She is 21 years old, has no college degree and has worked for only a year and a half. Yet Carmela Girello makes more than $300 a week, about $2,000 a year more than the average recent college graduate, and her salary is likely to keep rising.

Carmela Girello is bright, personable, articulate and skilled, and these qualities all work to her advantage. But she is in high demand primarily because of her field. She is a secretary - and right now a good one seems almost as hard to find as a parking space on Wall Street.

When Miss Girello accepted a job at Chemical Bank last month, her decision brought a relieved ''Thank God'' from her new boss, Walter Kehoe, a divisional director.

Nationwide, secretarial training schools now graduate only twothirds of the secretaries needed to fill 305,000 openings each year, according to the United States Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the problem is growing. Between 1978 and 1990, demand is expected to increase 45 percent, more than twice the rate for all other occupations. The need for all office support personnel, including clerks, bookkeepers, typists and machine operators, may rise 28 percent, the Labor Department reports. Increase in Paperwork

The problem is due to a rise in office paperwork, especially in growing fields like finance, insurance and real estate, at a time when women, who make up 98 percent of the secretarial force, are moving into other occupations.

According to the Katherine Gibbs School, where Miss Girello got her training, graduates get so many offers that they can virtually select the location where they want to work.

And hiring officers throughout the United States are feeling the squeeze. ''Secretaries just aren't walking in like they used to,'' said Janet Marsh, an employment officer at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, Calif. ''There's a lot of competition in the Bay area. I'll set up an interview with someone and another company will swipe her first. They'll tell her we don't pay as much as they do, even though it isn't true.''

In New York, Chemical Bank is one of the employers hit by the shortage. Deborah Karsai, an assistant vice president in charge of clerical employment, said, ''We continuously have 20 percent more jobs open than we have candidates to fill them.'' Wages Climbing

Secretaries in the metropolitan area earned an average of $261.50 a week last year, up 7 percent from the year before, according to the Labor Department. Weekly earnings ranged from an average of $147.50 for a file clerk to $330 for an executive secretary for a top executive. Secretaries trained in word processing, personnel officers say, often earn a 20 to 25 percent premium.

A secretary looks for three things in a job, said Lynn Salvage, president of Gibbs: ''professional responsibility, compensation and mobility into management.''

Indeed the tight market for secretaries has made some executives realize that they risk facing life without a secretary if they cannot offer sufficient responsibilities and advancement opportunities.

Edgar Marchesini, a manager at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, had to get along without one of his department's two secretaries for seven weeks. No one wanted the job, a fairly low-level stenographer-typist position, in a company where 10 to 15 posts are vacant most of the time. Recruiting Methods

Personnel departments have devised various methods to overcome the problem. Miss Karsai of Chemical Bank is trying ''to establish good relations with secretarial schools, employment agencies and local colleges'' in hopes that placement officers will refer graduates to her.

The bank also participates in the New York public high schools' cooperative education program, which allows about 100 seniors each year to spend the time getting experience as secretaries in businesses. After the students graduate, the bank hopes they will stay on.

Metropolitan Life, which hires about 80 secretaries a year for its Madison Avenue office, provides secretaries with training in shorthand, grammar and other skills to help fill higher-level secretarial positions. The company also emphasizes its job-posting policy, which gives secretaries the opportunity to apply for better jobs by notifying them of all corporate openings.

Even some executives get in on the recruiting. One confessed that he recruited his new secretary from someone else's office after a meeting there. ''I was desperate,'' he said.


Bernard Holland's article on orchestra auditions held behind screens neglects to mention some of the potental embarrassments of such a democratic procedure. I recall sitting for three days on a Met jury listening to unseen candidates for three violin-section openings.

The uncertainty of who or what was playing became so unbearable that I fell asleep and dreamt that we hired a dwarf, a 90-year-old Eskimo, and a chimpanzee.The dream ended happily, though. The dwarf made an excellent section-player (after arranging for him to sit on the Principal Violinist's right shoulder to see the conductor), the old Eskimo was retired after one season with full pension, and the chimpanzee became a union official. LESLIE DREYER, Associate Principal, Second Violinist, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City

Summary: To the Editor:    Bernard Holland's article on orchestra auditions held behind screens neglects to mention some of the potental embarrassments of such a democratic procedure. I recall sitting for three days on a Met jury listening to unseen candidates for three violin-section openings.


TRIPOLI, Libya, April 17— The Libyan press agency said today that Libya's leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, had begun withdrawing his Soviet-armed troops from neighboring Chad and turning control over to his Chadian ally. No date was announced for the completion of the withdrawal.

The agency said that Colonel Qaddafi had disclosed the troop withdrawal to President Siaka P. Stevens of Sierra Leone at a state dinner here last night. Six months ago Libya sent a military contingent to Chad to help President Goukouni Oueddei oust opponents led by Hissen Habre, the former Defense Minister. Colonel Qaddafi and Mr. Goukouni later announced a plan to merge their countries. ----

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) -The State Department refused to comment today on a published report that the United States was drafting a secret strategy to overthrow Colonel Qaddafi.


Alice Lawrence Ober and Harry L. Curtis 3d were married yesterday by the Rev. Huntington Williams Jr. at St. James Episcopal Church in Monkton, Md.

The bride is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank B. Ober Jr. of Monkton, where her father breeds and raises registered Holstein cattle at Hope Hollow Farm. She is a granddaughter of the late Frank B. Ober, a retired partner in the Baltimore law firm of Ober, Grimes & Shriver, and the late Mrs. Ober, and of Mr. and Mrs. Raeburn H. Parker of Garrison, Md. Mr. Parker retired as assistant treasurer of Airco Inc., formerly the Air Reduction Company in New York.

Mrs. Curtis, a candidate for a master's degree in special education at the Bank Street College of Education, was graduated from the Garrison Forest School and cum laude from Wheaton College, having studied during her junior year at the University of London. She made her debut in 1974 at the Bachelors Cotillon in Baltimore.

Mr. Curtis, a financial analyst for W.R. Grace & Company in New York, received an M.B.A. degree last year from Columbia University. He was graduated from the Pike School, Governor Dummer Academy and Lafayette College.

He is a son of Mr. Curtis Jr. of Lynnfield, Mass., and Mrs. Morton Margolis of North Andover, Mass. His father is an electronic engineer with the Raytheon Company in Bedford, Mass., and his stepfather is a retired professor of humanities at Boston University.

The bridegroom is a grandson of Gordon Chickering Prince of Wenham, Mass., and the late Anna Agassiz Prince, and a descendant of Louis Agassiz, the zoologist and geologist who was a professor at Harvard University, and his wife, Elizabeth Cabot Cary Agassiz, who was the first president of Radcliffe College.

Laurette W. Chambers was maid of honor and Steven Shaffer served as best man.

Illustrations: photo of Alice Curtis


THE Yonkers Summer Youth Employment Program is entering the final week of its Job Telethon and last week Frank Centeno, who is coordinating the project, discussed the response so far. ''We would like to see more participation,'' he said, ''in a program that gives an opportunity to economically disadvantaged youth.''

According to Mr. Centeno, this is the first job telethon for economically disadvantaged youth to be held in New York State. ''Our kids get discouraged when they can't get jobs because they don't have experience,'' said Mr. Centeno. ''It seems that many area employers don't want to give our youth a chance. We hope this program will help them gain the basic skills and experience they will need in the future. That's why our motto is: 'A job today will guarantee a youth's future tomorrow.' ''

The Youth Employment Program is a division of the Yonkers Community Action Program, and the goal of the telethon is to garner permanent jobs or vocational training for more than 150 minority youths between the ages of 18 and 21. Employers throughout the lower Westchester area are being asked to call a special hotline number to pledge jobs for the youths.

The telethon, which began on July 20, has placed nine youths and referred 97 others to various employers. To date, 76 job pledges have been called in by prospective employers, for such positions as bank teller, sales-person, nurse's aide and mechanic. The organizers of the program are particularly interested in jobs that offer continuing training.

In pledging a job, an employer agrees that he will interview the candidates referred by the program and hire only if the candidate meets the job's requirements. In most cases, the program will send more than one applicant.

Mr. Centeno said that those employers who have called to pledge jobs indicated that they believed local youths were good workers and deserved a chance. Each employer who hires a youth from the program is also eligible for a tax credit, for hiring an economically disadvantaged youth.

The two-month summer employment program, which is in its fifth year of operation, has an enrollment of 650 youths between the ages of 14 and 21. Each is considered economically disadvantaged under Federal guidelines. Approximately 30 percent are between the ages of 18 and 21. They include high-school graduates, high school drop-outs and physically and emotionally handicapped youth who want to work, said Mr. Centeno. ''We won't refer anyone who doesn't have an interest in working,'' he said.

The program also refers youth to vocational programs to strengthen basic skills. This summer, 25 youths have been so referred, most qualifying for education grants to cover tutition.

Federal CETA funds are provided for the employment program through the Office of Employment and Training of the City of Yonkers. This year's budget for staff and payments to participants is $500,000. Many of the particpants now work part time for non-profit public and private organizations, filling counseling, day-care and secreterial and maintenance positions. From the program's budget, they are paid the minimum wage, $3.35 per hour, for 25 to 30 hours of work a week.

According to Mr. Centeno, job pledges have come in from throughout the lower county area, including White Plains, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Yonkers.

Job developers, who man the phones between the hours of 8:30 A.M. and 4 P.M., Monday through Friday, attempt to match the needs of the employer with the needs of the participants. The hotline telephone number is 965-5111.


President Reagan, warning of ''wildly skyrocketing deficits and runaway government,'' ordered a freeze on pending Federal regulations and abolished the Council on Wage and Price Stability. Speaking at his first news conference since becoming President, Mr. Reagan did not identify the targets of his proposed spending cuts, but he said those cuts are probably ''going to be bigger than anyone has ever attempted.'' (Page A1.)

