October 23, 2004

Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots. Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.

Marsh & McLennan directors, under pressure from regulators, move to force resignation of Jeffrey W Greenberg, company's chief executive; some of company's 10 independent directors contact New York Atty Gen Eliot Spitzer in effort to settle civil lawsuit accusing Marsh of rigging bids and fixing prices for insurance; Spitzer indicates that negotiations may begin only with departure of Greenberg, whom he accuses of misleading him in early stages of investigation into corruption in insurance industry; Greenberg photo (M)

Cheerleading for Google from analysts at leading Wall Street brokerage firms is starting to sound a lot like days of dot.com bubble, when some of same analysts appeared on TV trumpeting ever higher prices for profitless Internet companies; Google shares surge by more than $23 to close at $172.43; number of Wall Street analysts immediately raise their price targets for company, encouraging investors to buy more shares; graph shows Google's soaring stock price; photo of analyst Mary Meeker (M)

The next time the St. Louis Cardinals need a starting pitcher, they could put together the most attractive classified advertisement in baseball. Help wanted: A pitcher who will throw strikes. Benefits: Candidate is almost assured to pick up 15 victories and advance to the playoffs. Support staff: Twenty Gold Gloves, most feared batting order in the National League, legendary pitching coach, assembly line of middle relievers and catcher known for handling pitchers well. Salary: Substantially less than Albert Pujols's. Full time/part time: mid-February to the very end of October.

Interview with Morris Chang, founder and chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co in Taipai; his company is goliath of Taiwan's modern microchip industry and world's biggest manufacturer of made-to-order chips; he expresses concern about lower growth in next 10 years and competition from rising industrial power of China; photos (M)