October 15, 1999

National Auto Credit Inc chief executive Allen D Rice welcomes Securities and Exchange Commission's probe into company's earnings; investigation, and related one by Justice Department, probably represents Rice's best chance of keeping his job; Rice is in battle with company's majority shareholder, Sam J Frankino, who was not consulted on Rice's employment; Frankino is battling in Delaware courts to take control of the board; Frankino, who stepped down as chairman in March 1998, could face lawsuit by his hand-picked board; company says restated financial results show about $100 million in losses that should have been reported by Frankino; Frankino denies any wrongdoing; graph (M)

Article on how Wall Street economists' forecasts can be wrong but their ideas are still valued; says forecasters' money-making product is stream of good ideas on economy that money managers use to attract clients who then trade through firm or compensate it in other ways, adding to profits; holds even predictions that go astray might still contain some economic insights; John Lipsky, chief economist at Chase Manhattan, and Robert J Barbera, chief economist at Hoenig & Co, comment; graphs (M)

New York Yankees beat Boston Red Sox, 3-2, and lead American League Championship Series, 2-0; photo (M)

Several of Ford Motor Co's most important buildings from its past have disappeared or are in disrepair, as company looks to its centennial in 2003; photos (M)

More than 70 percent of colleges and universities nationwide are offering life-skills seminars to students to help them adjust to campus life and adulthood; trend has exploded over past decade as budget-strapped and consumer-oriented institutions battle drop-out rates and search for strategies to increase student success; administrators say courses are critical, as large groups of immigrants and first-generation students push enrollments to record numbers; besides teaching skills, classes also create comfortable environment of small-group discussions in world often dominated by droning lectures; photo (M)