New York's role as a money center is jeopardized by banks that move their businesses out of state, Anthony B. Solomon, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, warned the New York State Bankers Association. Bankers at the meeting, however, did not restrain their enthusiasm for legislation pending in Delaware that would allow outof-state banks to establish banks there. Low tax rates are the key attraction in Delaware. (D1.)

Gulf and Westinghouse settled lawsuits over uranium supply contracts and alleged price-fixing. The out-of-court settlement calls for Gulf to pay Westinghouse $25 million in cash and for Gulf to supply Westinghouse customers with 13 million pounds of uranium, paying Westinghouse commissions that could total $75 million. (D1.)

Nissan plans to build an automobile plant in Britain that would be able to produce 200,000 cars a year by 1986 and would employ 4,300 people, according to the British Government, which actively pursued the investment. The $500 million plant would be the first Japanese auto-assembly plant in the Common Market. (D1.)

Allegheny Ludlum has offered to buy Blue Bell Inc. for about $500 million, but the country's second-largest jeans maker called the $40-a-share offer ''totally inadequate.'' The Blue Bell board is expected to study the proposal this weekend. (D1.)

Allied Chemical's fourth-quarter earnings rose 20.8 percent to $81.4 million on an increase in sales of 11.5 percent. National Distillers said its earnings slipped 5.5 percent to $30.8 million on a sales gain of 1.2 percent. Continental Group's net increased 29.9 percent to $58.2 million. (D3.)

Xerox profits rose 11.3 percent to $142.2 million in the fourth quarter. Revenues rose 19.3 percent to $2.23 billion. (D3.) Gulf Oil reported a 16.9 percent slide. (D3.)

Bendix said it would buy up to 4 million of its common shares for cash at an average price of $64, and that it was negotiating to sell its geological survey unit, the United Geophysical Corporation. (D3.)

The Justice Department wants a delay in its A.T.&T. suit. Both sides have announced a settlement in the antitrust case, but the Government wants to bring the Reagan Administration up to date. (D3.)

Dome Petroleum will set up a new Canadian subsidiary that will be 75 percent Canadian-owned and will also increase its own Canadian ownership. The moves are to make Dome eligible for higher Canadian subsidies for exploration and development. (D6.) Markets

Gold prices fell as low as $485 an ounce in London, slipping below the $500 mark for the first time in more than nine months. But in later New York trading, gold prices rose to the $513-$515 range, reflecting new fears of unrest in Poland. In Europe, brokers said investors were abandoning gold for high interest rates in the U.S. In currency markets, the dollar rose against most major currencies. (D1.) In commodities markets, gold prices rose and grain was down. (D9.)

Money market funds grew by $2.2 billion in the week ended Wednesday, resulting in a $9.4 billion increase during January, a record for a month, the Investment Company Institute said. (D6.)

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.31 points, to 948.89, on the expectation that President Reagan would offer postive economic news in a news conference held after the close of the markets. Gold issues posted the strongest gains on the New York Stock Exchange, where advancing issues slightly outnumbered declining issues. (D6.)

Short-term rates fell slightly, reflecting lower Federal funds rates. In the long-term bond market, the heavy volume of new issues continued to attract investors. (D5.) Today's Columns

Pieces of the Reagan economic plan are falling into place and certain elements - such as the proposal for a 10 percent personal income tax cut in each of the next three years - are expected. But the timing of the cuts now remains a crucial question. Leonard Silk. Economic Scene. (D2.)

Equipment producers could benefit from deregulation of the telephone terminal market. A Smith Barney analyst recommends several. Market Place. (D6.)


WASHINGTON AS a lawyer in private practice representing some of the nation's largest commodities exchanges, Philip F. Johnson almost inevitably found himself at odds with the policies of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

In those days though, being a foe of the commission - the youngest and seemingly most troubled of Federal regulatory agencies - was a fairly easy task. Mr. Johnson recalls sitting in the gallery of the Senate as Thomas F. Eagleton, Democrat of Missouri, called the C.F.T.C. ''the most messed up agency in the Federal Government, bar none.''

That was a widely held view then, says Mr. Johnson, who is now chairman of the agency, and he concedes that the agency's reputation for ineptitude has been difficult to undo. Last month, for instance, before a House hearing, a staff member of the General Accounting Office was asked if any Federal agency was actually worse then the C.F.T.C., ''This time, the question wasn't answered,'' says Mr. Johnson, ''so that's progress.''

Mr. Johnson has assumed the chairmanship at a time when the country's 11 commodity exchanges are feverishly trading in a bewildering array of futures contracts on everything from soybeans and cotton to gasoline contracts. A commodities futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a commodity at a fixed price at a set date in the future. Last month, the commission permitted the sale of stock-index futures, which allow investors to bet on the rise and fall of the stock market, a move that will allow portfolio managers to hedge against shifts in the markets.

IT is a time, too, when the five-member board is facing growing doubts in Congress about its ability to police off-exchange commodity fraud. In testimony before a House hearing last month, the General Accounting Office said it had uncovered extensive evidence that the agency was failing to protect investors from deceptive sales practices and outright fraud.

The commmission, created by Congress in 1975, is also currently in the midst of hearings to determine whether it should be reauthorized to continue its operations beyond its present mandate, which expires Sept. 30. And while Mr. Johnson says of the reauthorization process that he does@n't ''detect any serious effort to clip the C.F.T.C.'s wings,'' he admits that it can be frustrating.

''I think that those who know the agency well would have to admit that an enormous amount of progress has been made,'' he said. ''But I find that as we become focused upon, perceptions that probably weren't even accurate two years ago are the perceptions that are sometimes being used to characterize us today.''

In his earlier role as one of the commission's most vociferous critics, Mr. Johnson was a partner in the prominent Chicago law firm of Kirland & Ellis and general counsel to the Chicago Board of Trade, the nation's largest commodities marketplace. He spent 15 years immersed in industry lore. In addition, Mr. Johnson, 43 years old, a graduate of Indiana University and Yale University Law School, is widely considered one of the industry's leading legal scholars - he has just published a two-volume treatise on commodities regulation.

In contrast, his predecessor, James M. Stone, a Carter appointee and former Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner, was chided by the industry for his inexperience in the arcane commodity arena. Critics also complained that Mr. Stone, who is now a commissioner, was oriented toward protecting investors and had no faith in the industry to regulate itself.

However, even Mr. Stone's critics concede that his tough regulatory stance probably helped to lessen suspicions that the agency often acted as a rubber-stamp for the industry.

Some industry analysts, in fact, continue to voice concern that Mr. Johnson - like many of President Reagan's regulatory appointments - is perhaps too closely tied to the industry he regulates.

''This was an agency whose mission was in the agricultural arena, but the kind of intellectual motivation it had to support and sponsor agricultural commodity contracts is no longer there,'' complains Representative Benjamin S. Rosenthal, the Queens Democrat and a longtime critic of the agency. ''If you add Johnson into that cauldron, having come from the Chicago Board of Trade and with some degree of loyalty to that organization and those people, it may hamstring them in many ways.''

MR. JOHNSON is quick to emphasize, though, that positions he argued for as an advocate for the industry aren't necessarily indicative of his own views. ''As a private attorney, I really never allowed myself to engage in the luxury of having a lot of personal opinions; an attorney's responsibility is to represent his clients,'' he says.

He adds that since taking office, he has often taken positions sharply divergent from the the views of the industry he once served. ''In fact, I have been sued more by my former clients then by anybody else,'' he says.

Mr. Stone, whose term as commissioner expires in 1983, tends to support Mr. Johnson's insistence that he is a genuinely independent voice. ''My side lost the election fair and square, and we come from different philosophical points,'' Mr. Stone said, ''But he and I have voted together more often on the commission than Carter's more conservative appointments. I think he's one of Reagan's best appointments.''

Soon after taking office last year, Mr. Johnson moved swiftly - perhaps too hastily for some skeptics of the commission in Congress - to justify his reputation as a foe of bureaucratic delays and excess regulation.

One of the issues scheduled for legislative scrutiny was the longstanding jurisdictional feud with the Securities and Exchange Commission over control of options and futures on financial instruments.

In the past, Congress has avoided these jurisdictional struggles because of a lack of interest and the lobbying power of the competing industries. But spurred by the proliferation of new trading instruments and the broader economic implications of overspeculation in futures, on capital formation and credit allocation, it had begun to receive attention from several Government agencies, including the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.

But rather than fighting it out in Congress or in the courts, Mr. Johnson and John S.R. Shad, the chairman of the S.E.C., held a series of private meetings and the two negotiated a compromise.

Under the agreement, which must still be approved by Congress, the C.F.T.C. was given jurisdiction over the trading of futures contracts and options on futures contracts. The S.E.C. will regulate options directly on most financial instruments.

A Congressional staff member said the agreement might be in jeopardy because the C.F.T.C. usually has been perceived as less effective than the S.E.C. He noted that up to now most people in commodities have been professionals, but with the new financial instruments, this may change, ''and people on the Hill are concerned that they may need the sort of regulatory safeguards that you have on the securities side.''

Illustrations: photo of Philip Johnson


Count LeBron James among the many fans of "Pitch Perfect 2."

When asked how he manages life as one of the world's most popular athletes, James cited a trip to see the musical comedy, which took in $70 million and topped "Mad Max" in its opening weekend. James said that after defeating the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals and advancing to his fifth straight NBA Finals, he went to a theater and saw "Pitch Perfect 2."

James had especially high praise for Rebel Wilson's character, Fat Amy.

"Fat Amy is awesome, I love her," James said. "Wherever you are. You're awesome.”

