October 23, 1996

Parents hoping to preserve public education for 4-year-olds deliver petitions with 1,800 signatures to Montclair, NJ, Township Council and Board of Education in effort to override board vote to stop paying for district's $1.5 million pre-kindergarten after this year (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Pres Clinton is avoiding explicitly partisan appeals in final weeks of campaign as much as he wants party to recapture control of House and Senate; with latest state and national polls showing him leading Bob Dole by 15 to 25 percentage points, electing Democratic Congress, and especially Democratic House, has moved to top of Clinton's agenda, and President is pursuing goal by indirection; is talking more and more about turnout, hoping to energize straight-ticket Democratic voters who might not go to polls in year when outcome of Presidential race seems foreordained; is constantly recalibrating campaign's allocations of time and money; is stepping up already formidable money-raising pace, and doing best to look Presidential during campaign stops; campaigns in Michigan, where he endorses Democratic Sen Carl Levin for re-election; photo (M)

Salomon's Weak Profit Again Surprises Wall Street Salomon Inc. again surprised Wall Street with its quarterly earnings report. The company, the parent of the securities firm Salomon Brothers, said earnings fell nearly 60 percent, to $112 million, or 88 cents a share. Salomon is heavily dependent for its success on trading for its own account. And since it does not know the results of its own trading until the end of each quarter, its earnings can be a shock. Weak securities markets last summer hurt the firm. $(Page D5.$) Stocks Fall on Profit Taking Traders continued selling to secure profits on technology shares, pulling stocks lower as Digital Equipment reported a bigger-than-expected loss and Microsoft's strong earnings failed to satisfy investors. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 29.07 to 6,061.80. Broader measures also fell, with the biggest losses coming in the Nasdaq market. $(D10.$) Bond prices fell as concern over fresh supply weighed on the market for a second consecutive session. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose to 6.85 percent. $(D20.$) Only the Bills are Scary There is plenty of candy. There are pumpkins -- painted or plain, real or pre-carved plastic. There are costume kits -- cats to bunnies, Bill Clinton to Bob Dole. But at many stores there is lots more to buy for Halloween. Indeed, Halloween has now surpassed Mother's Day and Easter to generate more commercial revenue than any other holiday except Christmas. $(A1.$) Robust Quarter for Philip Morris Buoyed by profits in its premium cigarette businesses and the growing strength of its Marlboro brand, Philip Morris announced a 14.9 percent increase in profits. $(D2.$) Drug Makers Have Strong Earnings Four of the world's biggest drug companies reported stronger third-quarter earnings, driven by surging sales. $(D7.$) Netscape Revenue Quadruples Declaring it has made significant inroads into the corporate software market, Netscape said that revenue quadrupled in the third quarter as it reported earnings that were slightly higher than estimates. $(D4.$) Pacific Gas To Sell 4 Power Plants Pacific Gas and Electric said it would sell four power plants as part of its plan to comply with California's effort to open the state's utilities to competition. $(D4.$) Going Public on the Net Do people want to buy stock in a new company over the Internet? Leo J. Feldman, creator of IPOnet, and his employer, the broker, W. J. Gallagher & Company, will find out this week as they take a small computer company, Javelin Systems, public. Market Place. $(D10.$) The British Export A Beer and Its Ads A popular, award-winning campaign for a British brew is being exported to America along with the product it's pitching. The advertising is for Boddingtons Pub Ale, christened ''the cream of Manchester'' by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, a hot creative shop in London that considered the tag line a tactic to draw attention to the brand's creamy head. As Boddingtons becomes available in this country, the ale is being peddled with the witty, stylish ads that have helped make it a best seller at home. Stuart Elliott: Advertising. $(D9.$) Drug Called Unsafe and Ineffective Medical emergencies caused by very high blood pressure are often treated with a drug that is neither safe nor effective for the condition, a new study reports. The drug, known as nifedipine, is marketed as Procardia by Pfizer and as Adalat by Bayer. $(C11.$)

New Jersey Transit, in addition to equipping most of its buses with lifts for wheelchair accessibility, also deploys minivans to transport people with more severe disabilities anywhere along standard bus routes (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Some New Jersey residents are still unable to return to flood-ravaged homes as Gov Christine Todd Whitman asks Federal Small Business Administration to make low-cost loans available to homeowners and businesses affected by heavy rainfall (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)