April 18, 2000

BLUE-CHIP STOCKS COME ROARING BACK

Call it the revenge of the Old Economy stocks. Blue-chip companies outside of technology propped up the troubled stock market yesterday, providing the catalyst for all major market averages to...

LAST-MINUTE IRA ACCOUNT CONTRIBUTIONS MAY LIFT DOW

If history is any guide, the Dow should rise today while the Nasdaq falls. On the day after the last day Americans can fund their individual retirement accounts, the Dow...

RETURN OF THE HANDSHAKE?

EVEN if the stock market resumes its downward plunge, it won't lead to a real estate collapse like the one of a decade ago. But it might mean a comeback...

L'OREAL SWALLOWS UP FAMILY-OWNED KIEHL'S

Kiehl's, the little 149-year-old beauty products company that built a cult following through word of mouth, was bought yesterday by industry titan L'Oreal. Under the agreement, the family-run Kiehl's will...

THE GOOD OL' TECHS ARE SHINING THROUGH - .COMS TAKE IT ON THE CHIN AGAIN

Investors sent .com losers to penny-stock heaven yesterday, clinging to blue-chip tech stocks as they tried to ride out spring's stormy trading ride. Analysts said the race to quality in...

BIG DUMB COS. WIN BY WATCHING, WAITING

ESTEE Lauder announced that it would buy the cosmetics e-tailer Gloss.com and launch its own Web site with eye-glazing corporate-speak like "comprehensive Internet strategy" and "maximize marketing opportunity." A more...

OPRAH SHOWS UP A LOT BETWEEN AD PAGES

Oprah's new magazine landed on newsstands yesterday with a loud thud - it's so heavy with ads. The long-awaited debut issue of O, the Oprah Magazine produced by talk show...

QWEST SIGNS 10-YEAR LEASE AT AT&T BLDG.

The AT&T building has added another communications tenant to its roster. Denver-based Qwest Communications International has taken nearly 160,000 square feet in the landmark structure at 32 Avenue of the...

OPRAH DEFENDS HER GAG ORDER RULE FOR STAFFERS

Oprah Winfrey may be the feel-good queen of TV magazines, but if you work for her - or ever have - you're not allowed to say anything nasty about her....

ALL WET IN JAMAICA - RESORT IN OCHO RIOS OFFERS WATER SPORTS, A KIDS' CAMP & ESCAPE FROM CELL PHONES

IF you're looking for a Caribbean getaway, Ocho Rios is the place on Jamaica to really unplug. Perched some 70 miles from the island's major towns - Montego Bay on...

A SPLENDID 'THING'

'THE Real Thing" is the real thing - an exciting, hilarious and beautifully performed look at the terrain of art and heart. The Tom Stoppard play of 1984 received a...

'KATE' & 'MUSIC MAN' PLAY MUSICAL SHARES

'KISS Me, Kate" and "The Music Man" each snagged eight Outer Critics Circle nominations yesterday, setting the stage for what could be a fierce battle for awards between the two...

THE STARR REPORT

Black tie, pot pie Mixing The Plaza Hotel and chicken pot pie was a recipe for disgruntlement at Sunday's New York Emmy Awards. Local newsies were mortified to learn they...

'SOUTH PARK' ENDING?

OH my god - now they really might kill Kenny! The creators of "South Park" - Comedy Central's raunchy and always controversial cartoon - are mulling the possibility of ending...

BANKRUPTCY HASN'T 'KILT' TRASH CAN SINATRAS

THE Trash Can Sinatras, an early-'90s pop band from Scotland, were pushed into oblivion by the alt rock phenomenon just as they were on the cusp of Smiths-like stardom. Or...

KATHIE LEE COUNTDOWN: PICK A FRESH FACE OR A FAMILIAR ONE... DOES REGIS NEED A YOUNGER WOMAN?

WHO will be the new Kathie Lee Gifford on "Live with Regis & Kathie Lee"? It's a question of experience versus youth. Will Regis Philbin, 68, and ABC try to...

I SMELL A CBS RAT... - WHO NEEDS TO WATCH 'SURVIVORS' EAT THIS RODENT FOR LUNCH?

I DON'T know about you, but I don't plan on spending any of my evenings this summer watching some starving salesman from Arkansas eat a rat. Not that I believe...

