January 13, 2002

HOCK IDEAS ON THE WEB

WWW.NEWIDEATRADE.COM There are a few ways to become rich. You can be born rich. You can work hard all your life, save thoughtfully and invest wisely. Or, you can come...

BULL'S EYE

Fool.com lives up to its name Dunces. Who's the fool now? Some followers of The Motley Fool, the irreverent personal finance Web site whose stated goal is to inform, to...

THIS VALUE FUND EARNS ITS STRIPES

TO figure out the strategy behind the Summit Apex Everest fund, just study the name. This is a fund that's aiming for the highest heights. Since its inception at the...

WALL ST. FAVORS FANNIE

Part of the "American Dream" is to own a home. So it's not surprising that Fannie Mae, a company which makes that dream possible for low- and middle-income families, is...

NEW 401(K) PROPOSALS

Former Enron employees are still waiting to hear if they will ever get back the money they lost in their 401(k) plans after the company declared bankruptcy. The Enron debacle...

MEE PUTS SEX AT CENTER STAGE

When it comes to sex, there is nothing on stage as lurid as in the movies. Last year, that great English actor Mark Rylance, who appears later this year at...

DOOR DIVA : IT'S NOT EASY GETTING BY NOTORIOUS VELVET-ROPE ARBITER KENNY KENNY

It's 8:30 p.m. on a recent Saturday, and Kenny Kenny is ensconced in his West Village apartment, gearing up for a night of velvet-rope duties at the ultra-trendy Union Square...

STYLE & SUBSTANCE: DEAN WINTERS

Dean Winters is both deranged and sexy as prisoner Ryan O'Reilly on HBO's "Oz," which is now in its fifth season. And the sarcastic, smart-ass attitude that the series' viewers...

THEY BLOOP TO CONQUER

For far too long, actors who couldn't speak so much as a line of dialogue without giggling, or light a cigarette without setting their noses on fire, have been looked...

TAKE A WALK ON THE DARK SIDE

Life's a bitch for Hanada Goro, known in yakuza circles as Tokyo's "No. 3 killer." While he's out whacking people for the mob, his wife is being seduced by his...

BAWDY SPOOF OF REALITY TV GETS GOOD 'RUN' AT SUNDANCE

PARK CITY, Utah - A musical number spoofing "Mary Poppins" has people talking about one of the most outrageous films at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The wild comedy "Run...

WHAT I WATCH

BEN STILLERACTORMY GUILTY PLEASURE IS NICK AT NITE. I WATCH OLD "GILLIGAN'S ISLAND" AND "BEWITCHED" - ALL THAT STUFF.BLU CANTRELLGRAMMY-NOMINATED SINGER"ER." I LOVE THE WAY THE CHARACTERS INTERACT AND DEVELOP....

WEIRD WORLD : FLORIDA STILL A 'BASKET CASE' IN HIAASEN'S LATEST CAPER

KNOPF336 PAGES, $25.95 In Carl Hiaasen's Florida, strippers wrestle in creamed corn, dolphins goose tourists and a guy keeps a large dead lizard in his freezer. Hiaasen's not making this...

UNEXPLAINEDABSENCES

'UNDECLARED," the quirky new Fox show about life in the first year of college, has been pre-empted so many times in its first season that even the producer's family thinks...

HOT AND BOTHERED AT THE RUSSIAN BATHS

I always thought saunas and steam rooms were about fluffy white towels and gentle perspiration.Not at the 10th Street Russian and Turkish Baths. I went to the historic spa for...

HAVE A STEAK IN HELPING OTHERS

The coming week promises oodles of adventures in eating. So help yourself, and while you're at it, help others. Where's the beef? This Wednesday, it's at Etoile. The starry venue...

IT'S THE LEASH YOU CAN DO: POOCH SAFETY AFTER THE DEATH OF BUDDY

The recent death of Bill and Hillary Clinton's dog Buddy focused national attention on the issue of dogs and safety. The 4-year-old first dog, a chocolate lab, was struck by...

A REAL SHOOTING WAR: HOLLYWOOD CAMERAS TRAINED ON FIELDS OF BATTLE

Hollywood, which has been at war since Sept. 11, digs even deeper into the trenches for the spring season, trotting out an explosion-filled lineup of dramas that take you straight...

AND OFF THE BEATEN PATH ...

Even if the upcoming films from the major studios don't look all that promising, there are some bright spots among independent and foreign films. I'm very bullish on "Kissing Jessica...

DESPERATE SEARCH FOR SECT BABY

Massachusetts authorities are desperately searching for a newborn baby they suspect is being hidden by members of a weird religious sect who shun medical care, and have been accused of...

