Leasing News

The Treasury Department auctioned $18 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.665 percent. Another $16 billion in six-month bills was auctioned, also at a discount rate of 1.665 percent.

The three-month rate was up from 1.630 percent last week and was the highest since three-month bills averaged 1.680 percent on July 29. The new six-month rate, which had also been 1.630 percent last week, was the highest since 1.690 percent on July 29.

The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors 1.696 percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,957.90 and 1.703 percent for a six- month bill selling for $9,915.80.

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one- year Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 1.77 percent last week from 1.59 percent the previous week.

Jerry Newell: Bank of the West/Trinity Capital $180M R+ $900M Management

There has been speculation for several days in Leasing News regarding

discussions between Trinity Capital Corporation and Bank of the West. I am

pleased to confirm the following:

Bank of the West and privately held equipment leasing company Trinity

Capital Corporation have signed a letter of intent for an acquisition making

San Francisco-based Trinity Capital a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of the

West. The parties are now negotiating a definitive agreement and expect to

finalize this transaction within the next 30 days. Both companies view this

combination as highly desirable.

This transaction underscores Bank of the West's commitment to equipment

leasing as a core product line. Bank of the West has operated a nationwide

funding business for equipment leasing brokers for 30 years and provides

direct equipment leases to bank customers. Bank of the West's equipment

lease portfolio currently exceeds $400 million. The Bank will continue to

strongly support and grow its broker funding business which represents more

than three-quarters of its portfolio. In particular, we want our lease

brokers to know that Bank of the West values their business and will

continue to protect brokers' interests in their transactions. The addition

of Trinity Capital will further expand the scope of the bank's equipment

leasing product line, but is not intended to compete with the bank's

existing leasing businesses. Moreover, the market focus of Trinity Capital

is sufficiently different from Bank of the West's broker funding business

that we do not anticipate any overlap.

Trinity Capital will operate as a separate subsidiary of Bank of the West

and owners Jim and Donna Halow will continue in their executive positions.

Trinity Capital Corporation was launched 22 years ago by the Halows.

Specializing in nationwide vendor leasing for several vertical market

niches, Trinity has an owned lease portfolio of approximate $180 million in

receivables and also operates an equipment lease servicing business with

nearly $900 million in leases under management.

About Bank of the West

The third-ranked commercial bank headquartered in California, San

Francisco-based Bank of the West serves 1.5 million retail and commercial

customers in six states, as well as through such national specialty business

lines as equipment leasing, religious institution and SBA lending. With 300

branches in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico,

$26 billion-asset Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BancWest Corporation,

a unit of Paris-based BNP Paribas, France's largest listed bank.

Jerry Newell, CLP

Senior Vice President

Equipment Leasing

Bank of the West

jnewell@bankofthewest.com

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Caterpillar 3rd Quarter 2002 Earnings

Sites of Reference:

http://www.cat.com/about_cat/investor_information/02_financials/01_quarterly_results/pdf/3q02_cat_inc.pdf

(courtesy ELAonline.com)

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Tuesday---Odds and Ends

CLP Exam---Three Pass Test

Unofficial, there were four who took the Certified Leasing Professional Test

at the San Diego United Association of Equipment Leasing Conference.

Readers who have been following the comments by Jeffrey Taylor of ExecutiveCaliber - Global Lease Training, regarding the program ( out of date book, training material,

tutoring, instructors )---He did pass!!! Jeff also volunteered to help out with the CLP

program.

www.clpfoundation.org

List of CLP’s ( to be up-dated)

http://www.clpfoundation.org/Departments/CLPorderbylastname.htm

List of companies who have certified leasing professional working for them:

http://www.clpfoundation.org/Departments/CLPorderbycompany.htm

---

Guess the news on Trinity means that even the most successful independents look ahead and see only rough waves as far as liquidity and access to reasonable capital are concerned?

Steve Chriest

schriest@sbcglobal.net

-------------------------------------

Three Types of Equipment Leasing Sales People

I HAVE FOUND THAT THERE ARE THREE KIND OF SALES PEOPLE IN THE LEASING BUSINESS:

THOSE THAT CAN COUNT AND THOSE THAT CAN'T ".