SMITH'S LATEST IS A THROWBACK

ELLIOTT SMITH "Figure 8" ½ DreamWorks Elliott Smith, the songwriter who grew in Brooklyn, has blossomed in L.A. On his latest, Smith displays a sense of social responsibility, a lust...

TRAVELER'S UPDATE

Lyon direct Delta Air Lines began daily, nonstop service from JFK to Lyon last Friday. Prior to this, direct flights stopped in Paris before continuing on to this city in...

TENORS FOR A TENNER - SCORING CHEAP SEATS AT THE MET

THERE are cheap seats, and then there are the (MD+IT)really(MD-IT) cheap seats -- like the score desks at the Metropolitan Opera House. At $10 a pop, they cost less than...

LIFE: IT WILL KILL YOU! - A NEW BOOK DETAILS HUNDREDS OF RVERYDAY THREATS

Next time you brush your hair, stroke your cat or dive into a plate of alfalfa sprouts, think again. According to Melinda Muse, you're flirting with disaster. As a freelance...

BEARING DOWN ON GORE - MICROSOFT MELTDOWN: THE DEMS ARE WIDE OPEN

THE danger posed to Al Gore by the stock-market decline is obvious: If Americans feel poorer in November than they have in several years, he will probably lose the election....

BIO BARES THE SECRET LIFE OF JOHN LENNON

JOHN LENNON, alone in his bedroom in the Dakota, knelt before the television as if it were an altar. His hand stretched, fingers spread, to touch the screen as a...

MARKET SPLATTER HASN'T STOPPED FOLKS FROM SPLURGING

Their stocks have taken a savage beating, but investors aren't ready to skimp when it comes to taking vacations or buying cars, real estate or jewelry. "I'm still planning to...

ANARCHY REINED IN AS IMF EVENT COMES TO CLOSE

WASHINGTON - Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund staggered to an end yesterday as police reclaimed the streets after two days of tense and often rowdy demonstrations....

ANTI-DRUG COLONEL COMES CLEAN ON WIFE'S LAUNDERING

A colonel who oversaw the U.S. Army's anti-drug campaign in Colombia pleaded guilty yesterday to not reporting a felony - but insisted he didn't know about his wife's cocaine and...

BIAS FLAP OVER NEW CITY CUSTODIAN TEST

The city is lowering standards for hiring school custodians to settle a federal suit that says the current exam discriminates against minorities. But critics complain the proposed settlement is a...

MARISLEYSIS IS ONE HOT MAMA: CUBANS

MIAMI - Elian's 21-year-old surrogate mom, Marisleysis Gonzalez - thrust into the spotlight while fighting to keep the boy in the United States - has earned adoration on both sides...

CITY WON'T TAKE SNEAK PEEK AT COP 'BIAS' PROBE

City officials have rejected an offer by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to allow them to take a peek at the panel's controversial preliminary report on the NYPD, The...

DIALLO PARENTS' SUIT TO SEEK '$1 MILLION FOR EACH BULLET'

The parents of Amadou Diallo plan to hit the city - and four police officers - with a $61 million suit today for gunning down their unarmed son, The Post...

NEEDLE NURSE ASKS FOR CITY'S PRAYERS

The pregnant Bronx nurse whose doctor-lover allegedly stabbed her with a syringe filled with an abortion-inducing drug made a heartfelt appeal to New Yorkers yesterday: Pray for me and my...

HOW DRUG CAN AFFECT THE EMBRYO

The savage syringe attack on a pregnant Bronx nurse spotlights the importance of a commonly available B vitamin in the development of a fetus. A married doctor allegedly injected Joy...

LITTLE GUYS ARE WILLING TO GRIN AND BEAR IT ALL

Working stiffs pressing their noses to the glass at the Times Square Nasdaq display yesterday said they'll stick with their favorite tech stocks for the long haul. Lee Haberman has...

TRANSPLANT SURVIVOR CAMPAIGNS OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF HIS HEART

Couch potato Donald Arthur had a real change of heart - and now he's a marathon runner. His heart transplant nearly four years ago gave the former bookkeeper a second...

COLUMBIA '68: A CAMPUS IN CHAOS

The Vietnam War ended in defeat for the U.S.-backed regime in Saigon 25 years ago this month, the end of a demoralizing conflict that left its mark on all aspects...