Here's the video of James' comments:

It's interesting to note that James still goes to "regular movie theaters" despite the fact that he could watch in the comfort of his own home or rent any venue he wants. And this isn't the first time James has gone to movie to clear his mind during the NBA playoffs. Last year James was spotted going to see the film "Maleficent."

Lebron just chilln at Palladium pic.twitter.com/vlO7Eh5wvV

— Cody Joe (@chillllCody) June 8, 2014

James is quite familiar with the film industry, and he has his first major role in this summer's comedy, "Trainwreck." One day, James has said, he'd like to play a role in an action movie, perhaps Batman.

As for Wilson, the Australian-born actress was understandably thrilled to hear she got a shoutout from the four-time NBA MVP.

Thanks @KingJames for the shout out today, your taste in movies is as amazing as your basketball!

— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) June 3, 2015

Exercise To Undo Hours Of Sitting

Summary:
Count LeBron James among the many fans of "Pitch Perfect 2."
When asked how he manages life as one of the world's most popular athle...


In the last eight quarters, the S&P is up 46 percent. That's the longest and strongest winning feat since 1998, when the market rose 147 percent over a stretch of 3 ½ years (From Q1 1995 to Q2 1998, the S&P posted 14 quarters of gains).

Read MoreThese are the winners of the S&P rally

The current winning streak is certainly unusual and has taken place only three other times in history. Apart from 1998, stocks rose 57 percent back in 1965 over a stretch of eleven quarters (From Q3 1962 to Q1 1965), and then in 1956, when the market was up 108 percent during 10 quarters of gains (From Q4 1953 to Q1 1956).

Despite the solid gains in the recent years, Wall Street believes there's further room to run. According to CNBC's Strategist Survey, the average S&P target price for 2015 stands at 2,220, implying a 6.5 percent increase from the current levels.

Summary: U.S. stocks are on track for eight quarters of consecutive gains—the longest winning streak in 16 years.


The decline in Chinese stocks continued Wednesday, leading the Deutsche China A-Shares ETF to lose nearly 8 percent in two sessions. That may inspire some to play for a Chinese bounce. But due to an interesting market dynamic, there might be a far better way to do just that than simply buying the ETF.

As Chinese equities have fallen, and more and more investors seek to get exposure to the downside for speculation or hedging purposes, the shares have gotten increasingly difficult to short. According to the most recent data available to Susquehanna, the A-Shares ETF had a total short interest position of 7.1 million shares, with only 15.4 million outstanding. That means that finding the shares to short has become difficult and expensive.

Read MoreCramer: Why China had to devalue the yuan

As an alternative, traders can get downside exposure by buying puts in the options market. These derivatives, which give their owner the right to sell a given stock at a specific time and price, have consequently risen in value.

Meanwhile, the other type of options, calls, have become less expensive. That's because hedging the purchase of a bullish call option has become more costly, making traders less inclined to bet on upside.

Now, calls and puts are known as derivatives because their value is derived from the price of the stock itself. One of the ways this relationship plays out is that the price of a call minus the price of a put should be (roughly) equivalent to the current price of the stock minus the strike price of the call and put in question. In general, buying the put and selling the call is similar to buying the stock itself, given that the trader who is long both options would have upside and downside exposure.

However, since the prices of the ASHR puts have risen while the price of the calls have fallen, the theorized relationship has not held. For instance, as of midday Wednesday when the (ASHR) was trading at $39.55, the December 40-strike call could be purchased for $3.30, while the December 40-strike put could be sold for $5.10. That means that an investor can take in a credit of $1.80 for getting synthetically long the stock at $40—implying a price of $38.20. That provides a 3.2 percent discount to the share price. (Incidentally, a high dividend yield can be one reason for a disparity such as this given that call owners don't receive the dividends that share owners do, but the ASHR's 10 cent yield is negligible.)

Summary: For those who want to play for a bounce in Chinese stocks, there's really only one way to do it.


Normally, Judge Kathleen Coffey presides over a spacious courtroom in West Roxbury. But on the third Thursday of each month, Coffey dons her black robe and heads into a small conference room at the Pine Street Inn in the South End.

This is Homeless Court, where Coffey hears misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases involving warrants for missed court dates or probation violations. Homeless people are notorious for racking up warrants — because they don’t plan well and are afraid of being held on bail, Coffey said — which can prevent them from getting jobs or finding housing.

Defendants who prove they are committed to treatment for substance abuse, job training, or mental health counseling can get their cases dismissed.

“We’re rewarding people for good behavior, so it’s the exact opposite of what we do in customary court,” said Coffey, 61, who oversees the West Roxbury division of Boston Municipal Court and created Homeless Court in 2011, based on a model in San Diego.

So far, about 400 people have gone through the screening process for Homeless Court, and more than 125 have had their cases resolved. In January, the court’s jurisdiction expanded beyond Boston to include District Court cases from around the state, opening the door to help more defendants.

The court is efficient because it can consolidate appearances in one location, Coffey said, lowering transportation and public defender expenses. It also reduces police, shelter, and public assistance costs by helping people clear their records and get back on their feet. “It makes financial and economic sense, and also makes sense in terms of human dignity,” Coffey said.

As in any courtroom, everyone rises when the judge enters Homeless Court. But unlike in other courtrooms, each dismissal elicits a round of applause, led by Coffey.

“Everyone is here today because they support your efforts,” she told a defendant at the July session.

To another, a woman trying to clear up an old drug charge, Coffey said:

“It sounds like you had some bad luck, some rough spots, and this warrant is interfering.”

Outside the courtroom, after her case was dismissed, the woman looked up at the ceiling: “Thank God, thank you Jesus.”

“The very reason why I became a judge was to try and help people, to change lives, to address the needs of the most vulnerable,” Coffey said. “It’s also very humbling because you do realize there but for the grace of God go each and every one of us.”

Summary: On the third Thursday of each month, Judge Kathleen Coffey dons her black robe to hear cases at Pine Street Inn.


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a humiliating defeat in Delhi state elections on Tuesday – its first major political setback – laying potential road blocks for its national reform agenda.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or Common Man Party, grabbed 67 seats out of 70 seats in the Delhi assembly, the biggest ever victory margin for any party in the capital. The BJP won the remaining 3 seats.

Founded in 2012, AAP, led by former tax official Arvind Kejriwal, has captured the hearts and minds of disenchanted Delhiites looking to eradicate the rampant corruption that has plagued the country for decades.

While Delhi is not very significant in electoral terms, state elections are important for control over the upper house of parliament, where the BJP is in a minority. The decisive victory will allow AAP to send three of its members to the 250-member upper house, setting the BJP back further.

"Admittedly, the loss of Delhi is a setback for plans to consolidate power in the upper house, where reform bills are being stalled," Vishnu Varathan, senior economist at Mizuho Bank wrote in a note.

"Nevertheless, the reality is that with just 17 million population, Delhi's mandate does not translate into a wider rejection of BJP by India; especially corporate India," he said.

While the Delhi election is indeed a blow for Modi, Rajiv Biswas, chief economist, Asia-Pacific at IHS agrees the outcome of the Delhi election does not translate to a nationwide trend.

"It's not surprising AAP performed strongly in Delhi because that's where it has its roots, so I don't think we can translate this result to a nationwide trend," he said. There are still questions over Kejriwal's credibility as a leader, Biswas said, given his party has yet to develop a comprehensive agenda beyond fighting corruption.

Nevertheless, while AAP may not be an immediate threat to the BJP, Biswas says the Delhi elections due mark an end to Modi's honeymoon period.

Summary: India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a humiliating defeat in Delhi state elections laying potential road blocks for its national reform agenda.


I guess there really is a difference in political parties after all!

Caterpillar announced today that it's staying in Peoria, Illinois and even expanding its corporate headquarters in the city.

CEO Doug Oberhelman made the statement with Illinois' new Republican Governor Bruce Rauner beaming by his side. Remember it was Oberhelman who openly speculated about moving CAT out of Illinois under the previous Governor, Democrat Pat Quinn. Had Quinn, famous for jacking up state taxes in the middle of the slow recovery, been re-elected over Rauner, I doubt we would seen an event today like we did in Peoria.

Were Oberhelman and the other CAT executives just playing a little political game all along? It's certainly possible, and maybe even probable. But in business and politics, perceptions are important and so is confidence. And Rauner's pro-business, pro-jobs agenda is building confidence on the supply side.

Let's see if this turns out to be more than just a photo-op. The bet here is that it will.

Summary: Gov. Rauner gets the private sector enthusiasm that Gov. Quinn never could.


In the case of U.S. crude, its advance versus Brent came after a smaller-than-expected build in the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point, reported by oil services firm Genscape.

Genscape's Cushing report, and the American Petroleum Institute inventory data on Tuesdays, are a precursor to the government's weekly crude stockpiles report on Wednesdays.

"The Genscape expectations for a slower rise in crude at Cushing and returning production in Libya reverses the dynamic in play last week," Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago, said, referring to the rally in Brent and bigger Cushing builds then.

Read MoreOil storage in US close to running out: Pro

Brent's premium to U.S. crude was at below $10.16 a barrel, after reaching above $13 earlier on Monday.

The spread "became very, very crowded last week as everyone jumped in" when Brent began fetching a premium above $9, said Ola Vines at Eagle Commodities Brokers Ltd in London.

Read MoreHarold Hamm: Saudis view US oil as economic threat

The dollar hit an 11-year high against a basket of currencies after a rate cut in China dented the Chinese yuan and also hit emerging Asian currencies. Oil is priced in dollars on spot markets and a stronger U.S. currency tends to depress fuel demand from holders of other currencies.

Disruption to oil supplies from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has helped support crude with lower output from Libya and Iraq in the first couple of months of this year.

Libya's production has risen to more than 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), officials said.