Bob Baker CLP

___________________________________________________

Alert---Total Control Trucking, Tucker,GA

and Cahaba Business Systems,Atlanta,GA.

I don't know the details that Larry Summers at Diversified Leasing faced in

his email that appeared in your column yesterday, but First Sierra

experienced over $600,000 in losses in the eastern part of Atlanta in

1998/99 before taking the proper precautions with site inspections.

Since my days at First Sierra investigating these frauds in behalf of the company,

several frauds were attempted against LPI, but we were able to avoid them

due to our experience with the First Sierra mistakes. As much as I love the

Atlanta area, anyone who does a lease in the Tucker, Norcross or Duluth

areas of Atlanta should demonstrate extreme care due to the prevalent

Nigerian fraud in these areas.

Until a few months ago, the INS had a Nigerian Fraud Squad in Atlanta until someone higher up in the INS decided that preventing fraud was not as important as hinting that Nigerians might be guilty of perpetuating more fraud than any other nationality in Atlanta.

I have the quarterly INS publications that verified that some Nigerians are

trained in fraud even before leaving Nigeria and coming to America to

realize the American dream of unearned wealth.

For those of you who feel I may be discriminating, forget it since I have I lived it and have the fraud newsletters issued by this task force to banks, police and financial

institutions.

These Nigerian frauds extend from credit card fraud against

the elderly to lease fraud to email scams. Like Miami and Dade County,

anyone doing business in Atlanta should use extreme caution.

Maybe Larry's fraud is not Nigerian made, but I would be willing to bet the ranch they are since the bank they used is the same bank that First Sierra had on its

applications in 1999. I guess a good tip off came on the First Sierra frauds

came when the bank answered "hello" when called late at night.

Good luck Larry and let us know if we can help".

Charlie Lester

clester@lpifinancial.com

----

Branding in Leasing—

I read Friday's leasing News and completely agree with Andrew Thorn's comment on branding. During the past four plus years we have focused on clearly identifying and marketing our own distinctive brand and thereby differentiating ourselves from competition. Currently 70% of our new business is from existing customers or referred by existing customers. I attribute this, in great part, to our marketing ourselves.

Rick Wilbur

rick@mediacap.com

Managing Partner

Media Capital Associates, LLC

480-941-8558 ext. 104

480-941-4588 - Fax

http://www.mediacap.com

---

Andrew Thorn, NowLease, original opinion:

"Branding is possible in the leasing industry and the successful

companies of the future will be those that develop a good brand.

Anybody that is unable to distinguish themselves from their competitors

and establish uniqueness will not last very long in this market. We

have seen the rise and fall of those companies who operated under the

basic assumption that leasing was a commodity and their offering

consisted only of low price. Where are they now? A firm's ability to

differentiate, is the core of the brand. Discovering what the core

should be can only be accomplished by discovering what your target

market is. Without a differentiator there is little chance for success.

"This is only my opinion, but I think we need to wake up and discover

that our industry is changing and requires us to look at the successful

business practices of other industries and apply them to our own. I

call it the maturation of our industry."

---

I read with interest the comments by Andrew Thorn and Jeffrey Taylor

regarding "brand identity" in the leasing or commercial finance

business. I find myself agreeing and disagreeing with both of them.

While I agree with Jeff Taylor's assertion that it is difficult to build

an identifiable brand in the leasing industry, I fundamentally disagree

that is near to impossible to brand an intangible. Hey Jeff. "Can

you Yahoo?" The Internet has produced a wealth of brands that are

comprised of intangible products. When was the last time you ate,

drank, cuddled, or spoke to your "Google".

Andrew Thorn's assertion, on the other hand, that differentiation is key

to long term success is totally accurate. I could not agree more. Long

ago (12 years) when The American Lease Exchange, (LeaseNOW's old name)

went live on the "Prodigy Interactive Video Text Service" we thought

that we would be able to build a lasting brand identity. When we

developed software and interfaced it with the Fair-Isaac SBSS scoring

system and gave it to vendors for free, we differentiated our company

from our competitors.

These things have made us a very successful leasing company but we

certainly can't brag that we have "brand identity". That's the bad

news. Here's the good news. CIT doesn't have a recognizable brand

identity with the general buying public either and they have spent a lot

more time, effort and money that LeaseNOW has to build one.