LAWYERS' GLITCH COULD MEAN DEATH TO REFUGEE

EVEN if the worst happens and Elian Gonzalez is sent back to Castro's Cuba, he will lose only his freedom, not his life. Dominic Nunu, who fled the Liberian regime...

COPS: THIS IS W. SIDE RAPE FIEND

Police yesterday released a sketch of the suspect in the knifepoint rape of a woman who had just returned to her Upper West Side home after attending the opera at...

RUDY'S REVISION: TAX CUT WILL BE HALF AS BIG AS BOASTED

Mayor Giuliani yesterday backed off a plan to cut taxes by another $2 billion, saying the city couldn't return so much money to taxpayers because projected long-term deficits were too...

'VOLATILE' RON UNFIT DAD: NANNY

An ex-nanny hurled the latest volley of mud in the Ron Perelman-Patricia Duff custody war yesterday - testifying that the city's richest man is "volatile," and unfit to be a...

'MARRIAGE PENALTY' ANNULLED

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki and state lawmakers reached a five-year, $1.2 billion, tax-cut deal yesterday, even as they failed to agree on an overall new state budget. The accord would...

CITY WARNS CABBIES OF ILLEGAL PICKUPS

To make a few extra bucks, most livery drivers thumb their noses at city rules barring them from picking up street hails - a move that has cost six drivers...

DEMS CAN'T BEAT BUSH FOR CHARITY

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and wife Laura say they gave 16 percent of their income to charity last year - a higher figure than either the...

HILLARY TAPS NON-NYERS TO FINANCE SENATE RUN

Virtually all the unregulated "soft money" raised by Hillary Rodham Clinton this year came from out-of-state residents, according to financial records released yesterday. Of the $1.39 million she collected from...

KIN ENDANGER 'EXPLOITED' ELIAN: DOC - URGES RENO TO LET DAD HAVE SON NOW

Elian Gonzalez is so endangered by his Miami relatives and the crowd outside their Little Havana home he needs to be returned immediately to his dad, says a Bronx doctor...

TEAM RUDY BRUSHES OFF NEWT'S DIRE PREDICTION

WASHINGTON - Mayor Giuliani's campaign chief yesterday shrugged off ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich's claim that Hillary Rodham Clinton will beat Hizzoner for Senate - and could run for president in...

BULLS ROAR BACK ONTO STREET - NASDAQ AND DOW POST JUMBO GAINS

Whew! Stock investors got a wild ride yesterday, as the market careened all over the place and ended up a whole lot higher. The Dow Jones industrial average fell as...

OFF-DUTY COPS MAY SUB FOR DOORMEN

Luxury apartment buildings intend to hire off-duty cops to work as security guards if building workers walk off the job at midnight tomorrow. "An off-duty policeman will be stationed in...

PRISON TERMS FOR TRIO IN L.I. ADOPTION RING

Two Long Island women and an Arizona lawyer were slapped with federal prison sentences yesterday in a phony adoption scheme that funneled babies from Mexican moms to would-be parents in...

TENSION GROWS AMONG ELIAN FACTIONS - SIDES ANXIOUSLY AWAIT COURT RULING

Both sides played a waiting game in the Elian Gonzalez custody fight yesterday as a federal appeals court mulled a decision that could break the stalemate and trigger a father-and-son...

DIALLO KIN SUING CITY, FOUR COPS FOR $61M

The parents of Amadou Diallo plan to hit the city - and four police officers - with a $61 million suit today for gunning down their unarmed son, The Post...

COLLEGE COACH SURE CHAD WILL BE GREAT

First things first: Bob Pruett had little to do with the decision Al Groh, one of his closest friends, made in selecting Chad Pennington with the Jets' 18th overall pick...

DON'T SELL THIS PICK SHORT - GIANTS' 4TH-ROUNDER LOOKS LIKE A BARGAIN

He was the leading tackler, a co-captain, an unquestioned leader on the sturdy, star-studded Penn State defense. He had been a fixture for four years. He grew up in the...

BULLET DODGES THE DERBY

Rare are the connections of a top 3-year-old who aren't stricken with an incurable case of Derby fever this time of year. But that's the case with owner Frank Stronach...

