April 18, 2005

To a man, the Nets were well aware of what was at stake at Continental Arena on Sunday night. Even their injured fourth-year swingman, Richard Jefferson, said: ''This might be the biggest regular-season game we've had since I've been here. It's almost like a Game 7.''

Wall Street and unusually nervous invididual investors will look to flood of earnings reports this week to see how optimistic corporate America is in its outlook for economy following last week's market plunge; almost third of companies in Standard & Poor's 500-stock index and half of 30 companies making up Dow Jones industrial average are to report earnings for first three months of year; many will comment on financial quarters ahead and could either counter or reinforce current pessimism about economy; early earnings warnings from companies like General Motors and Ford have already discouraged investors; earnings growth for quarter is likely to be well below pace of last year; sharp fall in market attributed to investors' sudden realization that high crude oil and gasoline prices are curtailing consumer spending, slowing economic growth and cutting into corporate earnings; shift in mood and economic outlook seems to take Federal Reserve by surprise; at its Mar 22 meeting, there was talk of solid job growth and capital spending, with some concern about inflationary pressures; next reading of Fed's views on strength of economy will come after May 3 meeting (M)

Iraq's daily violence and sectarian tensions--which are real enough--can be easily twisted into fantasy by rumors that spread like wildfire in country where telephones are unreliable and roads are often blocked; country's current political turmoil makes it hard to determine truth; in latest example, three Iraqi Army battalions surrounded town of Madaen, acting on report that Sunni kidnappers were threatening to kill hundreds of Shiite hostages unless all Shiites left town; report prompted Iraq's top political figures to warn of sectarian crisis between majority Shiites and minority Sunnis; army battalions arriving in Madaen found no armed Sunni mobs, no cowering Shiite victims, just streets full of people calmly going about their business; rumors in Madaen did not grow from nothing, but Iraqi Army officer claims issue was exaggerated for political reasons related to formation of new government (M)

Roles played by computer industry pioneers Gordon E Moore and Douglas C Engelbart noted in light of 40th anniversary of publication of Moore's celebrated article predicting number of transistors that could be placed on silicon chip would continue to double at regular intervals for forseeable future; Engelbart had made similar observation even earlier; Moore, Intel co-founder, and Engelbart, leading developer of many technologies that underlie both personal computer industry and Internet, represent twin Silicon Valley cultures that have combined to create digital economy; photos (M)

Market Place column on efforts of investment banking rivals to lure away Morgan Stanley's top managing directors in wake of abrupt departure of top investment bankers Vikram S Pandit and Joseph R Perella; some Morgan bankers reportedly have accepted offers and tentatively plan to resign in coming weeks, while others are weighing offers but may decide to stay at firm; number of departures for rival firms seen key test of chief executive Philip J Purcell's ability to unite firm; only one of 10 bankers who have left so far has decamped to rival (M)