DON'T BET YOUR BOTTOM ABDALLAH ON RADIO GUY'S TALE

I'LL settle for Agatha Christie when it comes to fiction, but I hate real-life mysteries. However, the most amateur sleuth could raise eyebrows with questions in the case of Abdallah...

PAKISTAN PREZ TRIES TO SNUFF THE FUSE

The president of Pakistan announced a crackdown on Islamic extremism yesterday, including a ban on two Kashmiri groups that India blames for the attack on its parliament last month. In...

SEXY NEWS NETWORK

CNN must be more desperate to catch 18- to 49-year-old men than my friend Maureen with the ticking biological clock. How else can you explain the ad for "just a...

BRIDES LEFT AT THE ALTAR BY BANKRUPT GOWN SHOP

A Queens bridal salon, shuttered after declaring bankruptcy, has left a bunch of brides-to-be banging at the door for their gowns. Packs of women with their fathers, mothers, fiancés and...

PITTS SETTLE LAWSUIT VS. JEWELER OVER ADS THAT DIDN'T 'RING' TRUE

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have resolved their ring-rage lawsuit against a pricey Italian jeweler. The couple, who sued Silvia Damiani over claims she made them unwilling participants in one...

DOC'S NEEDLES SUSPECT IN HEPATITIS OUTBREAK

The city Health Department said yesterday it wants to test patients treated by a Manhattan doctor for a possible exposure of Hepatitis B after 20 of his patients were infected...

BODIES OF 5 MARINES FOUND AT CRASH SITE

Military probers yesterday found the remains of five of the seven Marines killed when their refueling plan crashed into a mountain ridge in southwestern Pakistan last week, officials said. The...

CUOMO, MCCALL RIP GOV'S HEALTH-CARE POWER PLAY

ALBANY - New York's two Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls yesterday urged Gov. Pataki to stop trying to ram a controversial, $1 billion-plus health-care plan through the Legislature. State Comptroller Carl McCall...

LAND & SEA STRIKES : ISRAELIS TARGET PALESTINIAN SMUGGLING ROUTES

Israeli missiles and frogmen blew up two Palestinian ships and bulldozers pulverized a Gaza airport yesterday in what Israel called a crackdown on Yasser Arafat's weapons-smuggling system. Israelis also flattened...

'SURVIVOR' HUNK HAS GALS DROOLING

Get ready, ladies. Curly-haired "Survivor III" winner Ethan Zohn, the newly minted millionaire bachelor, is coming home. Now it's his turn to give the challenge: Which Manhattan woman can scoop...

POLICE SWEEPING THE SIDEWALKS FOR LOGO LEECHES AT GROUND ZERO

The cops are putting the lid on street vendors hawking unofficial NYPD and FDNY merchandise at ground zero. Cops have beefed up their presence to enforce stricter peddler regulations and...

'GOLDEN BOY' FIREMAN FOUND IN WTC RUBBLE

The body of a fallen firefighter, one of 14 men from a single firehouse lost in the World Trade Center tragedy, was pulled from the wreckage at ground zero last...

POLS' BUMPER CROP OF BIZARRE BILLS

WASHINGTON - Amid the heavy debate in Congress last year on taxes and schools, New York lawmakers also found time to focus on the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" ditty, postage stamps...

OUR HARDEST-WORKING LAWMAKERS

WASHINGTON - Life on Capitol Hill is more hectic for some of New York's elected representatives than it is for others, a Post review of the last congressional year has...

BLOOMY'S BLOOPERS ARE ON THE TIP OF HIS TONGUE

He's getting the big stuff down pat - it's the small talk that has caused Mayor Bloomberg to stumble slightly. While the novice mayor has been surprisingly at ease in...

CLAPTON PLANS ETERNAL REST WITH HIS TRAGIC SON

Eric Clapton reportedly wants to be buried near his 4-year-old son Conor in a English churchyard. The 56-year-old rock star revealed the secret of his funeral arrangements to Conor's mother,...

INTERPOL: OSAMA WAS 'HIT MAN' IN '94 SLAYINGS

Terror lord Osama bin Laden was reportedly a hit man involved in the murder of a husband-and-wife team investigating the Lockerbie air disaster. An Interpol arrest warrant says the Saudi...

SKEPTICAL TELLER FOILS QNS. BANK THIEF: COPS

A Queens bank teller's refusal to take an alleged bank robber "seriously" led to his arrest - and charges in two other bank heists and a failed robbery during the...

1963 COP KILLER FACES LAWSUIT

Cop killer Thomas Trantino is set to be released from a New Jersey halfway house next month, but he'll have new legal challenge - a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the...