Carsten Fritsch, senior oil and commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said much of the recent strength in oil had been due to speculative buying. "The market is still over-supplied," Fritsch told the Reuters Global Oil Forum.

Correction: WTI crude futures settled down 17 cents, at $49.59 a barrel on Monday. An earlier headline misstated the closing level.

Summary: Brent extended losses on Monday after Iran said a deal on its nuclear program could be agreed this week, which could boost the country's oil exports.


While Kurokawa says sales of handmade fake food dishes have been steady over the years, some fake-food makers are looking to branch out giving rise to an unlikely opportunity: smartphone accessories.

Hamee, based in Odawara close to Mount Fuji, offers a range of fake-food smartphone cases and holders that look like sushi, hamburgers and chocolate cake, as well as bacon and eggs.

"The bacon and egg case is our best seller, mainly for the novelty factor," said Yukihiro Tomiyama, spokesperson for mobile accessories maker Hamee.

Read MoreIs this the next big market for e-commerce?

Hamee aims to capitalize on the booming smartphone accessories market, with around 90 percent of its sales generated by accessories. Global sales of smartphone accessories are forecast to grow 17 percent to $51 billion in 2015, according to ABI research, following a 25.6 percent on-year rise in 2014.

And Hamee is staying true to tradition – all food samples are hand made by craftsmen in Japan, the company says.

Riding the momentum generated by its fake-food accessories, Hamee plans to list the Tokyo Stock Exchange's small cap market on April 20.

In the year ending April 2015, the company forecasts an operating profit of 350 million yen ($2.95 million) on sales of 5.1 billion yen. Sales growth has averaged around 10 percent over the past few years, Hamee's Tomiyama said. He expects that momentum to continue.

Proceeds will be used to fund the expansion of its nascent e-commerce website hosting business, which currently generates 10 percent of group sales.

Summary: Showcases full of life-like food have tempted Japanese diners for decades. A company is giving the tradition a modern twist: fake food on smartphones.


Despite the haphazard selling, some, including our wealth-management firm elected to be buyers on the open. I imagine one reason the buyers jumped in was they were adhering to the Warren Buffett adage, "buy when others are fearful." While this certainly played into our thought process, the primary reason we punched the "buy" button was because stocks on our wish list, which included Disney, Facebook, Exxon-Mobil and Apple were indicated for sale at 2 times the broad market distress. In plain English, if the S&P 500 was selling down 4 percent why was Apple, which closed Friday at $105.76 being indicated at $98, a drop of 7 percent? Or Facebook, which closed at $86.06 being indicated at $77, a drop of 10 percent? To us, this was THE opportunity we had waited for and why we'd kept dry powder.

Read More Don't blame traders. This market force isn't human

The second leg down just after the open had to be a combination of sell orders that were not executed on the open and margin selling. Both of these types of sellers are the textbook definition of indiscriminate. The margin clerk has one job, liquidate the long holdings of clients that failed to meet margin calls. He or she goes to the market with shares, and the high-frequency-trading firms that had just taken down that mass selling at the open would do what the algorithms were designed to do; fade bids in a nanosecond. The speed at which this happens was eerily reminiscent of the May 6, 2010 flash crash, as bids seemingly disappeared only to resurface as fast as they vanished. In point of fact, our systems showed the bids never disappeared, but since the human eye can't distinguish individual moves at rates faster than 24 frames per second (motion pictures), it's not surprising the bids seemed to vanish as nanoseconds are thousands of times faster than 24 frames per second!

Read MoreIs the bull market back? Not so fast: Insana

Whatever the reason(s) for our next market crash or melt down, this much is true; get your buy or sell list together and enter it at the level you're comfortable buying or selling. Don't focus on the missed opportunity at the absolute bottom, or top of that day's range. It would be sheer luck or coincidence to catch either given the speed of trade.

Summary: "Fast Money" trader Jon Najarian says when the markets go down, it's time to pick up bargains like these tech stocks.


Genetics start-up 23andMe said on Friday it is one step closer to resuming sales of its full-fledged health product, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepting its first health report for review.

The home genetics company said in a blog post that the FDA will begin evaluating the company's submission for a 510(k) application, a regulatory process that applies to most medical devices sold in the United States.

Kathy Hibbs, 23andMe's chief legal and regulatory officer, said in the blog post that the submission focused on one single inherited condition, called Bloom Syndrome.

"Once cleared, it will help 23andMe, and the FDA, establish the parameters for future submissions,'' Hibbs writes.

Read More 3 promising tech darlings that fell flat

In November of 2013, the Google-backed firm stopped selling its $99 DNA test until it obtained marketing authorization from the FDA. 23andMe had previously said in its marketing materials that it could deliver insights about people's genetic predispositions toward "254 diseases and conditions.''

But in a public warning letter last November, addressed to 23andMe's chief executive Anne Wojcicki, the FDA expressed concerns about the "public health consequences of inaccurate results'' from 23andMe's genetic test kit.

Bradley Merrill Thompson, a product regulatory attorney with Epstein Becker & Green, said this was an important "milestone'' for 23andMe. The process may still take time, he added, as FDA will likely have further questions or requests for information.

Read More China's genomics success shows big data challenges

"But this does reveal 23andMe's strategy—and that's to go through the process with the FDA.''

While it awaits the nod from the FDA, the company is looking into approval in overseas markets in Canada, Australia or the United Kingdom, Reuters reported last month.

Company spokeswoman Catherine Afarian said the company is "in the process of exploring international opportunities.''

Read More Big data knows you're pregnant (and that's not all)

Summary: Genetics startup 23andMe said it is one step closer to resuming sales of its full-fledged health product.


* Chinaoil, Unipec face off in Asia crude trade

* Career oil traders rise to top of both companies

* Push for more profits as firms become global traders

* Beijing seen unlikely to intervene

BEIJING/SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - An intensifying rivalry between China's two top oil traders Chinaoil and Unipec is whipsawing Asia's oil market, pitting the state-owned firms against each other in a battle for control of the region's crude benchmark.

Aggressive trading - with heavy buying by Chinaoil met by selling from Unipec - has pushed up Middle East crude prices for Asia, even as other grades are being pressed lower by a global glut.

Asian buyers are being driven to seek cheaper oil elsewhere or cut refinery runs, but analysts say Beijing is unlikely to intervene in a process that reflects the growing clout of Chinese traders in global oil markets.

The volumes exchanged by the two firms have been so high that pricing agency Platts is considering whether to allow more crude into a pool of supplies it uses to assess its daily Asian benchmark, the Dubai crude price.

"This was bound to happen - as Chinese traders become more familiar with global trading mechanisms, and their power within them increases, they are increasingly happy to work within them while also learning to use them to their advantage," said Michal Meidan of consultancy China Matters.

Set up in 1993 to help manage China's oil imports, the state-owned firms have developed from simply procuring and marketing oil and refined products into sophisticated traders with global trading desks.

The changes have been hastened by the ascendancy of career traders to the top of both companies in 2014, replacing corporate planners or refinery managers, while falling oil prices and slower demand growth have led to a push to boost trading profits.

Chinaoil, which trades for Asia's largest oil producer PetroChina and has built itself into an integrated oil firm along the lines of BP, is now headed by former trader Zhao Yong.

Unipec, which trades for Asia's largest refiner Sinopec Corp , is headed by Simon Chen, both 20-year veterans.

"With their rich trading experience, these new managers are more conscious of making a bigger impact than their predecessors," said a senior trading source with direct knowledge of the matter.

In a series of buying sprees that began in October last year, Chinaoil has been snapping up record numbers of oil cargoes during a pricing mechanism that sets benchmark pricing for 12 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil sold in Asia, about 13 percent of the global consumption.

The strong bidding has pushed up the benchmark price, fuelling speculation that Chinaoil was aiming to reap big profits on positions it had taken in the derivatives markets.

On the other side of the market, Unipec's parent Sinopec imports nearly 80 percent of the 4.8 million bpd it processes - more than half of which is priced off Dubai - and its trading arm is preoccupied with keeping prices low.

The rivalry has seen the pair duelling in the Singapore-based Platts Market on Close (MoC) assessment process, with Chinaoil bidding up Middle East cargoes and Unipec selling in an effort to restrain prices.

Chinaoil has been breaking monthly trade volume records, buying 47 cargoes in October 2014, before taking a record 55 cargoes in April and 18 cargoes in June, with Unipec the seller for more than 60 percent in the April and June trade.

Earlier this month, Chinaoil snapped up 10 cargoes from Unipec in a single day, the highest daily volume on record.

The buying accorded with data from the Intercontinental Exchange showing a sharp build-up late last month in Dubai futures, that traders said suggested a likely "bull play" or move to push the physical price higher this month.

"The first day of trading this month exceeded the volume of crude Saudi sells in Asia in a day. That is astronomical," said a source with a Gulf oil producer.

As trading intensifies, the Chinese pair have displaced global players like Royal Dutch Shell or top-league traders like Vitol who previously dominated the Dubai market.

Chinaoil's oil trading volume more than quadrupled between 2003 and 2013, when a record 2.7 million barrels a day (bpd) was traded, while turnover grew nearly 18 fold to hit a record in 2013 at $102 billion, according to data on its website.

In an internal shakeup last year, the firm set up a Beijing-based China Team that manages all of its China-related trading positions for crude oil, giving it more scope for trading, said senior traders with direct knowledge of the situations.

Unipec too has shown signs of change in its trading strategy. The company bid in July and bought five cargoes, traders said.

"Unipec used to have many adversaries in the market due to its sheer size of crude purchasing. But now we face one powerful opponent, Chinaoil," said a senior source at Unipec who declined to be identified. "The two have opposing trading interests."

