November 25, 2004

Thousands of families in Florida remain displaced at end of hurricane season that left much of state in ruins; Gov Jeb Bush and Federal Emergency Management Agency Dir Michael D Brown said that every hurricane victim who needed it would have free temporary housing by Thanksgiving; close to 2,000 famililes are waiting for small trailers or larger mobile homes that FEMA will provide for up to 18 months; agency is getting up to 100 new requests every day for temporary housing, often from people who held out in battered homes until mold made them sick or inspectors forced them out; Red Cross estimates that about 25,000 homes were destroyed in hurricanes and that another 50,000 suffered major damage; photo (M)

Consumers appear to be poised to spend freely through Christmas season; University of Michigan's index of consumer confidence is up for November after three months of falling, and new survey finds that consumers are more enthusiastic about holiday purchases than last year; graph; photo (M)

Judge in Oracle Court Case Seeks More Information The dispute between Oracle and PeopleSoft will return to the courtroom next month, when the presiding judge will hear more testimony on Oracle's request to block PeopleSoft's defense against a hostile takeover. The judge said the two days of trial would help him determine whether the PeopleSoft board acted properly when it rejected Oracle's takeover bid of $24 a share. [Page C10.] Computer Associates Package Set John Swainson, the new chief executive of Computer Associates, has received a pay package that totals more than $8.6 million in salary, signing bonuses and stock. The package includes $2.5 million in cash as a signing bonus, a $1 million base salary and 100,000 shares of company stock. Mr. Swainson, 50, began working as president on Monday and is to take over from its acting chief executive, Kenneth Cron, within six months. [C2.] Judge May Punish MCI Over Fees The judge who presided over the Securities and Exchange Commission's fraud suit against MCI threatened to punish the company for not receiving approval from a monitor before paying fees to lawyers, accountants and other professionals. [C10.] File-Sharing Deal for Music Labels Three recording companies have agreed to make their music available to be shared and sold over an online file-swapping service that aims to lure music fans away from services where most trading is illegal. [C2.] Meeting Planned in Microsoft Case All parties in the European antitrust case involving Microsoft will meet today. [C10.] Another Departure at Schwab Jody Bilney, an executive vice president who briefly oversaw Charles Schwab's OneSource mutual-fund marketplace, has left the company and will not be replaced. [C2.] Delta Air to Swap Notes Delta Air Lines is proceeding with a debt exchange to help avoid bankruptcy. [C2.] Turkey Strengthens Hormel Shares of Hormel Foods rose after the company said sales at its Jennie-O Turkey Store soared 18 percent and the business delivered better-than-expected results. Profit fell, however, on higher costs in the company's refrigerated foods business, which includes brands like Always Tender seasoned meats. [C3.] Goods Orders Down; Home Sales Up Orders for items made to last at least three years fell 0.4 percent in October and sales of new homes increased 0.2 percent. [C4.] UFJ Reports First-Half Loss UFJ Holdings posted a loss of 674.3 billion yen ($6.5 billion) for its first half of the year. [World Business, Section W.] Tech Stocks Lead Markets Higher The Dow Jones industrials gained 27.71 points, to 10,520.31; the S.&P. 500 increased 4.82 points, to 1,181.76; and the Nasdaq composite jumped 18.26 points, to 2,102.54. [C6.] Surf the Web, Then Go to College Several companies are now matching high-school students with the best college for their personalities. Small Business. [C3.] It Was the Economy After All Economics did matter in the presidential election, and some believe a solid economic plan could have lured more voters to Senator John Kerry. Jeff Madrick: Economic Scene. [C2.] Financial Markets Are Closed United States government offices, banks and financial markets are closed today in observance of Thanksgiving. Foreign markets are open. Most United States markets will reopen Friday, but stock markets will close at 1 p.m. and the bond markets will close at 2 p.m.

Web based videoconferencing offers improved technology; lower cost allows families to communicate anywhere in world with real-time video; photos (M)

Royal Ahold reports third-quarter loss of $218 million, higher than same quarter last year; photo of chief executive Anders C Moberg (S)

In Washington State, A Winner by 42 Votes Dino Rossi, the Republican candidate for governor of Washington who was declared the winner last week with a 261-vote margin of victory, won a recount, done by machine, by 42 votes, of almost 3 million cast. But Democrats demanded another recount, by hand, which state law guarantees. They said the vote was far too close for their candidate, State Attorney General Christine Gregoire, to concede. PAGE A28 Stop-Gap Federal Financing Congress approved a resolution to finance government services temporarily after failing to delete from an overall spending bill a provision that would give legislative aides access to income tax returns. PAGE A32 Tougher Terror Laws Sought The man arrested in the killing of the filmmaker Theo van Gogh had been under surveillance since 2002 as a possible terrorist. Dutch authorities now want to be able to make arrests on suspicion. PAGE A3 Zarqawi Tape Assails Clerics In an audiotape posted on the Internet, a man identified as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist, condemned Sunni Muslim clerics in Iraq for abandoning the resistance. PAGE A22

UFJ Holdings reports $6.5-billion loss for first half of its fiscal year as it takes $5.9-billion charge to reduce bad loans ahead of planned takeover by Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group; photo (S)

Wal-Mart says it will allow union at its operations in China in move that appears to reflect bow to Chinese law rather than retreat from company's opposition to unionization worldwide; Chinese unions might be less objectionable to Wal-Mart because they work in close concert with management and rarely press for higher wages or better working conditions; some analysts still see suggestion that Wal-Mart might deal with worker issues somewhat differently than it has in past; photo (M)

Anna Kisselgoff reviews New York City Ballet performance; photo (M)

Crop of web sites have sprung up devoted solely to rallying college football fans to call for firing of various coaches, sometimes without much attention to whether or not coach has winning team; photos (M)

Janet Maslin Crowd Pleasers column reviews new self-help books: Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate and Life by Donald J Trump, The O'Reilly Factor for Kids: A Survival Guide for America's Families by Bill O'Reilly and Charles Flowers, The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer, Strategic Business Letters and E-Mail by Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts, The Power of the Actor: The Chubbuck Technique by Ivana Chubbuck, How Clean Is Your House: Hundreds of Handy Tips to Make Your Home Sparkle by Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie, Threads: My Life Behind the Seams in the High-Stakes World of Fashion by Joseph Abboud with Ellen Stern, A Little Work: Behind the Doors of a Park Avenue Plastic Surgeon by Z Paul Lorenc and Trish Hall, Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater by Alan Richman, The Little Stuff Matters Most: 50 Rules From 50 Years of Trying to Make a Living by Bernie Brillstein with David Rensin, Sun Tzu Was a Sissy: Conquer Your Enemies, Promote Your Friends and Wage the Real Art of War by Stanley Bing, We Got Fired!...And It's the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Us by Harvey Mackay, 50 Jobs Worse Than Yours by Justin Racz, 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses & Misuses from the Editors of American Heritage Dictionaries and The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do created by Samantha Ettus; list; photo (M)

EBay Power Sellers are gearing up for holiday season; are designated by high monthly sales; some expect to triple their normal volume; photos (M)