BUSH BUDGET BACKS BIG JOB BOOST

President Bush previewed his upcoming budget yesterday and said it shows his "highest priorities" include "extra help" for jobless Americans and creating new jobs - as well as the war...

'STEP-SIS' EYED IN MASS. WRITER SLAY

The police probe into the mysterious death of former New York fashion writer Christa Worthington has taken a strange twist after police questioned the murdered woman's "stepsister." The news was...

HARRY POTHEAD: PRINCE IN DRUG-REHAB STUNNER

Britain's Prince Harry was sent to a rehab clinic after admitting he smoked pot and boozed it up, a shocking new report says. Prince Charles arranged for his son to...

TEACHER BUSTED IN 'NET-SEX LURE

A Long Island middle-school teacher was arrested yesterday for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old student over the Internet, Suffolk County police said. Bradley Roffer, 26, a gym teacher in the...

9/11 AGONY RIPS SOME KIN APART : GRIEF AND $QUABBLES FUEL FAMILY FEUDING

Grief, hurt feelings and bitter disputes over money have torn apart some families that lost loved ones in the attacks on the World Trade Center. The relatives of two victims...

MYSTERY DUO COULD CRACK PROBE INTO TERROR CELLS

WASHINGTON - As part of the al Qaeda puzzle, they are two odd pieces investigators can't quite place. What is known is that Ramzi Binalshibh is dangerous and on the...

COP TRAINING MAY LOSE 'FLUFF'

The city's police academy may slice away three months from recruits' training, turning back the clocks and returning to an older style of teaching, The Post has learned. Deputy Commissioner...

'GHOST JOBS' DON'T SCARE LABOR BOSS

The president of the city union being investigated for creating phantom jobs has called the FBI's allegations "figmentations" and said the feds have yet to present him with any proof...

JET FANS VIN-CENSED : WILD-CARD DEFEAT IS BLAMED ON TESTAVERDE

Jet fans turned green with envy last night as their team dropped the wild-card ball to the Raiders and ended their topsy-turvy season. With a sagging defense and a mediocre...

RACKETS PROBED AT GROUND ZERO

Mob-busters last week launched a racketeering probe of a Queens union whose members run the cranes and other earth-moving equipment at ground zero, The Post has learned. State Organized Crime...

VICTORIA GOTTI

TOURISM may have been dealt a brutal blow by the terrorism of 9/11, but the fact that the site of the destruction is being promoted as a tourist attraction is...

W'CHESTER REP A MONEY PLAYER

WASHINGTON - New York's rising star in Congress is a grandmother from Westchester County who stepped aside so Hillary Rodham Clinton could become the state's new senator. Rep. Nita Lowey...

ANOTHER SICKO LURES TEEN INTO HIS TWISTED 'NET: COPS

Another cyber-abduction has prompted cops to warn parents to closely monitor the Internet activities of their children. A Pennsylvania court last week heard details of how a man abducted a...

BARING A SCAM BY 'THE BOOK' : ELEVATOR MAN'S NOTES GIVE UNION PROBE A LIFT

An elevator mechanic's little black book is helping the feds blow the lid off a multimillion-dollar scam in which corrupt members of a powerful mob-tainted city union lined their pockets...

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS GET LESSONS IN HOW TO SAVE THEMSELVES

Catholic educators are on a mission to become better salesmen for their schools and avoid landing on Edward Cardinal Egan's hit list. Egan will soon decide whether to close parochial...

BIZ BIGS COMING TO RESCUE OF SCHOOLS CHIEF

Harold Levy's powerful allies in the corporate world are putting in a good word with billionaire Mayor Bloomberg in what some insiders say is a concerted campaign by the schools...

SUICIDE CRASH KID'S FAMILY PARTY PLAN

The evening 15-year-old Charles Bishop crashed a stolen plane into a Tampa skyscraper, he was supposed to go to a party thrown by his grandmother in honor of the completion...

TAKE ME OFF LINE OF SUCCESSION: BETSY

Like Mayor Bloomberg, the woman who is just a heartbeat away from becoming mayor is a newcomer to elected office. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum would ascend to City Hall if...

SKATER TEEN-RIFIC! L.I. GIRL MAKES OLYMPIC TEAM

Sarah Hughes looped and twirled her way to next month's Winter Olympics, finishing third at the U.S. Figure Skating championships last night in Los Angeles to earn a trip to...

PATRIOTS GO FOR GOLD : SEPT. 11 INSPIRES U.S. OLYMPIANS

U.S. athletes are planning to use a wave of red, white and blue patriotism to sweep them to a record medal haul at the Winter Olympics next month. The Games,...