Chinaoil didn't respond to request for comment. Unipec declined comment.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu in BEIJING and Florence Tan in SINGAPORE; Editing by Henning Gloystein and Richard Pullin)

Summary: *Chinaoil, Unipec face off in Asia crude trade. BEIJING/ SINGAPORE, Aug 21- An intensifying rivalry between China's two top oil traders Chinaoil and Unipec is whipsawing Asia's oil market, pitting the state-owned firms against each other in a battle for control of the region's crude benchmark. Aggressive trading- with heavy buying by Chinaoil met by selling from...


09/06/2015 AT 08:15 AM EDT

did not hold back physically or emotionally when it came time to play James Bond for the fourth time.

, the actor "gives it his all," says producer Barbara Broccoli.

"He totally inhibits the character and has transformed it and given it complexity and humanity," says Broccoli.

In fact, the actor put so much into playing the iconic British spy that he ended up

in April and had to undergo surgery.

"The physical challenge was amazing," says producer Michael G. Wilson. "But Daniel went through it and he got the job done."

Finding the perfect locations was also a challenge for the filmmakers.

"We went to so many places including Austria, Mexico City, Tangier and London," says Wilson. "There's a thrilling car chase in Rome and an explosion in Morocco."

Broccoli adds, "The film's really got everything – humor, wit, a huge amount of locations and a lot of action."

, LÃ©a Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes and Andrew Scott, hits theaters November 6.

Summary: "The physical challenge was amazing," says film's producer.


It's the latest example of relatively younger companies wielding more of an influence on the overall S&P 500. For example, at the end of 2010, ExxonMobil was still atop the S&P 500 market cap rankings, with Apple hot on its heels. Chevron, Procter and Gamble, IBM and AT&T were also fixtures in the most valuable companies in the index.

Read MoreQuick one: Who's the oldest CEO in the S&P 500?

Fast forward to today, where Apple has built up such a commanding lead in the market value category that it dwarfs both second- and third-place companies Google and Microsoft, respectively. In fact, Apple is as big as both Google and Microsoft combined.

Replacing companies like AT&T and Procter and Gamble are a pair of banking behemoths, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. And of course, Facebook kicked Wal-Mart out of the top 10 with its recent run.

These are larger shifts in the business landscape of America's publicly traded companies, but for companies like Facebook, the disruption and seismic shifts they are creating can happen in much shorter timeframes. Whether they have the endurance to be a part of the bigger picture long term remains to be seen.

Read MoreSmall caps hit a record, leaving the S&P in the dust

Summary: Facebook is now more valuable than Wal-Mart, which highlights a wider power shift at the top of the S&P 500 index.


By sectors, the biggest contributions to the downward revisions for the three-year period came first from consumer spending and second from government spending. For consumer spending, there were changes in almost every sub-category, but the biggest was in financial services, mostly the result of using a new method for calculating price changes, or inflation, in the sector.

Read MoreFirst GDP, now productivity: Another data flaw?

In government, the biggest change came from downward revision to state and local spending, which a bureau economist said was simply the result of lagged data. However, another part of the revision came from new seasonal adjustments to federal defense spending. CNBC had pointed to that category as an area with seasonal patterns that the government might not be accurately taking account of.

In phase two, the bureau said it will conduct a component-by-component review of the detailed series that measure GDP and gross domestic income, working with other agencies to make any needed adjustments. In phase three, it will try to increase transparency around the data by developing a nonseasonally adjusted set of statistics, so the public can better see how the numbers are adjusted.

Summary: The government announces its annual revisions of the past three years and confirms a series of stories in CNBC raising questions about growth.


George Maciunas was the Lithuanian-born leader of Fluxus, an international avantgarde collective formed in 1960 that only really became respectable after its irascible founder died from cancer in 1978. Maciunas was a charming despot who herded a group of disparate artists into one of the most influential movements of the mid-20th century. His ambition was to create a world free of art, and replace it with Fluxus, a form of creativity so uncomplicated it could be realised anywhere and anyhow. Maciunas said the purpose of the movement was to "promote a revolutionary flood and tide in art, promote living art, anti-art".

When asked to define exactly what Fluxus was, Maciunas would often respond by playing samples of dogs barking or geese honking, rooting the movement firmly in the absurd tradition that had grown up out of dadaism and surrealism. Fluxus activities ranged from public performances and street theatre, to lo-fi sculptures. Maciunas was anti-ownership and refused to allow any of the Fluxus works to be signed, making it difficult for dealers to value their worth. He was also instrumental in transforming Soho from a run-down, unfashionable district of New York city into an artists colony; when a warehouse shut, Maciunas moved in, using it as an art space for his collegues and friends. Those enticed by the movement included Joseph Beuys, who was drawn to the group because of its inclusive philosophy - echoing as it did, Beuys's own beliefs that everyone was an artist. Yoko Ono was also a member and her bed-in with John Lennon is a classic example of Fluxus performance.

Although Maciunas is possibly best known for a series of staged performances, one of which included systematically destroying a piano, he also made souvenir boxes. These were tailor made for individuals and contained artefacts and information relating to the year of their birth. Sometimes these boxes could be positively macabre. When he made one for fellow Fluxus member George Brecht (who claimed to be born in 1250), Macunias trawled the local hospitals for a human ear to be included as an homage to Genghis Khan, who notoriously counted the victims of his bloody battle in 1250 by cutting off their ears.

Why we like him? Difficult, there are so many insane ideas to choose from. Probably the Flux-Olympiad, in which Maciunas proposed to stage a three-day sports event featuring soccer games on stilts, slow-speed bicycle races and balloon shot put. Although the artist died before the idea could be conceived, Tate Modern staged the event last year.

Spared no expense: In 1964, Maciunas opened a shop on Canal street selling Fluxus multiples for $1, but made no sales in the first year. Ironically, a recent sketch by Beuys went for £20,000.

Red October: His mother, a former Russian dancer, became the private secretary of Russian prime minister Aleksandr Kerenskyafter he emigrated to New York in 1940.

Where can I see him? George Maciunas, The Dream of Fluxus is on at The Baltic, Newcastle until 15 February.

Summary: The founder of avant garde collective Fluxus, Maciunas was best known for insane and inventive ideas that were key to influencing one of the most important art movements of the last century, writes Jessica Lack


U.S. industrial production fell for a fifth straight month in April and consumer confidence sagged in early May, quashing any remaining expectations that the U.S. central bank will begin raising rates as early as next month and backing the case that policymakers would hold off until September or December.

"There are a lot of people out there who think the Fed will not now hike this year. I still think the U.S. data will turn around and we'll get a move," Myers said.

By 0740 GMT the euro had fallen to $1.1391, down half a percent on the day compared to a Friday peak of $1.1468.

Read MoreWhich EM currency would you buy?

"Higher European bond yields have dragged the euro higher, but from our perspective, it just seems unsustainable," said Mitul Kotecha, head of currency strategy for Asia-Pacific at Barclays in Singapore.

Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday showed speculators further pared back their bullish dollar bets in the week ended May 12, pushing net long positions down for the seventh straight week to their lowest in nine months.

Read MoreStrong dollar may knock $40B off dividends: Report

Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar added about 0.3 percent to 93.230, after posting its fifth straight weekly decline. It had reached 92.133 on Thursday.

News of a capital gains tax on New Zealand property investments has added to rate-cut speculation there and made the kiwi the biggest loser among major pairs in recent days. The government on Sunday said that income gained on residential properties sold within two years of purchase would be taxed at up to 33 percent.

The kiwi dropped 0.75 percent to $0.7416.

Summary: The dollar clawed its way higher, recovering from almost four-month lows reached late last week on another surprisingly bad round of U.S. data.


A fake filing related to a takeover of Avon has highlighted several issues for regulators.

Avon was having a perfectly normal day, trading around $6.60 at 11:35 a.m., ET, when the stock shot up to almost $6.97, triggering a volatility trading halt.

These "volatility trading halts" are single-stock circuit breakers that were created after the 2010 "flash crash" to control volatile trading in stocks. Simply put, it stops trading in a stock if it moves more than 5 percent in a five- minute period. The stock halts for five minutes everywhere (not just on the NYSE), then reopens, but if there are still huge imbalances, it can be halted for up to another five minutes.

Some firm calling itself PTG Capital had filed an offer to buy Avon for an exorbitant price. Given that it was at a 20-year low, the move immediately attracted attention.

The stock reopened, and immediately shot up to almost $8, triggering another trading halt.

By then, traders on the floor were noticing that the filing contained numerous typos, and no one had ever heard of them. There were rumors floating around that they didn't even exist.

My colleague Brian Sullivan called both the attorney's listed for the firm and the company; both went into very odd sounding voice mail.

When it reopened, the stock went in the other direction, from roughly $7.98 to $7.60, triggering a third and final trading halt.

CNBC reached out to Avon and they told us "it has not received any offer or other communication from such an entity ... and has not been able to confirm that such an entity exists."

In other words, it was a hoax.

There are two problems here:

1) how on earth did a phony filing get into the SEC's Edgar database? The trading community assumes filings made there are accurate and reliable, because—everyone assumes—they are supposed to be vetted by the SEC.

2) the NYSE (and other exchanges) should have the power to halt a stock when there is unusual and unexplainable trading activity, but it does not.

A company has the power to halt trading in its stock if it has "news pending," but that did not happen. In fact, the NYSE was unable to get in touch with the company during the halts, despite many attempts.

In the past, NYSE floor officials were able to halt stocks for an "order imbalance," that is, a huge order of buy stocks with no sell orders, or vice-versa.

That went away several years ago. Instead, the "volatility trading halts" were what stopped the trading. That's what happened—three times.

It might be easier and more logical if exchange officials merely had the power to halt stocks that are trading strangely for inexplicable reasons. This is an issue for the regulators.