The reason is, that in the modern world, commercial enterprises are far

less brand directed than they used to be. Even when the brand is

recognized there is little evidence to support that the brand will

influence the final buying decision. It may help you get in the door, if

people think of it, that is.

In our industry "brand identity" matters even less. Here's why. How

many potential customers walk into a vendor, look at their product,

decide they want to acquire it, and then ask, "By the way Mr. Vendor, do

you do business with ABC leasing company?" It just doesn't happen that

way. In fact, I would be willing to bet that, if you called 500 known

leasing customers and asked them to name the top 5 equipment finance

companies in the United States, you'd almost get 500 different answers

with the possible exception of GE Capital, who as we know "Brings Good

Things to Life". Unless and until leasing becomes a conscious,

pre-sale/pre-acquisition, consumer choice, as opposed to a choice that

is driven by the decision to purchase, brand identity won't be important

because it does not primarily influence our lessee. The lessee will

defer to the vendor because the lease is, at that point, just a means to

an end which is the completion of the acquisition. While Jeff was right

that a brand in our industry is not important, he missed on the fact

that it's not important because it isn't tangible. It's not important

because it isn't the primary product, it's merely a means of acquiring

the primary product.

"Brand Identity" in this business is often confused with "reputation". I

would advise Andrew to build on his good reputation and not divert

valuable resources to building a brand name. Having a great reputation

in the leasing industry is, at this time, an salient and very important

point of differentiation. Even if you are moderately successful in

building a brand that is recognized by your peers, it will matter little

to the customer that eventually makes the buying decision.

Bob Rod, CLP

President

LeaseNOW, Inc.

drlease@leasenow.com

www.leasenow.com

AGL&F Annual Conference---November 20-22

---Cities, Counties, States Sales Tax and other income is drastically

down. To acquire capital assets, they are doing more and more leasing.---

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO RESERVE ROOMS AT THE AGL&F HOTEL RATE FOR THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE. AFTER TODAY HOTEL ROOM RATES WILL LIKELY INCREASE BY 50% AND WE HAVE A VERY LIMITED NUMBER ROOMS REMAINING UNDER OUR BLOCK.

********************

Hotel Reservation Deadline:

TODAY- 5:00 PM- MONDAY - OCTOBER 21

****************************

Association for Government Leasing and Finance Early Discounted Registration Deadline:

EXTENDED ONE WEEK TO OCTOBER 28

The Annual Fall Conference is right around the corner! On behalf of

Conference Co-Chairs John Merchant and Debra Saunders, I cordially

invite you to the 2002 Fall Annual Conference of the Association for

Governmental Leasing and Finance (AGL&F).

AGL&F 2002 ANNUAL MEETING - AVAILABLE AT www.aglf.org and attached.

November 20-22

Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts

Orlando, Florida

The AGL&F Annual Fall Conference remains the premiere business

conference for our industry's leaders. Of course, our social

functions create the perfect setting for networking or making new

friends and business contacts.

We have two great evening events planned on the 20th and 21st of

November. The Thursday night banquet is included in the registration

fee; however, the Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba tickets are an

additional cost ($35.00), but that is 50% of the regular cost per

ticket. All evening events are suitable for children of all ages.

We are at Disney, so everyone should have a great time!

I would also like to remind everyone, that the 2002 Fifty State

Survey will be released at the conference and we will dedicate one of

the sessions to a review and discussion of the changes since 2000,

the date of the Survey's last release.

The Annual Conference brochure and registration form is available at

www.aglf.org .

- Please fax your registration to AGL&F Headquarters at

202-833.3636 no later than October 21 for the Early-Bird discounted

registration rate. Please make your hotel reservations immediately

to avoid any inconvenience. Thank you.

In the meantime, please feel free to call me or AGL&F Executive

Assistant Brian Mandrier, if you have any questions (202.742.AGLF) or

need additional information. We look forward to seeing you at Disney!

Cordially,

Graham Hauck

Executive Director

Attachment

P.S.: Sponsorship Opportunities are still available. Please call

AGL&F Headquarters for more information and to confirm your

sponsorship.