TEQUILA FAD 'SKY' ROCKETING AS BIG SPENDERS BOOZE LIKE CRUISE

When Tom Cruise ordered a tequila shot with a beer chaser in a Manhattan nightclub in a scene from his latest movie "Vanilla Sky," he may have sparked a new...

LASIX GETS 'GOLD' GOING

The track was labeled good for first three races, fast for remainder of card. Jockeys Aaron Gryder, Richard Migliore, and Jose Velez missed their connecting flight in Egypt after riding...

ZONK ROLLS HOME IN AFFECTIONATELY

Richie Migliore's loss was Chuckie Lopez's gain yesterday at the Big A. Migliore, along with jockeys Aaron Gryder and Jose Velez Jr., was in Saudi Arabia on Friday to ride...

MINNY'S SHEEP IN WOLVES CLOTHING

PHILADELPHIA - Call me a cynic, call me a misanthropist, call me collect with your one phone call from lockup, but I just can't get too excited over the Timberwolves...

EMANUEL FRIAR FEUD

PROVIDENCE - Once again St. John's Donald Emanuel got into a trash-talking, light-pushing, square off with an opposing player, and coach Mike Jarvis said he will talk to the senior...

RED STORM FIZZLE OUT

Providence78 St. John's57 PROVIDENCE - For the last season and one half there have been countless theories as to why St. John's has been so inconsistent. None has held up....

PASSIVE ERIC FAILS TO PROVIDE PUNCH

Flyers4 Rangers2 PHILADELPHIA - Except for the undertone of obligatory boos every time Eric Lindros stepped onto the ice or lined up for a faceoff, the atmosphere was downright muted...

IT'S OBVIOUS THAT LINDROS HAS A WAY TO GO

PHILADELPHIA - The Moses brought here a decade ago to lead the local flock to the Promised Land now plays for the Egyptians. In honor of his return, they staged...

LOURDES CUTS DOWN CTK

Lourdes 63CTK 57 Over the years, Christ the King has gotten used to winning. Maybe too used to it. "Some of our young players never experienced anything like this," said...

EAGLES: THIS JUST 1ST STEP

PHILADELPHIA - A year ago, they celebrated long and hard after their 21-3 playoff victory over the Buccaneers. This time, following yesterday's 31-9 rout of the Bucs, the Eagles were...

BUC LOSS DOOMS DUNGY, SETS UP BILL ENCORE

Eagles31 Bucs9 PHILADELPHIA - After he surveyed the carnage of a game and a season that had ended less than 30 minutes earlier, Keyshawn Johnson figured he knew what was...

RARE GOAL OUTBURST HAS ISLES SMILING

Isles5 Bruins4 BOSTON - Looking to avoid the first three-game losing streak of the season, the Islanders gave coach Peter Laviolette an emotional win last night in his former office,...

HOUSTON: WE'VE FORGOTTEN WHO WE ARE UNDER CHANEY

Allan Houston, for whom shooting the basketball comes as easily and naturally as walking or talking, had the most dominating game of his career last night against Milwaukee. He shook...

ABRAHAM MAKES 'D' SICK

OAKLAND - The Jets were hampered severely last night in their attempt to advance past into second round of playoffs when their Pro Bowl defensive end John Abraham turned up...

KENYON'S 'D' MAGIC FOR NETS

Nets91 Magic85 ORLANDO - Kenyon Martin was booed lustily from the moment he put one foot on the court. And every time he touched the ball, every time he got...

KNICKS DON'T QUIT BUT SKID NOW AT FIVE

The Knicks did not quit on Don Chaney like Charles Barkley would have liked. Nor did they quit on the game. The Knicks turned massive third-quarter Garden boos into wild...

SPREE: CHARLES' BARK HAS NO BITE

Latrell Sprewell staunchly defended Don Chaney, disputing TNT's Charles Barkley for saying the club had quit on the Knicks coach. "Charles has never liked the Knicks," Sprewell said before last...

COMPLETELY INDEFENSIBLE

OAKLAND - The Jets scratched and clawed, and lost volumes of blood and sweat to earn a coveted playoff berth for this heartbreak? What a shame. The Jets' spirited run...

RAIDERS RIGHT A SINKING SHIP

OAKLAND - For three agonizing weeks, the Raiders played like an old, fallen man who could not get up. But last night, Oakland stood tall again. The Raiders wiped out...

GANNON PRAISES HIS OFFENSIVE LINE

OAKLAND - Rich Gannon looked like his old self last night instead of just looking old. After three tough weeks that took the luster off a standout season, the 36-year-old...