At 2 p.m., ET, the stock was still trading up roughly 6 percent. Why? Because the big price moves and huge volume (more than five times normal) generated heavier than usual volume and volatility, even after everyone realized the story was a hoax.

How is that possible? Because heavy trading begets more trading. The heavy volume and higher volatility allowed traders to step in and make small amounts of money trading the stock, which corresponds to that cynical old trader saw, it doesn't matter if the story is right or wrong, as long as you're on the right side of the trade.

Summary: Fake filing causes headaches


Cambridge officials are pressing MIT to fund transit improvements in Kendall Square as the university moves ahead with a massive redevelopment project that would bring thousands more commuters into an area that’s already widely viewed as a bottleneck.

MIT’s proposed redevelopment promises to transform stale parking lots along Main Street into six buildings full of office, retail, research, and living space, with a lively streetscape below. But the project would also generate more than 5,800 vehicle trips and 7,500 transit trips each day, according to a 200-plus-page transportation study commissioned by MIT. That could put more pressure on roadways, trains, and buses.

The university has made “no substantial commitments” to ease the burden of that growth, even though the project “will create significant new demands on the local and regional transportation networks,” Cambridge Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department staff wrote in a memo to the Planning Board this month.

The memo raised specific concerns about the project’s effect on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Red Line and the 85 and CT2 bus lines. It also questioned MIT’s net creation of more than 1,000 parking spaces at a time when the city is trying to discourage driving. (The project includes spots for more than 1,000 bicycles, as well.)

Michael Owu, chairman of MIT’s transportation and parking committee, said the university will work closely with the city to mitigate traffic problems. He said the redevelopment wouldn’t be an overall burden on transit.

The broad challenges of getting in, around, and out of the area led to the creation in the past year of the Kendall Square Mobility Task Force, consisting of state and city officials and business and civic leaders. The group will hold a public meeting Oct. 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the Kennedy-Longfellow School on Spring Street.

Despite their concerns about traffic, city officials generally support MIT’s expansion, its support for more housing in the area, and its goal of injecting more vibrant street life into Kendall Square.

“With the right set of incentives, and right set of facilities, we can keep up that growth without it becoming unmanageable,” said Joseph Barr, director of Cambridge’s traffic department.

But other major projects, including the redevelopment of the Volpe center, are coming — and could bring their own sets of transit and traffic challenges.

Cambridge is home to a plethora of companies and research institutions that push the boundaries of science and technology. Yet drivers in the city can’t use a smartphone app to pay for street parking — a tool rolled out in both Boston and Somerville months ago.

Barr, the Cambridge traffic guru, said city officials are working on an app-based payment system, but don’t have an expected date of arrival. So keep scrounging for those quarters.

Kendall Square startups interviewing chief executive candidates just might want to inquire about their childhood histories with natural disasters.

Suffering through or witnessing horrors during a disaster can trigger risk aversion in future chief executives, according to a new study. But those who skate through disasters with no personal impact?

“They behave a lot more aggressively when they become CEOs,” Gennaro Bernile, an assistant professor of finance at Singapore Management University, told a packed lecture hall at MIT last weekend.

Those traits can matter to a company’s financial direction, Bernile argued. After all, a chief executive’s assertiveness will shape how much cash his company keeps on hand and its acquisition strategy.

Bernile won one of this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes, which honor research that makes “people laugh, and then think.” The recipients presented their findings Saturday.

Justin Saglio for The Boston Globe

Jim Carey (left) and Rachel Carey (right) kiss during a presentation on research on how kissing affects the immune system at the Ig Nobel awards, which honor goofy scientific research, at MIT in Cambridge.

Other Ig Nobel winners this year included researchers who found that most land mammals empty their bladders in roughly the same amount of time; that the nostril and upper lip are the most painful places to be stung by a bee, followed by the penis shaft; and that kissing a partner for 30 minutes can soothe certain allergic reactions.

After Japanese researcher Hajime Kimata detailed his findings that kissing a romantic partner for a half hour can ease symptoms of eczema and hay fever, a couple in the audience stood up and did an experiment of their own, smooching passionately as the crowd whistled and whooped — although just for a few seconds, not 30 minutes. No word on if the kiss eased their allergies.

A young man in the audience then asked Kimata a more practical question: “How often do I have to kiss to not have allergies again?”

MIT students — they and we are often told — go on to start companies that change the world or create therapies that save countless lives. But students recently heard a pitch to try a different career path: Go work for the government.

“You don’t have to come forever, but take a year or two and help us out,” Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.

The government, Pritzker said, needs people like MIT students who understand technology and a changing economy. They can apply those skills through public service to affect the entire country, she said.

In her speech last Friday, Pritzker mentioned MIT alumni such as Robert Noyce, who helped found Intel Corp., and Amar Bose, founder of Bose Corp. But she also name-dropped Alan Davidson, an MIT graduate and onetime Google executive who joined the Commerce Department this year as director of digital economy, working on issues such as online privacy.

Government work, Pritzker said, is “consequential.”

Summary: Cambridge lags in smart parking meters; MIT students urged to serve their country; an Ig Nobel honoree gives startups advice


(James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

July 31 (Reuters) - State public pension funds love buying shares in local companies, but it is not so much a matter of "buying what you know" as "buying shares of companies with political clout."

A new study of equity holdings of self-managed state public pension funds finds that they have not only a bias towards in-state companies, but in particular towards those with political connections and influence.

What's more, these investments aren't winners; this bias towards in-state politically connected firms costs the typical state pension fund about $225 million in annual decline in fund performance, according to estimates in the study, which is slated to be published in an upcoming Journal of Financial Economics.

"We find that state pension funds overweight these politically active firms and doing so is detrimental to fund equity performance," write authors Daniel Bradley and Xiaojing Yuan of the University of South Florida and Christos Pantzalis of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstracttid=2636996)

"Our evidence is most consistent with the political bias hypothesis."

Remember too, state pension funds are hardly in good shape and cannot afford to make poor and politically motivated investments.

The aggregate funding ratio of U.S. public pension funds was only 72 percent of liabilities in 2013, according to a survey by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. That leaves more than $1 trillion of future liabilities unfunded nationwide.

It has long been known that state pension funds have a tendency to invest in firms within their state. Some argue that this is due to mere familiarity, though were this true it would not affect performance. Others assert that pension funds invest at home because they enjoy some information advantage which they seek to exploit. If this information advantage were due to political connections, then holdings of firms in this group would outperform.

What the study seems to have found, though, is that the allocations are going to local firms for political reasons and that this, because it comes from conflicted political motivations, leads in turn to underperformance.

It should be noted that the study used a relatively small sample size: 16 pension funds which manage their own money and made Securities and Exchange Commission disclosures for at least 20 consecutive quarters between 1999 and 2009. That said, the sample included large and well-known pension funds including the Virginia Retirement System, the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

To determine which companies qualify as politically connected or active, the study constructed measures to weigh the extent that a given fund invests more with firms making political action committee (PAC) contributions to home state politicians or engaging in lobbying.

The finding was that state pension funds will tend to overweight their holdings of local firms that make PAC contributions by 23 percent and those that lobby by 17 percent relative to their neutral weight in a market portfolio.

Interestingly, the only local companies that displayed significant positive outperformance were non-politically connected local firms. Perhaps if you are good enough to overcome a biased, politically influenced system your company might actually be a winning investment.

As well, state pension funds tend to hold on to the stocks of politically connected companies longer. They are also poor at making decisions about when to buy and sell these politically connected stocks: selling winners too soon and riding losses too long. This phenomenon is not present for non-politically active stocks, according to the study.

Unsurprisingly, the degree of political bias in state pension funds is linked to how they are governed. Local political connection bias - the tendency to own the shares of politically connected local firms - is stronger in state pension funds with a higher percentage of politically affiliated trustees.

And while having an influential member of Congress in your home state might help bring home some political bacon in government spending, it is a drawback for pension governance. States with more influential politicians in Congress tend to invest more in politically connected local firms, suffering the underperformance that that implies.

Pension fund managers and trustees have an obligation to the members of their funds as well as taxpayers who ultimately might be called on to make good any shortfall. This trumps any wooly local economic development that might come from providing capital locally.

While it would be good to see a larger sample, a responsible state pension fund ought to be doing this analysis for itself and making changes in the holdings based on what they find. (At the time of publication James Saft did not own any direct investments in securities mentioned in this article. He may be an owner indirectly as an investor in a fund. You can email him at jamessaftzjamessaft.com and find more columns at http://blogs.reuters.com/james-saft)

Summary: What's more, these investments aren't winners; this bias towards in-state politically connected firms costs the typical state pension fund about $225 million in annual decline in fund performance, according to estimates in the study, which is slated to be published in an upcoming Journal of Financial Economics.  "We find that state pension funds overweight...


Those suffering from vertigo should look away now. The shortlist for the prize honouring the best new private home in the UK has revealed an increasingly common quirk among cutting-edge architects to go alongside the perennial fondness for floor-to-ceiling glass: rooms suspended in mid-air.

Two of the six contenders for the 2011 Manser Medal, organised annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), display this trick, known in the trade as cantilevering. One, Ty Hedfan in Brecon – the name means "hovering house" in Welsh – cunningly circumvents planning restrictions against building along the river bank which adjoins the plot by sending out a glass-walled spur to hang above the water's edge.

More dramatic still is the self-explanatory Balancing Barn in Suffolk, pictures of which resemble on first glance an optical illusion. At least half of the long, slim structure hangs precipitously over the edge of a steep, grass incline. It looks as if an escaped railway carriage has run out of track or, thanks to the shiny silver cladding, like a floating barrage balloon.

