Jewish World Review March 31, 2004 / 9 Nissan, 5764

Lloyd Grove

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Consumer Reports


Hair-raising day on Wall Street; Foxy lady loses 50 Cent; How do you say "party animal" in Hebrew?; Rev. Al and Janet Jackson; more


http://www.jewishworldreview.com | NEW YORK — The notoriously skittish stock market has turned on much less.

On Monday morning, "Money Honey" Maria Bartiromo wore her hair as usual on CNBC's "Squawk Box" — shoulder-length but swept off her forehead.

But after lunch, when she appeared on "Closing Bell With Maria Bartiromo," it was a whole new do. Suddenly there were bangs. Bangs down to her well-plucked eyebrows.

Wall Street was riveted — and then bullish — on Bartiromo's bangs.

Immediately the market started to climb.

Since Bartiromo got her bangs, the Dow has risen a net 42 points — the result so far at Tuesday's closing.

Was the market upturn caused by the Bartimoro Bang Effect?

"No, that's funny — it wasn't," Bartiromo modestly demurred to this column. "I got bangs, I like it. I actually went to my hairdresser, Serge Normant, right after 'Squawk Box.' I asked him to try something a little different. It took a little getting used to. . . . I got a lot of emails — I think people liked it. It's pretty radical because it's so straight."

Fund manager Michael Holland was among the legions who noticed.

"It looked fine — but I'm sorry, I'm not very good at these things — it's beyond my payscale," Holland told me, noting that he himself has zero hair on his head.

A senior equity trader, who asked for anonymity, told this column that customers "were calling from all over the country and asking, 'When did Maria get that haircut? That's not the way she looked in the morning!'

"I think everybody liked it, they thought it was pretty sexy," the trader said. "The old story always was that people felt that when her hair is short the market will go up. . . . The bottom line is that people noticed it, and they liked it."

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FOXY LADY LOSES 50 CENT

Thirty-nine-year-old actress Vivica A. Fox says she wishes she were still dating — or whatever she was doing with — 27-year-old rap star 50 Cent.

"We broke up because of all the media attention," Fox confided at Sunday's premiere party for the Miramax kiddie movie "Ella Enchanted," in which she plays a fairy godmother. "But I didn't want to!"

Though brief, their romance was richly rewarding publicity-wise. They appeared as a couple last August on the red carpet of the MTV Video Music Awards, and then spent that weekend desperately seeking privacy on a hansom carriage ride and other paparazzi-friendly pursuits.

Fox and 50 fizzled in November.

The actress didn't look all that broken-hearted. She was poured into a sexy, back-baring white dress.

"And I'm almost 40!" she crowed. "I keep in shape by doing tae-bo with Billy Blanks and following the Zone diet."

She fell off the wagon into a pile of french fries at the after-party at Dylan's Candy Bar, where pre-teen girls on a sugar high, including the two daughters of Miramax honcho Harvey Weinstein, scampered madly and shrieked at star Anne Hathaway; Hugh Dancy, who plays Prince Charmont in the movie; and Minnie Driver, who plays a fairy.

"Guys, you're killing me!" Driver pleaded as waist-high autograph hounds mobbed her. Weinstein, possibly terrified, hid behind a giant chocolate kiss.

THE BRIEFING

SCENARIO SPINNING: With the presidential primary season over early, Democratic insiders are speculating that presumptive nominee John Kerry will name a running mate well before the July convention in Boston to recapture momentum, goose his fundraising and generate favorable publicity in key battleground states. Some Dems are advising Kerry to name his potential Cabinet at the convention in Boston — with Bill Clinton's name being bandied about as a possible secretary of state (assuming such an appointment would pass constitutional and political muster).

I was surprised that Kerry campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter didn't dismiss these rumors out of hand.

"President Clinton would clearly help the United States regain the respect of our allies across the world," Cutter e-mailed. "As a result of his arrogant go-it-alone policies, President Bush has driven away our friends and allies, leaving us to bear the burden of fighting terrorism and funding the reconstruction of Iraq. But it's premature to discuss vice-presidential candidates or Cabinet positions."

HOW DO YOU SAY "PARTY ANIMAL" IN HEBREW?: Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres isn't letting a little unrest at home get in the way of a social life in New York. The 80-year-old Peres enjoyed a late dinner Saturday with nine friends at Bruno's, the swank Upper East Side supper club that attracts men of a certain age and women of another. The group arrived with four bodyguards at 11 p.m. and didn't leave until after 1 a.m. Kim Cattrall was eating with three girlfriends nearby, but nobody table-hopped.

IN JANET'S CORNER: Al Sharpton is backing Janet Jackson to the hilt. "I'm hear to support Janet," the perennial candidate told me at the diva's album launch party. "Everything that happened after the Super Bowl was so overblown. (Federal Communications Commission Chairman) Michael Powell overreacted in order that the Bush administration could try and distract people from the real problems of this country."



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© 2003, Creators Syndicate