May 18, 2000

Steven Wallman, former securities regulator, begins company Folioâfnã as alternative to traditional mutual funds, most of which he maintains are not worth owning; says traditional funds cost too much, repeatedly fail to beat the market and frequently inflict big tax bills on shareholders; Folioâfnã, which sells its investment product over Internet for fee of $295 a year, will allow investors create three do-it-yourself stock funds consisting of as many as 50 stocks each and as much money as they choose; investors, for no additional charge, can make changes in their holdings as often as twice a day; Wallman acknowledges that his folios are not for everybody and that if person has only $10,000 or $20,000 to invest they ought to be in some other fund such as Vanguard 500, which he says is 'very good buy'; Wallman photo (M)

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses Miami Heat's victory over New York Knickerbockersin fifth game of National Basketball Assn Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series; photo (M)

Article contends that weighing in balance of Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani's decision on whether to stay in Senate race are millions of dollars he has raised in his effort to defeat Hillary Rodham Clinton; nearly half of $19 million has been donated by out-of-state voters; under Federal law, Giuliani may squirrel away every cent of more than $9 million he has not spent, even if he decides not to run; reaction of several campaign donors discussed (M)

Joyce Purnick Metro Matters column lauds selection of Harold O Levy as new schools chancellor; notes he is Jewish white man and neither his race nor his religion got in way of Board of Education's unanimous vote naming him head of largest school system in country (M)

Mattel Inc names Robert A Eckert, chief executive of Kraft Foods, as its new chairman and chief executive; he succeeds Jill E Barad, who resigned in February; Eckert says he understands his charge is to 'build value for shareholder'; Wall Street hails Eckert's selection; his photo (M)