The barn, which is available for public rent, is "completely bonkers and very playful", said Tony Chapman, head of awards at RIBA and one of the five-strong judging panel. Most alarming, he said, is the glass floor inside the far-hanging edge: "It's so potentially unnerving for some people that they provide bits of carpet you can put over it, if you want."

The appeal for the judges of Ty Hedfan's cantilever was as much practical as aesthetic, Chapman said: "They weren't allowed to build on the river bank but there's nothing in the small print which says you can't build over the river bank. We like things like that, which get one over slightly on the planners."

The other four contenders are a varied bunch, albeit within a prevailing taste for generous glazing which blurs the boundaries between home and garden, and materials which seek to blend the building with the wider landscape.

There is one urban dwelling, not strictly speaking a new residence: a mid-century, brutalist home in Highgate, north London, remodelled to open the rooms out onto a secluded garden.

Another triumph against the planners is Watson House, an elegant glass-and-timber structure in the heart of the New Forest, which was only permitted on condition it was invisible from public sections of the woodland. The most modest home – a relative term within a selection with budgets starting at £500,000 – is New Mission Hall in Sussex, a pair of conjoined structures on the site of a Baptist chapel which offers a blank, brick facade from the road before opening out into a glassed rectangle at the rear.

The final contender, in the Surrey stockbroker belt of Epsom, most closely resembles the stereotypical notion of a modernist house, from its over 700 sq metres of living space and curtains of walled glass grand enough to satisfy the most demanding exhibitionist to its occupants who seemingly own little more than a few discreetly tasteful items of furniture and art, their toothbrushes presumably locked well out of view.

Inside, however, the design was clever enough to avoid severity, Chapman said, featuring touches like a cosy family TV room deep inside the interior. "You go in there and your first thought is, 'yes, this is an expensive, grand house'. But as you go round it you find lots of lovely little things that make it very intimate."

Overall, he said, the shortlist was perhaps the most diverse in the prize's 10-year history. The inclusion of the pair of cantilevered structures had not been planned. "Maybe subliminally we paired them off," he said. "But I don't think we did it deliberately."

While it would be "slightly arrogant" for RIBA to assume the prize had a direct influence on the wider design of housing, Chapman said, the hope was it might provide food for thought.

"The whole point of the medal, I think, is to try and improve the standard of all housing. We would like to think that there were things that fed into social housing in Hackney as well as the next rich person's house in Surrey.

"The standard of housebuilding in this country is not great. In fact it's pretty poor. It would be good if we could even just inspire clients to ask for things they might not have otherwise considered."

The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 10 November.

Summary: Shortlist for prize honouring best new private home in the UK has revealed a common quirk among cutting-edge architects


Last November, the phone rang. It was The Observer's celebrated Jane Bown asking if I had heard of Jarvis Cocker because the picture editor had asked her to photograph him. One of the best parts of my job over the past few years has been getting to know Jane - I run the Newsroom, The Observer and Guardian archive and exhibition space to which Jane has donated her entire collection.

I encouraged her to do Jarvis Cocker and asked if she had photographed many pop stars. Her reply was delivered with typical matter-of-factness - the Beatles (twice), Cher and Greg Allman, Joan Baez, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Eartha Kitt, Pete Townsend, Bono, Morrissey, Sinead O'Connor, Boy George, P.J. Harvey, Björk. For starters.

For months, we'd been talking about an exhibition at the Newsroom but the only thing we'd decided was that it would be best to steer clear of her more well-known pictures. The problem is that the collection is vast - more than 50 years of work - and choosing any single subject is nearly impossible. But, suddenly, we seemed to have our exhibition - rock-star portraits.

We agreed that we needed some new pictures to supplement the older ones. How about going to Glastonbury? I suggested. Jane jumped at the idea. Three cameras were dispatched for servicing, press passes were obtained and contact was made with various bands and managers, most of whom knew of Jane and her work and were more than willing to help.

As soon as we arrived on site early on Friday morning, Jane was off. In the first hour, she had taken photos of a man with a child in a wheelbarrow, a 'fairy' leaving the portaloo, a man asleep outside his tent and legions of campers brushing their teeth at the outdoor taps.

When it started to rain, Jane positioned herself just inside the awning of the catering tent and, in the next hour or so, her cameras were rarely idle. From here, she got a picture of John Peel as he headed for cover.

We went backstage for her first appointment - David Gray. Backstage turned out to be the corner of a field lined with Portakabins - decidedly unglamorous and offering limited possibilities for photographs. Having surveyed the surroundings, Jane was introduced to Gray. They headed off to a remote corner of the enclosure. Ten minutes later, Jane had her picture. They shook hands and he headed off to get ready for his performance.

Word came through that Jane's next appointment - Michael Stipe - was running late and would not get to site until after dark and that there would be no time for pictures. Undaunted, she thought it might be good to take some shots of the crowd in front of the main stage.

We were escorted to that deafening no-man's-land between the stage and the audience peopled by security, the placed where body-surfers come ashore. Jane went into professional mode and remained oblivious to the incongruity of the situation.

There is an extraordinary economy in the way she takes photographs. She works in black and white, without lights or props, and never uses a tripod or light meter (she gauges the settings by looking at how the light falls on the back of her hand).

She works quickly and rarely takes more than one or two rolls of film per shoot. She is happiest when she has her subject to herself or when she is allowed to roam freely and unobtrusively. She can take a photograph, change a lens or reload a camera with the dexterity of a card sharp. Her most famous portrait - Samuel Beckett - was taken in less than a minute in an alleyway at the side of London's Royal Court.

The following day, appointments had been organised with The Polyphonic Spree and Radiohead. Waiting for The Polyphonic Spree to don their robes - all 23 of them perform in ankle-length white tunics - was a frustrating business, a bit like trying to get sheep through a gate.

While we waited, Jools Holland came backstage after his set. I asked him if Jane could take his picture. He beamed with the enthusiasm of a child and replied that it would be his 'very great pleasure'. Then The Polyphonic Spree were ready and in about 15 minutes Jane took group shots as well as a portrait of the leader, Tim DeLaughter.

Just before we left, Radiohead's PR called. They were behind schedule but the band were sorry to miss the opportunity for a Jane Bown portrait. Would it be at all possible for her to take one in London later in the month?

· Jane Bown's exhibition will take place at the Newsroom, 60 Farringdon Road, EC1 from 10 September to 24 October, 2003. For information call 020 7886 9898.

Summary: Our legendary photographer Jane Bown went to capture the soul of the world's greatest rock festival last weekend, writes Luke Dodd.


S&P 500 companies should be able to return in force by the end of October, when most will have finished reporting earnings. Since 2007, companies have done an average 25 percent of their buybacks in November and December, the analysts said.

S&P 500 companies bought back $116.2 billion in stock in the second quarter, down from $159.3 billion in the first quarter and $118 billion in the second quarter last year, according to Standard and Poor's data.

Read MoreEarnings top list of what could rock markets

The Goldman analysts said earnings reporting months have seen 1.2 percent higher realized volatility than other months, while corporations are sidelined. The analysts said an S&P pullback to 1,870 would be similar to 13 pullbacks since 2009, in terms of size and duration, with the S&P 500 losing 5 percent plus.

"We continue to forecast S&P 500 EPS will grow by 8 percent in 2015 as U.S. real GDP expands above 3 percent. Two-thirds of S&P 500 sales are derived domestically, and we estimate only a modest earnings impact from slower foreign growth, a strengthening USD (dollar), and lower oil. We expect steady U.S. growth and low interest rates will keep valuations stable, meaning the market level should rise in line with earnings," the analysts wrote.

Buybacks have been aiding this earnings growth.

"Twenty-five percent of the (S&P 500) companies are going to have at least a 4 percent year-over-year impact on their EPS, aided by share count reduction," said Howard Silverblatt, S&P indices analyst. He said that third-quarter forecast compares with 23 percent of companies in the second quarter.

For the 12 months ending June 30, buybacks totaled $533 billion, up from $421 billion a year earlier. The record quarter for buybacks was $172 billion in Q3, 2007.

"The 12-month total shareholder return, which is buyback and dividends, was $866 billion for the 12 months ending in June. That was an all-time record," said Silverblatt. "As long as we don't tank in buybacks—and it doesn't look like we will—we're going to get another shareholder return record.

Separately, Goldman cut its forecast for the 10-year to yield 2.5 percent at year end.

Read MoreGoldman cuts 10-year yield forecast

Summary: If the stock market isn't recovering under its own steam, expect corporate buybacks to help.


Another morning of extremes, at least in the Treasury and commodity complexes. 10-year bond yields are at 18-month lows. Gold touched a 12-week high. Oil plumbed a nearly 6-year low. Copper is down another 2.5 percent at a 5.5-year low, with similar weakness in Nickel and Zinc. Aluminum has also fallen 1.4 percent.

The drop in copper comes despite good news out of China, where December exports rose 9.7 percent year over year and imports contracted 2.4 percent, both better than expected. However, total Chinese trade increased only 3.4 percent in 2014, well short of the 7.5 percent goal. China should release its annual GDP figure for 2014 next week.

The UAE energy minister again said OPEC would not cut its oil output, reiterating a decision OPEC made at its last meeting in November. There are no prospects for an emergency OPEC meeting, despite pleading from Venezuela and Iran.

The energy minister, Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui, did have one sage comment. He admitted neither he nor anyone else had any idea what oil prices would be in the future: "History tells us whenever we try to predict what will happen we will get it wrong. What I would say is that it is unlikely we will see a sudden rise—it will take some time..."

Read MoreOil falls below $45 as OPEC plays hardball

At least natural gas is up 2.5 percent, as we face another cold snap in the northeast United States.

Europe is strong, with many European banks up two to five percent. The Greek stock market also bouncing.

Summary: 10-year bond yields are at 18-month lows, gold touched a 12-week high, and oil plumbed a nearly 6-year low.


