

1999 Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Lemon Drop Kid returned to Aqueduct and dead-heated with End of the Road in an allowance race yesterday. It was the first appearance for...

MOST GIANT FANS HAPPY ABOUT RON

Some hoped for Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. Others wanted Alabama running back Shaun Alexander. So, not surprisingly, reaction was mixed from Giant fans yesterday when their team used the...

GANG GREEN HIGH ON PENNINGTON

Chad Pennington - among Jet-fan draftniks, perhaps the most popular player drafted yesterday - also was the most controversial selection among team hierarchy. Pennington, a quarterback out of Marshall, where...

GRIFFIN FILLS VOID ON GIANTS' DEFENSIVE LINE

They wanted to scoop up a running back in the first round and they did, selecting Ron Dayne. But after that, the Giants knew exactly what direction they were headed:...

WILPON VAGUE ON VALENTINE

PITTSBURGH - Mets co-owner Fred Wilpon wouldn't flatly deny that the subject of firing manager Bobby Valentine was discussed when Wilpon spoke with GM Steve Phillips on Thursday and Friday....

BELL: ALL'S WELL WITH MANAGER

PITTSBURGH - Derek Bell thinks that the way he handled the Bobby Valentine situation demonstrates his personality. Bell on Friday led Fox Sport Net's Matt Loughlin into Valentine's office, which...

E-MAILER AT PENN LAYING LOW OVER V FLAP

PHILADELPHIA - Yesterday, on a wet and dreary afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania, hordes of students celebrated an event called Spring Fling. Lost among the masses was one student...

GROH TAKING CHANCE BY PICKING HOT COLES

The last thing on the mind of Laveranues Coles will be replacing Keyshawn Johnson. Coles, the Jets' third-round pick (78th overall) and first receiver they chose after some nine hours...

THERE'S NO 'NEXT KEYSHAWN'

If this was going to be a draft to make alarmed Jet fans forget about the controversial departure of Keyshawn Johnson, it was an unmitigated failure. That, however, wasn't Al...

BREVIN MAY BE 'POINTED' AT GARDEN

CLEVELAND - If the Knicks are blasted out of the playoffs by the Raptors later this month, there will have to be some fallout. Most likely, the Knicks will spend...

TIME'S ARRIVED TO FIND WHERE RAMIRO STANDS

RAMIRO MENDOZA has earned his way into the Yankee rotation. It is time we find out if he is really a 200-inning guy and 12-15-game winner or nothing more than...

CAMBY BANGS UP KNEE AGAIN

Marcus Camby may not be in the best of moods today at his "fan appreciation" party. Camby reinjured his right knee and will need an MRI today to see if...

KNICKS PLAY DEAD CAVS TAKES ADVANTAGE OF SHABBY DEFENSE

Cavaliers106 Knicks96 CLEVELAND - The Knicks officially quit on the regular season last night. At least they've quit playing defense. Fresh off their Friday whipping in Toronto, the Knicks rolled...

VARGAS' A QUARTEY POUNDER FERNANDO OUTSLUGS, OUTGUTS IKE

LAS VEGAS - Fernando Vargas achieved one his most cherished goals last night, and he did with grit and he did it with style. Vargas, a 22-year-old Mexican-American who has...

FIGHT DOC WARNS ABOUT RISK OF WEIGH-INS

LAS VEGAS - Nevada's top boxing doctor believes that before-the-fight weigh-ins may be putting fighters lives at risk. "I think we have a major problem here," said Dr. Flip Homansky,...

HAWAII FORE-OH! : GOLF ON ISLANDS MUST BE EXPERIENCED

The prospect of going to Hawaii for anything, whether it be beaches, rum smoothies poolside, hiking, golf or whatever always seemed like a daunting trip to me. Hawaii, in my...

BOGUS AUTOGRAPHS SWAMPIN' MARKETS ; HEAVEN FORBID, EVEN MOTHER TERESA'S

"MOTHER Teresa?" The FBI agent on the other end of the line last week was working his way through a list of the bogus autographs recovered after a three-year probe...

STEROIDS: BASEBALL'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

LATE NFL star Lyle Alzado's toes point straight up now, in a tomb at Riverview Cemetery in Portland, Ore. Those would be the same toes he used to use to...

NEWMAN LOVES LIFE WITH NETS

Tell most players they will be a Net for life and they very likely might have one question. Are chest pains good? But Johnny Newman likes it in New Jersey,...

HR THRILL IS ... GONE! : BD+]]DINGER-MANIARUINING GAME

WHAT'S next, fellas? I'm curious only because I don't know what's left for you to do. Eliminate pitching altogether? Let everyone hit out of their hands? Or maybe give players...