Graham Hauck

Executive Director

Association for Governmental Leasing and Finance

1255 23rd Street, NW

Washington, DC 20037

202.742.AGLF (2453)

fax: 202.833.3636

email: gsh@aglf.org

http://www.aglf.org

#### ##################################################

CBIZ Property Tax Solutions and Tax Partners Form Marketing Alliance

CBIZ Property Tax Solutions, Inc. and Tax Partners, LLC have formed an alliance to bring a coordinated outsourced sales, use and property tax solution to the leasing industry. While sales, use and property tax compliance are very different tax functions requiring unique systems and core competencies, they share one thing in common - both are a serious burden for lessors. The alliance between Tax Partners and CBIZ was formed to provide the market with easy access to outsourced solutions to these difficult compliance problems.

Gary DiLillo, National Director of CBIZ Property Tax Solutions commented, "The coupling of our focused property tax solutions expertise with Tax Partners' sales and use tax services is a real win for lessors and capital funding companies."

"This alignment of core competencies creates a powerful mix of value and expertise for the leasing industry", said John Richie, CEO of Tax Partners.

CBIZ Property Tax Solutions is the leading provider of outsourced property tax services to the Leasing Industry, and has provided Lessors with cost effective solutions to their unique needs for over eleven years. CBIZ works closely with Lessors to integrate their services to improve cash flows and customer service while lowering costs. CBIZ Property Tax Solutions is a subsidiary of CBIZ (Century Business Services, Inc.), one of the largest comprehensive professional business service outsourcing companies in the United States.

Tax Partners is the largest sales and use tax compliance service firm in the U.S. The firm uses proprietary technology and engineered processes to provide its clients with outstanding sales tax compliance services. From the beginning Tax Partners has focused on using its systems to provide clients with higher levels of control, less risk and a more cost effective compliance process than they can deliver from in-house approaches. Tax Partners serves over 160 clients including well known leasing companies like Textron Financial Corporation, HP Financial Services, Ford Motor Credit, and GMAC.

Sites of Reference:

http://ptsleasing.com

http://taxpartners.com

CONTACT:

Nancy Shorthouse

Tax Partners

Phone Number: (770) 956-7525 ext. 359

(courtesy ELAonline.com )

#### ##########################################################

________________________________________________________________________

Employees to get 30-day notice of 401(k) lockout periods

By Leigh Strope, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) Workers with 401(k) retirement plans are getting a new legal protection next year, a regulation that requires 30 days' notice before a company can block access to retirement savings accounts for administrative changes.

The Labor Department issued the regulation Monday, to take effect Jan. 26. Congress ordered the rule as part of a corporate accountability law passed this summer.

Congress has failed to pass legislation strictly to tighten protections for workers with 401(k) plans. The 30-day notice of blackout periods was about all Republicans and Democrats could agree on, so it was included in the corporate accountability bill that passed.

About 40 million Americans have about $1.5 trillion invested in 401(k) plans.

Plan administrators who fail to provide the 30-day notice can be fined up to $100 per day per plan participant. Companies are not required to notify the Labor Department of a blackout period.

Notices to workers must contain reasons for the blackout period, a description of participants' rights being suspended during the time, the start and end dates and a statement advising participants to evaluate current investments based on their inability to make changes during the blackout period.

Those requirements ''will create incentives for companies to keep blackouts as brief as possible,'' said Ann Combs, assistant labor secretary for pension and welfare benefits.

Corporate executives also will be barred from selling company stock or exercising options during blackout periods. Details of that requirement will be issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Bush administration publicized the regulations in President Bush's radio address Saturday. The White House has its eye on the Nov. 5 elections that will determine control of Congress. Bush hopes to deflect Democrats' claims that the economy has worsened during his presidency, and he has done little to help.

At least one proponent of stronger consumer protections criticized the White House and Congress, saying much more needs to be done.

The White House ''is trying to make this into a big deal. This is not a big deal. In fact, this is a red herring,'' said Karen Friedman, policy director for the Pension Rights Center. ''The so-called blackout period is a very small part of the problems that were created in the fallout of Enron and WorldCom.''