DUDLEY READY, WILLING AND ABLE

KNICK NOTES Backup center Chris Dudley hasn't come off the Knicks' injured list, but he took a step in that direction by practicing with the team for the first time...

LEWIS: I'LL LAY DOWN LAW VS. GRANT

Lennox Lewis says he will climb into the ring in the Garden on April 29 intent on proving he's the best fighter on the planet, and it has little to...

FINAL DAZE FOR CASEY

The phrase for today, boys and girls, is "lame duck." With an inevitable firing awaiting him after two more games, Don Casey plods on during the final hours of his...

WILPON'S GOTTA DECIDE VALENTINE'S FATE NOW

SO let's get this straight. A college kid can nearly get Bobby Valentine fired, but GM Steve Phillips can't. After this weekend, a situation that was already difficult just got...

LLOYD COPES WITH SORROW - WIFE'S SUDDEN DEATH ROCKS GRAEME'S WORLD

PHILADELPHIA - When the towering, lanky frame of Graeme Lloyd would appear out of the Yankee Stadium bullpen in September of 1996, the Bomber faithful showered him with boos, taunts...

KNEE-MAN MARCUS HAS JEFF WORRIED

With the Knicks limping to the finish of the NBA regular season and trying to right the ship before the playoffs start next weekend, they'll play their final two games...

METS' NEW GAME IS FAMILY FEUD - PHILLIPS' VENDETTA VERSUS V FOOLISH

MORE and more, Steve Phillips impresses me less and less. With each day that goes by, he reminds me less of a big-league GM than a Triple-A Dave Checketts, a...

MUSCLE STRAIN PUTS JONES ON 15-DAY DL

MET NOTES Fresno Bobby Jones has been placed on the 15-day disabled list and is expected to miss two to four weeks with a strained right calf muscle. Taking Jones'...

ROGER: I HAVE RIGHT STUFF - CLEMENS IRRITATED BY HIS DETRACTORS

ARLINGTON - Roger Clemens has heard the whispers and the Rocket isn't pleased about the manner in which some people have dissected the first three starts in his second season...

LEMIEUX GIVES YOUNG STARS SOMEONE THEY CAN LEAN ON

SUNRISE, Fla. - There is an old guard of Devils, there is a new generation of Devils, and then there is Claude Lemieux. There is Lemieux, wearing the uniform with...

MOUND MATES OFFER ADVICE TO HAMPTON

Amid all the controversy surrounding Whartongate, Mike Hampton, Al Leiter and John Franco went out to dinner Saturday night in Pittsburgh. The new Mets' lefty, who starts tonight at Shea...

PETTITTE'S FLAT-OUT CONCERNED

YANKEE NOTES ARLINGTON - Andy Pettitte isn't sure what's going to happen today when he attempts to throw on flat ground. After having to quit Sunday following 20 tosses, Pettitte...

DEVILS' NEXT GOAL: BURY BURE - GUNNING FOR THE SWEEP AS SERIES HEADS SOUTH

SUNRISE, Fla. - There's plenty left to prove for these Devils. Reputation repair is still in the hypothesis stage. Fresh from burying one bugaboo, they run into another tonight. This...

BOBBY A LIAR? GM WONDERED

On the one hand, Steve Phillips wants to move beyond Whartongate. On the other, he just can't. In a new twist to his crumbling relationship with Bobby Valentine, the Met...

IMPEACHMENT, TRIPPI IN DERBY

Dogwood Stable president Cot Campbell said yesterday that he will enter Impeachment and Trippi in the May 6 Kentucky Derby. "Impeachment's stretch run in the Arkansas Derby was impressive," Campbell...

STINK PANTHERS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

Panthers captain Scott Mellanby was asked if he could recall an opponent scoring with a two-man disadvantage. That is, before the Devils did it Sunday night in their Game 2...

CLEMENS IRRITATED BY CRITICS

ARLINGTON - Roger Clemens has heard the whispers and the Rocket isn't pleased about the manner in which some people have dissected the first three starts in his second season...

YANKS OWE UMP BIG TIP

ARLINGTON - A dozen games in and the Yankees' season has a freaky look to it. How else do you explain what happened last night at The Ballpark against the...