'OLD MAN' RICE A WORK OF ART

OAKLAND - Wayne Chrebet had two words to describe the man who had stuck the knife into the Jets last night. "He's art." Marcus Coleman had his own two words...

MARTIN TO FANS: WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR

OAKLAND - When Raiders 38, Jets 24 was over, they asked Curtis Martin what he would like to say to diehard Jet fans. "First of all, thank you," Martin said....

IN DEFEAT, VIN A WINNER: DON'T PUT BLAME ON JETS' QB

OAKLAND - There are no excuses for the pain they felt flying back across the country this morning with an agonizing 38-24 playoff loss to the Raiders. The Jets have...

TESTAVERDE EARNED SPOT FOR NEXT YEAR

OAKLAND - If there's a single positive and enlightening revelation that came out last night's 38-24 playoff loss to the Raiders for the Jets it's that they should realize that...

TV AD TAKES JEEP SHOT AT HUNTERS

THE maker of the popular Jeep line of vehicles, DaimlerChrysler, has turned its back on American sportsmen by launching an ad campaign that glorifies anti-hunters and vilifies hunters. In Jeep's...

NFL KNOCKS ITS FANS OUT COLD ONCE AGAIN

TAKING ITS ticket-buying public for granted is a time-honored tradition in the NFL. In fact, the better a team does in any given season, the more its patrons will be...

THE WILD ROAD HAS A FAMILIAR RING TO RAVENS

MIAMI - Injuries to key players and a sputtering offense kept the Ravens from having the kind of season expected from a defending Super Bowl champion. But their entry into...

NINERS, PACK DRESS FOR COLD WAR

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Packers lore has it that on the morning of Dec. 31, 1967, Cowboys receiver Lance Rentzel, awakened by a ringing telephone in his Holiday Inn room,...

FLEURY WON'T BE SCRATCHED : CANADIANS WANT THEO AT GAMES

PHILADELPHIA - The hot-button question that has been raised across Canada over this last week - should or would Theo Fleury be replaced on the nation's Olympic Team? - has...

MAY NEVER PASS THIS WAY AGAIN : TESTAVERDE'S DAYS COULD BE DRAWING AS JET TO CLOSE

OAKLAND - It was strongly speculated last week that Vinny Testaverde was playing for his Jets' future while trying to get them to the playoffs. Since Testaverde helped lead the...

EDWARDS' GREATEST RECOVERY: NEW-LOOK JETS ARE ALL HERM

OAKLAND - For more than two decades, you couldn't say the name Herman Edwards without adding "The Fumble." But no matter what happened last night in the AFC Wild-Card game...

GANG GREEN LINEMEN DRIVE GANNON BATTY

JET NOTES OAKLAND - The Jets got their hands on four Rich Gannon passes at or near the line of scrimmage last Sunday. Jets' DT Steve Martin had two of...

KENYON'S COOL WITH THUG TAG

ORLANDO - Kenyon Martin is building a reputation as a dirty player, Tracy McGrady claimed. Martin heard the accusation, shrugged and insisted he would not lose any sleep over it....

DESPERATE TIMES FOR SKIDDING ISLES

BOSTON - The microscope was out last night. Against the Bruins, who have been surging of late, the Islanders had a chance to gain a huge two points here, while...

SORRY, CHARLIE, WE DIDN'T QUIT: KNICKS DISMISS BARKLEY DISS

Latrell Sprewell staunchly defended Don Chaney before yesterday's Bucks game, disputing TNT's Charles Barkley for saying the club had quit on Knicks coach Don Chaney. Sprewell got his hackles raised...

SPOON MAY SEE ACTION WEDNESDAY

KNICK NOTES Power forward Clarence Weatherspoon said he's shooting to suit up Wednesday in Boston if he is able to withstand two straight days of practices tomorrow and Tuesday. Weatherspoon,...

DEVS LOSE DAGENAIS

More than five years after they first drafted him, and three years after they used another pick to re-select him, the Devils lost Pierre Dagenais on waivers to the Panthers...

SHEA BYE MONDESI, HELLO ASTACIO?

As the Mets move forward with their post-Gonzalez plans, a winter blizzard of rumors from all over the country (and Canada) have been heading Shea's way. Some reported deals make...

TOTAL ECLIPSE : POST'S ED FOUNTAINE MAKES HIS PICKS FOR RACING'S TOP AWARDS

TOTAL ECLIPSE The Eclipse Awards for 2001 will be presented Feb. 18 in Hollywood, Fla. Voting ends Jan. 4 and the three finalists in each category will be announced Jan....