The law in part responded to the predicament of Enron Corp. workers, many of whom lost their retirement savings when the company's stock value plummeted last year. Thousands of workers were barred for weeks from accessing their accounts as the retirement plan changed administrators. The 20,795 participants had about 63 percent of their assets invested in company stock.

Under intense pressure from business groups, Congress has done nothing to limit how much company stock that workers can invest in as part of their 401(k) plans. Some Senate Democrats favored imposing limits that would force plan diversification, but an agreement was not reached and the Senate failed to act on any 401(k) legislation.

The Republican-controlled House passed a bill that includes a provision to allow workers to receive investment advice from the same companies that manage their 401(k) retirement accounts. Republicans say that would help workers diversify their accounts, but Democrats claim the advice would be tainted by financial conflicts of interest.

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Father of 401(k) takes pride despite account's flaws

By Michael Liedtke, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Like any proud father, Ted Benna takes pride in the accomplishments of his brainchild, the 401(k) account.

But that doesn't mean he ignores his progeny's shortcomings flaws facing more scrutiny as the nation's once-ballooning 401(k) savings deflate under the weight of a bearish stock market and corrupt companies.

Yes, Benna says, it was a bad idea to let so many 401(k) investors buy the stocks of their employers. Employees at scandal-ridden Enron Corp. hammered this point home when they loaded up on company stock and lost a collective $1.3 billion after the energy trader collapsed last year.

And Benna knows that many of the nation's 48 million 401(k) participants might not have lost so much money during the past two years had they been given more guidance and choices by their employers.

He will even bluntly admit that 401(k) accounts ''stink'' when it comes to helping financially struggling workers making less than $10 per hour.

What you won't hear Benna say is that the country would have been better off if he hadn't unveiled the first 401(k) plan nearly 22 years ago.

''People can beat up the 401(k) all they want, but this is the only retirement plan a lot of employees are ever going to have,'' Benna said after a recent financial seminar in San Francisco.

''I've had people come up to me to complain they only have $70,000 in a 401(k) account that had $100,000 a couple of years ago and I say, 'Well, how much would you have saved now without the account?' That usually makes them stop and think.''

A closer look at 401(k) plans is long overdue, said Karen Friedman, director of policy strategy for the Pension Rights Center, a Washington, D.C. watchdog group. She thinks the stock market's recent troubles have proven that most people aren't ready to manage their own retirement accounts, a skill 401(k) plans require.

''There really has never been a policy debate about this because no one really criticized 401(k)s during the 1990s when the stock market was raging and everyone thought their accounts would just keep rising with the tide,'' Friedman said. ''Now, a lot of people are discovering that 401(k)s might not be quite what they are cracked up to be.''

Friedman and others believe the rise of 401(k) plans has encouraged more companies to drop their defined benefit plans. Benna disagrees, arguing that most companies with pension plans have introduced the 401(k) as an additional benefit.

But Benna expects that to change in the next few years as more companies abandon pension plans instead of making the hefty contributions that will required to offset recent stock market losses. If that happens, Benna thinks workers will be even more thankful for their 401(k) accounts.

Benna, 60, is doing his part to help people learn more. He has a new book scheduled for release next month and he conducts financial seminars throughout the country.

While he supports efforts to better educate 401(k) investors, Benna believes most employers sponsoring the plans aren't up to the challenge and probably never will be.

About 97 percent of the nation's 400,000 401(k) plans are offered by small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees, Benna said, leaving them ''no better equipped for making investment decisions than the participants are.''

Congress is considering a variety of 401(k) changes, including limits on the amount of employer stock that can be held in the plans and reforms in the way the plans are run. Benna agrees some changes may be in order, but prefers a free-market approach to government mandates.

Friedman believes the government should play a greater role because 401(k) accounts provide one of the nation's biggest tax breaks about $60 billion annually. That figure likely will rise over the next few years as the maximum annual 401(k) contribution per investor rises from $11,000 this year to $15,000 in 2006.

Although it's been a while, this isn't the first time Benna has heard second guessing about the 401(k) a concept he developed in 1980 while working as a disillusioned retirement plan adviser grappling with the nuances of recently passed tax reforms.

