Balance Sheet

NEW YORK -- By day, he is one of Gotham's mild-mannered international bankers. By night, dressed in dark tails and a crisp white tie, his passion is music. Yet most New York music buffs had not heard Richard Westerfield of J.P. Morgan conduct an orchestra until last week.In what has turned out to be Lincoln Center's version of a Cinderella story, Mr. Westerfield is winding up a series of performances tonight with the New York Philharmonic. Last Wednesday, the 35-year-old conductor was tapped at the last minute to stand in for Erich Leinsdorf, the famed European conductor and a frequent Philharmonic guest conductor, who had to bow out of his scheduled performance because of a back injury.

Fila Holding SpA moved to contain the damage yesterday from a steep stock dive sparked by the arrest of a former executive of its Italian parent company, as Hunt Valley-based executives of the clothing and sneaker company insisted that its extremely strong profit growth has been for real.An Italian news agency reported Wednesday that police in Milan had arrested Emil Schneeberg, a former executive of Gemina SpA, which owns slightly more than 50 percent of Fila, and charged him with balance sheet fraud.

Just what you need - a few more New Year's resolutions. If you've already given up on the promise you made to get into shape, perhaps you can try to make your finances a little healthier. And if you are still at it on your workouts or weight-loss program, keep in mind that getting the basics right on your finances can be a lot like losing weight - the hardest part is getting started. When you put the financial fundamentals in place and feel more secure about taking care of yourself and your family, you should give yourself the positive reinforcement you need to keep on going.

From houses all over Maryland and Delaware, the wastepaper flows to Baltimore by the truckload: old newspapers, junk mail, boxes, phone books.From Howard and Baltimore counties in the Baltimore area; from Calvert and Charles counties in Southern Maryland; from Wicomico, Queen Anne's, Kent and Talbot counties and Ocean City on the Eastern Shore; and from Cecil County and drop-off centers all over Delaware, the trucks come laden with paper. They converge on the waterfront warehouse on Clinton Street, drive up a ramp and dump their loads -- about 150 tons every working day -- on the second floor.

Within the next few days, President Barack Obama will face a decision likely to be among the most important he will face as president - how to rescue the banks and financial institutions vital to the functioning of the nation's economy. Last fall, Congress appropriated $700 billion to do just that. But with half that money spent to little effect, the health of the banking industry continues to deteriorate. Now, the president and Treasury officials must quickly decide how to fix the troubled banks without rewarding the current managers or shareholders.

Charles Darwin would recognize what is going on right away. In the harsh economic environment that has developed, the weak of the corporate world are dying off while the strong are surviving and even thriving. Since the Sept. 11 disaster, a series of troubled companies have decided to throw in the towel. Midway Airlines, already operating in bankruptcy, shut down for good the day after the attacks. Shortly afterward, Las Vegas' Aladdin casino filed for bankruptcy. Reliance Insurance and Mademoiselle magazine said they would go out of business.

File two lawsuits and call me in the morning. That has been the prescription for dealing with drug side effects lately. As a result, the pharmaceutical industry is in a fever over class action lawsuits, large settlements and Food and Drug Administration actions. But, experts said, that doesn't necessarily make them bad investments. Eli Lilly & Co. recently established a $690 million fund for plaintiffs who agree to settle claims that they developed diabetes-related conditions from its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa.

When Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. completes three deals announced in the past two months, it will own more television stations across the country than any other company. The Hunt Valley company will operate 134 stations in 69 markets, reaching more than a third of all U.S. homes with televisions. It will have more than doubled in size in about two years, and that's presuming it doesn't broker any more acquisitions. It still won't own stations in megamarkets such as New York or Los Angeles, but that's part of its strategy.

General Motors has America's biggest corporate pension fund. And the accounting for that fund could represent the biggest illusion among American corporations. It is no secret that pension accounting is a hall of mirrors that distorts the appearance of both pension plans and the companies that sponsor them. But a new analysis of the 500 largest American companies finds that the accounting allows nearly all of them to inflate their net worth. The biggest discrepancy is at GM; if the company's balance sheet were adjusted to portray the full magnitude of its pension assets and obligations, the analysis found, its net worth would fall by about $38 billion - wiping out shareholders' equity.

Chemical maker W.R. Grace & Co. said Thursday it will adjust the estimated cost of settling its asbestos-related liabilities to $2 billion from the previous estimate of $1.7 billion. The increase reflects higher estimated values of a common stock warrant and deferred payment obligations to be paid to a trust to compensate personal-injury claimants and property owners under the company's bankruptcy reorganization. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2001, partly as a result of asbestos-related lawsuits filed by residents of Libby, Mont., and others.