"What a time to be alive!"

That was ESPN's Mark Jones hyperventilating after Georgia Tech reprised Auburn's 2013 "Kick Six" in Saturday's game against Florida State. The Seminoles were one of two undefeated teams to go down Saturday, reducing the ranks of unbeatens to 12, with just eight in the Power 5 conferences.

But the game that had a bigger impact on the playoff race was USC's dismantling of Utah at the L.A. Coliseum, a game pegged by Vegas and the "sharps" -- who actually bet up the favored Trojans throughout the week -- but not the public at large. The final score of 42-24 actually flatters Utah as the game really wasn't even that close. As a result, the Pac-12 is the only Power 5 conference left without an unbeaten team and now on the outside of the playoff picture.

The playoff committee will unveil its first rankings this season after next weekend's games. The actual playoff games won't be played until New Year's Eve. But the entire season is really a series of playoff games and beginning next week we'll be entering the de facto quarterfinal phase of it.

You've probably read a few pieces that claim this season's playoff picture remains very much muddled. Don't believe it. The races are becoming crystal clear and they boil down to these games:

* LSU at Alabama (Nov. 7): The winner of this game will win the SEC West, which isn't as competitive as ESPN or SEC apologists would like you to believe. The SEC East winner will be determined at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (Florida-Georgia in Jacksonville) on Saturday, but expect the SEC title game to be a mere coronation for LSU or 'Bama.

* Michigan State at Ohio State (Nov. 21): Thanks to their miraculous escape against Michigan a week ago, the Spartans will keep their date with the Buckeyes for the Big Ten East title. While Iowa is unbeaten, too, and probably will roll through the rest of the West, it's not in the same class as these two heavyweights.

* Baylor at TCU (Nov. 27): While Oklahoma State is also unbeaten and will host both of these teams, it does not have the cache of weapons to keep up. A bit worrisome for Baylor is that quarterback Seth Russell might be out awhile with a fracture in his neck, and without him the Bears will have trouble keeping up with Trevone Boykin and TCU, out to avenge last year's 61-58 collapse that kept them out of the inaugural playoff.

* Notre Dame at Stanford (Nov. 28): This is a bit like a wild-card game, depending on what happens with unbeaten Clemson. The Tigers handed Notre Dame its only loss and the playoff spot is theirs to lose. But if they somehow stumble down the stretch and fail to win the ACC title, that last playoff spot will go to the winner of this game -- and if it's Stanford, it must also win the Pac-12 title game the following week.

Group of Five a Four-Way Race

It looks like the American Athletic champion will have a lock on the Group of Five New Year's Six Bowl bid, with only MAC's Toledo with a shot to play spoiler. Three AAC teams are still undefeated, though only one among Memphis, Houston and Temple will finish the year that way, of course.

Memphis has the best resume so far -- and its coach Justin Fuente will be one of the hottest candidates on the job market, especially the one that just opened in Miami. But Temple has a chance to become the frontrunner this weekend with a huge showdown against visiting Notre Dame. A victory over the top 10-ranked Irish will propel the Owls, as well as their own coach Matt Rhule, another hot coaching candidate who might soon be headed to the Big Ten.

Saturday provided us not one, but two, four-OT extravaganzas that were short on aesthetics and long on the amount of time it took. Duke outlasted host Virginia Tech while Arkansas survived at home against Auburn. While neither game had any playoff or even conference-race implications, they made two otherwise pedestrian games infinitely more interesting.

But that's the problem with college football's overtime rules. It's more of a skills competition than a serious tiebreaker. I happened to cover the original 4-OT thriller in 1996 when the OT rules was first installed, and even back then it was obvious they were too offensive in nature.

One quick fix can make college's overtime a lot better and still superior to the NFL's version: Make teams start on the 40-yard line instead of 25. This way, an offensive team is not automatically in field goal range and the defense can have a much better chance at ending the game on a turnover or on downs.

Georgia Tech 22, Florida State 16: A week after Michigan State's improbable victory over Michigan on a botched punt snap, the Yellow Jackets reprised their own "Kick Six" by returning a blocked field-goal attempt into a game-winning touchdown. The loss not only ended the Seminoles' 28-game ACC winning streak, but in all likelihood eliminated them from playoff consideration.

Connor Cook, Michigan State: The senior quarterback completed 30 of 52 passes for 398 yards and four touchdowns to rescue the Spartans from Indiana's upset bid. The Hoosiers trailed only 28-26 entering the fourth quarter before Cook engineered two long scoring drives as Michigan State scored the game's final 24 points in a 52-26 victory.

Top 4: Clemson, LSU, TCU, Ohio State. Next 4: Michigan State, Baylor, Notre Dame, Stanford. Other contenders: Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Utah.

-- Samuel Chi is the managing editor of RealClearSports.com and proprietor of College Football Exchange. Follow him on Twitter at @ThePlayoffGuru.

Alabama Crimson Tide, Baylor Bears, College Football, College Football Playoff, Football, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, LSU Tigers, Michigan State Spartans, NCAAF, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Stanford Cardinal, TCU Horned Frogs

Summary:
"What a time to be alive!"
That was ESPN's Mark Jones hyperventilating after Georgia Tech reprised Auburn's 2013 "Kick Six&...


Supermodel Veronica Webb hasn't always had a date on Valentine's Day. The gorgeous gamine prefers platonic love to romantic love, sometimes. "Romantic love can be very narcissistic. It's more exciting to meet a friend than a lover, because friendship is the most unselfish kind of love. Friendship is not motivated by sex," Webb proclaimed last week. Asked if love was different for her as a beautiful woman than it might be for average folks, Webb told The News' Michael O. Allen, "I go through the same thing everybody else does. I have a normal heart. You are talking about the wrapping, not what is in the package.

" Webb, who's written a book of her thoughts called "Veronica Webb-Sight" (Hyperion), mused, "I think that people are always looking for all kinds of love; people are looking for friends, they are looking for companionships.

" The 33-year-old wasn't lonely this year: The former lover of art dealer Larry Gagosian is now dating Lucas White, the 23-year-old polo player who inherited the bulk of a $70 million fortune left by his father, Lord Gordon White. But for those who are still awaiting their dream date, Webb has this advice: "Remember how much your friends love you and how much your family loves you. And how much your dog loves you.

" TIME TO PACK UP THE TRUNKS? Kim Basinger thinks that life under the big top is no circus. The actress wants to shut down the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus after a baby elephant died following a recent performance in Florida. Basinger fired off an angry letter to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, asking that the circus' license be suspended while the pachyderm's death is investigated, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Referring to the 3-year-old animal as "Kenny," the Oscar nominee wrote, "As a mother myself, I cannot fathom the thought of this poor, sick baby cruelly and prematurely removed from his mother's side, being shunted from town to town in railway cars and shackled when not performing.

" FREAK'-ISH SILENCE Let's hope other celebrities don't follow John Leguizamo's lead. The brilliant comic didn't utter a word at the opening party Thursday for "Freak," his one-man show at the Cort Theater. But he came prepared: He was armed with flash cards displaying ready-made answers like "Doctor's Orders: I Can't Talk," "I Respect Your Work Too," "Thank You Very Much" and "Yes, It Was a Lot of Hard Work.

" Apparently under orders to preserve his voice, the motormouthed funnyman did manage to whisper in our ear, "I can't even say hello to you.

" He depended on his mother to do the rest of the talking. "He was always super crazy, a sweet but strange boy doing funny things, acting up," Luz Leguizamo says. "I'm not surprised at what he's doing now at least he's making a living!

" Mira Sorvino remembered starting out with Leguizamo, when they were both wannabe thespians. "We were in acting classes together six years ago and even then he was always spontaneous and a little out of control he'd make us all laugh," the actress told us. Sorvino came to the party at Carbon alone, looking for a friend. The search was in vain and the screen beauty ended up dancing by herself. Cindy Crawford, Parker Posey who breathlessly introduced herself to the supermodel as a fan Janeane Garofalo, Grace Jones, Rosie Perez, Isabella Rosellini, Rupert Everett and Linda Fiorentino all came to the play, about Leguizamo's experience growing up as an immigrant kid in New York. STORM OVER ATLANTIC A week after country singer Tracy Lawrence was convicted for beating his wife, Atlantic Records is taking some big knocks for suspending him. "Maybe next the label will start suspending artists with drug problems that roster would get pretty thin," snapped music writer Julie Gordon on her industry Web site, the Velvet Rope. Legendary music critic Dave Marsh responded with a fierce attack on Atlantic boss Ahmet Ertegun: "Does anybody but me think that it's weird that a record company whose founder/chairman is featured in Vanity Fair as a doper/drinker/adulterer dumps an artist?

" Marsh was referring to the January issue in which Ertegun's alleged habits are discussed and he admits to adultery. He didn't respond to our calls for comment. WETTING THEIR APPETITES Staffers breathed a collective sigh of relief at Moomba Monday night despite a slight disaster. Dinner guests including Iman suddenly started to get rained on by a ceiling leak. Worse yet, it was caused by a plumbing problem in the bathroom. Then why the sigh? Because influential New York Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl had been in the restaurant only moments before. Fortunately, Reichl left before the dripping incident, confirms Moomba's Lizzie Grubman. As for Iman and company, "We moved them upstairs to the lounge as soon as it started leaking and comped their dinners," says Grubman. And the leak's been plugged. . . SURVEILLANCE David Letterman didn't rush out of the Ed Sullivan Theater with other CBS employes when there was a fire on the building's roof Friday. The funnyman explains, "I was busy on the roof saving interns.

" . . . New York Undercover star Malik Yoba performs reggae, hip-hop, funk, R & B and ballads at Soul Cafe, at 444 W. 42d St. on Feb. 22. Sorry, no polkas. . . .