After realizing paragraph (k) of Section 401 in the Internal Revenue Code had unintentionally opened the door for tax-deferred retirement accounts, Benna unsuccessfully tried to get several large employers to embrace the plan.

Even after he introduced a 401(k) at his own 75-employee firm in January 1981, Benna faced resistance from attorneys and personnel managers convinced his idea was an illegal tax dodge. Other skeptics doubted rank-and-file workers would ever contribute.

Those notions seem inconceivable today, with 401(k) plans entrenched as a major source of individual wealth. An estimated $1.5 trillion is held in 401(k) accounts, down from $1.65 trillion in 2000.

Benna has shared in the recent losses. He says his own 401(k) account fully invested in the stock market has dropped by more than 10 percent so far this year. He isn't cashing out of his positions, nor is he blaming his invention.

''The problem isn't the 401(k). It isn't broke,'' Benna said. ''The issue is the investing decisions that we make.''

Phone bills going up

Long-distance firms try to recoup losses

by Todd Wallack, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer

Long-distance calls are getting more expensive.

Both Sprint and WorldCom's MCI unit and have quietly raised an assortment of long-distance fees in the past few months in a move to shore up slumping sales.

Last month, MCI, the nation's No. 2 long-distance company, imposed five separate fee hikes. For instance, MCI boosted the monthly fee for its 7 Cents Value Plan by $1 to $3.95 and raised the per-minute rates for two plans.

Meanwhile, Sprint, the nation's No. 3 long-distance carrier, raised the price of directory assistance 50 cents to $2.49 in July. Sprint also boosted the surcharge for so-called casual callers, who haven't formally signed up for Sprint service with the company.

All of this means that consumers have to be more careful than ever. Not only should they shop around when picking a long-distance carrier, they must keep tabs on their rates to avoid any unfortunate surprises.

"The noninformed consumers are (being) treated to increasing rates," said Marc-David Seidel, founder of the abtolls.com Web site, which allows consumers to compare rate plans. Seidel said major long-distance carriers have gradually been tacking on an array of hidden fees to heavily advertised "low-rate" plans.

WorldCom spokeswoman Audrey Waters, however, said the rate hikes "impact a small portion of our customer base."

Waters also said the company notifies customers of any rate hikes in advance. "Changes like this take several months to implement," she said.

Sprint spokeswoman Leslie Letts said the company had to boost the cost for directory assistance because of rising costs. WorldCom also recently raised the price for directory assistance by 50 cents to $2.49. "Sprint is on par with the market for this charge," Letts said.

By contrast, Pacific Bell, Northern California's dominant local telephone company, charges $1.25 for nonlocal directory assistance, half the price that WorldCom and Sprint charge, and says it can still turn a profit.

"We wouldn't set a price where we are going to lose money," Pac Bell spokesman Fletcher Cook said.

Consumers can also save money by signing up with a small long-distance reseller, which buys service from one of the major carriers at basement prices and resells it. "The phone lines are the same, but they pay a lower rate," Seidel said.

Callers also can use dial-around (or 1010) numbers to access a cheaper service, according to Rich Sayers, who runs the 10-10phonerates.com site, which allows consumers to compare rates from various 10-10 service providers.

For directory assistance calls, for instance, WorldxChange Communications and Everdial charge 75 cents per minute via 10-10 numbers -- 70 percent less than Sprint and WorldCom charge, he said.

Sayers found prices for some 10-10 numbers have shot up as well. In addition to the per-minute rate, for instance, 10-10-345 doubled the charge it tacks on to every U.S. call to 30 cents from 15 cents.

And Sprint has raised the weekend rates for its Fonecard. Beginning Oct. 7, the per-minute rate jumped 38 percent to 69 cents per minute, while its surcharge jumped to $1.25, up from 99 cents.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STAYING ON TOP OF RATE CHANGES

Long-distance companies are required to post rate

changes on their Web sites. Here are the places to check the big three:

-- MCI: www.mci.com/mci_service_agreement/ res_most_recent_info.jsp

-- Sprint: www.sprint.com/ratesandconditions/ residential/documents/resratechanges.pdf

-- AT&T: serviceguide.att.com/ACS/ext/pi.cfm?JID=1

In addition, consumer advocates have also posted online information to help consumers shop around.

-- Utility Consumers Action Network (www.ucan.org) provides advice and recommendations.

-- ABTolls (www.abtolls.com) has a useful glossary of common charges and a comparison of more than 100 calling plans.

-- The Utility Reform Network (www.turn.org/ pacbell_bill.htm) offers tips on your local phone bill.

-- Consumer Action (www.consumer-action.org/ English/CANews/2001_Fall_LongDistance.php) provides a 2001 long-distance rates survey.

Source: Chronicle research

E-mail Todd Wallack at twallack@sfchronicle.com.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

World Series TV Ratings Down

By Ronald Blum

AP Sports Writer

Overall, the combined preliminary rating for the first two games was a 10.7/19, 16 percent below the first two games last year, which averaged a 12.7/21. Fox said the biggest drop, 25 percent, was in the Eastern time zone.

Even though last year's World Series went seven games, its 15.7 rating was the third- lowest ever, ahead of only the 2000 Subway Series between the Yankees and New York Mets (12.4) and the Yankees' four-game sweep of San Diego in 1998 (14.1).

"After looking at the numbers, it's obvious that the regional nature of the matchup is having an impact on viewership," Fox Sports president Ed Goren said. "But these numbers would be welcome by every sports league other than the

Sunday's game got a 35.1/53 in San Francisco and a 29.8/47 in Los Angeles, it dropped to a 10.9 rating in New York, a 9.1 in Boston and an 8.4 in Philadelphia. It received a 19.3 in Phoenix, a 15.2 in Minneapolis, a 14.9 in St. Louis and a 13.5 in Chicago.

News Briefs---

Xerox to receive up to $5 billion in financing from GE

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) Xerox. Corp. said Monday it reached an agreement with General Electric Co. to borrow up to $5 billion over eight years backed by equipment leases.

---

Changing fortunes of stock market have had little political impact on investor voters

WASHINGTON (AP) Investors have shown little inclination to blame Republicans for Wall Street's problems over the past few months, polls suggest, complicating a Democratic attempt to make the economy a rallying cry in their final push to the elections.

Adobe seeks to bolster its online document format with server product

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Adobe Systems Inc. has long offered its Acrobat Reader software for free, a calculated move that has helped make its Portable Document Format a de facto standard on the Internet.An estimated 400 million computers worldwide have Adobe's free Acrobat Reader. But in order to write to PDF documents, users need a full version of Acrobat, which costs about $250.

San Jose-based Adobe said it would begin selling its new Acrobat for Web server package to businesses and government agencies by year's end at prices beginning at $20,000.

---

SEC staff recommends civil charges against Martha Stewart

NEW YORK (AP) SEC investigators have notified Martha Stewart that they plan to recommend civil securities fraud charges against her in connection with her sale of ImClone Systems Inc. shares, according to published reports Monday.

---

Study reflects impact of economy and declining tax revenues on higher tuition prices

A study released Monday says declining tax revenues and the overall malaise in the economy caused college tuition and fees to increase an average of more than 5 percent for both two- and four-year institutions this school year.

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- Despite loss, New England Revolution won hearts

By Jackie MacMullan, Boston Globe Columnist2

FOXBOROUGH - The ending was painfully abrupt.

For two months now, the New England Revolution, the new darlings of our normally provincial sports world, have put their heads down and plowed through the meat of the Major League Soccer order. A team that was once in danger of missing the playoffs blossomed under interim coach Steve Nicol.

They ran the table on the final six games of their regular season. They dispatched the Chicago Fire and the Columbus Crew in the postseason.

They scratched their way to the one-game, winner-take-all MLS Cup final yesterday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Even though their opponent, the Los Angeles Galaxy, was in the title match for the fourth time, and the Revolution had never even had a sniff of the championship, somehow, this band of fearless competitors convinced everyone they were going to pull it off.

''If soccer were a little bigger in this country,'' said Revolution defender Rusty Pierce, ''people would be saying, `What those guys have done is unbelievable.' They would be saying, `What an incredible story.'''

He is right. It was a fairy tale complete with spikes and yellow cards, destined for a thrilling, inspirational ending, just like those other Gillette tenants, the New England Patriots. Revolution owner Bob Kraft wore his lucky blue striped shirt, with his white tab collar, and his blood red Patriots - no, check that - Revolution tie.

When regulation ended in a 0-0 knot, the sense was the defensive-oriented, physical Revolution team had contained LA's potent offense.

And, in the 22d minute of overtime, when midfielder Winston Griffiths unleashed a blast toward Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, the crowd rose to its feet in unison and anticipation.

But Griffiths's shot clanged off the crossbar. Within seconds, the Galaxy regained control of the ball. Within a minute, their attackers were spread, and Chris Albright had forwarded the ball to Tyrone Marshall in the right corner.

Pierce, the lone defender back for the Revolution, ran toward Marshall, hoping to delay him long enough for help to arrive.

''I got out there as fast as I could,'' Pierce said. ''I was hoping to force him to take a touch, instead of a [one-timer] across. I was hoping I could slow him down.''

Marshall directed the ball across to Carlos Ruiz, the league's goal-scoring champion, who raced unguarded into the penalty area. He kicked the ball to the right corner of the net, and rejoiced as it rolled in.

Just like that, the dream was over. As an MLS-record 61,316 pro-Revolution fans looked on in horror, the Galaxy finally won one - and New England finally lost one.

''That's a very quiet dressing room in there,'' said Nicol. ''It's easy for me to stand in front of them and tell them to be proud of themselves, but at this moment in time, I don't think it means very much to them.''

The coach can relate. He was an interim replacement of the fired Fernando Clavijo May 23, and was given no promises. He started out 2-5, and nobody was looking to give him a raise. But then, the wins began mounting, and the team kept advancing, and suddenly, Nicol was Coach of the Year.

Suddenly, he was Bill Belichick.

All of New England, queasy from the Patriots' tepid start, nauseous from the annual Red Sox collapse, turned their bloodshot eyes toward a sport they've never fully understood but were completely and totally prepared to embrace.

The Revolution made that part easy. Goalkeeper Adin Brown was spectacular, robbing the Galaxy of two point-blank scoring opportunities. The defense was persistent, and physical, harassing LA's top scorers - Ruiz and Cobi Jones - from the moment the clock began ticking.

Scoring was scarce - that's stating the obvious in soccer, now isn't it? - but New England felt if they could hold LA off a little longer, they could knock one in ...

''Soccer is dramatic that way,'' explained defender Daouda Kante. ''You kind of know it's going to happen that one goal wins it. One mistake and you are done. That's how the game is played.''

Nicol knows all about dramatic finishes, from his playing days in Scotland, and from Friday night, when he watched his son, Mike, kick the winning field goal for Hopkinton to upset heavily favored Bellingham.

There was no reason to doubt it could happen with his team. They were playing with so much confidence, and so much cohesiveness, in direct contrast to the first four months, when their record was 6-12-1 and nobody was making plans for the weekend of Oct. 20.

''The real turning point for us was in August,'' said midfielder Brian Kamler. ''Guys started getting to know each other. We had a trade. We added some guys. It took us a while, but then all of a sudden we were playing with so much confidence. All of a sudden, we were making our own luck.''

It could be said the Galaxy's goal was a bit lucky yesterday, but the Revolution know, and New England sports fans know, too, you make your own luck.

A disappointed crowd that wore Patriots hats and Red Sox sweat shirts and Celtics jackets was soothed by the Revolution players walking around the field and applauding each section of loyalists.

Two months ago, most of the people in Gillette Stadium couldn't have named three players on the New England Revolution, but yesterday, they were claiming them as their own, and feeling their pain.

Picture this. Adam Vinatieri's game-winning field goal against St. Louis in the Super Bowl last February hits the crossbar. On the next play, the Rams throw a touchdown pass the length of the field to win it.

Now you get the idea.

It's a shame when a team that hustles and works together and overcomes long odds has to lose. It's a shame the Revolution did not wake up this morning as champions, but there were other rewards to be won from this.

''We managed to get people behind us by heart and soul, and some very good soccer,'' said Nicol.

The trick, the Interim Coach of the Year knows, is to find a way to convince them to come back next year, too.

Jackie MacMullan's e-mail address is macmullan@globe.com.