The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 29

l1pHlaylla'talgplljjlaj( 4 THE COURIER-JOURNAL AND THE LOUISVILLE TIMES, MONDAY, December 22, 1986 Databank What if IU had Alford against UK? MONEY MAZE Real estate capital gains might be shelterless problem. The program lists 26 KATISSSAL (annualized change; seasonally adjusted) VV MANNING i Business Writer CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (Nov 33 1 8 36 PRODUCER PRICE INDEX (Nov 2 5 4 2 10 GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT (3rd qtr. '86) 2 8 0 6 3 0 INDEX OF LEADING INDICATORS (Oct 7 4 24 7 4 AREA (annualized change; seasonally adjusted) LOUISVILLE INDEX OF INDICATORS (Sept.) 9 98 17.01 3.18 i Jt yff KENTUCKY INDEX OF INDICATORS UNEMPLOYMENT BATES (in Urn Let's climb Inside Marty McFly's De Lorean, blast back to 1985 and settle a question that's been bugging local basketball fans for a yean how would Indiana University do against Kentucky if the Hoosiers had Steve Alford In the lineup? And while we're at it, let's back up another 10 years and replay that classic 1975 tournament game between IU and UK. This time, we'll give Indiana a healthy Scott May. What college basketball fan doesn't have a mental list of games to resurrect or dream match-ups to arrange? Just sticking with 1975, I'd love to give Junior Bridgeman's of team another crack at David Meyers and UCLA.

(Maybe this time Terry Howard would hit his free throws.) And how about the Dream Game that almost happened UofL against Kevin Grevey and the Wildcats and the championship game that should have happened: IU vs. UCLA. All those old teams and players are dribbling again Inside Hoops, a new college basketball simulation game that runs on the IBM PC and compatible computers. Hoops is not a joystick action game. It's more like the old Strat-O-Matic baseball games that used dice and player statistic cards to simulate a real contest Hoops was concocted by Jeff Sagarin of Bloomington, the sports statistician who produces college team ratings for The Louisville Times and USA Today, along with IU mathematician Wayne Winston and programmer Jim Klopfen-stein.

CBS basketball analyst Billy Packer added defensive ratings and lends his name to promoting the program. Sagarin and his buddies sell the game direct, rather than through retailers. It costs $49.95 and needs 192K. For information, write to P.O. Box 310, Bloomington, 47402.

Players pick their teams from a list of 220 college squads from 1985 back to the 1950s. Teams include tournament finalists, other top teams from each year and Sagarin's regional favorites lots of IU, of UK and Purdue teams. Once the lineup is set, your options include playing on a neutral court, giving one team a home-court advantage, playing with or AREA (Oct 54 5 5 67 KENTUCKY (Oct 69 70 84 INDIANA (Oct 6 2 6 2 6 7 NATIONAL (Nov) 66 66 67 NATIONAL (seasonally adjusted, Nov 7 0 7 0 7 0 EMPLOYMENT RATES (Total civilian employment) AREA (Oct 481.170 476,971 459,783 KENTUCKY (Oct 1 613M 1.600M 1.575M INDIANA (Oct 2 664M 2.656M 2.589M NATIONAL (Nov 110 8M 1109M 108 3M INITIAL UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CLAIMS AREA (week ended 1213) 1,206 1,180 1,102 KENTUCKY (week ended 1213) 4,232 4,680 8,587 INDIANA (week ended 1213) 8,706 8,933 9,834 NATIONAL (week ended 1206) 468,000 355,200 510,000 HELP WANTED ADVERTISING INDEX (1967- 100) NATIONAL (Oct 141 135 140 LOUISVILLE (Oct.) 83 75 92 ARIA MANUFACTURING (October) AVERAGE WORK WEEK (in hours) 40 9 41.1 410 AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE $453.17 $453 33 $443.62 Wag figures, which may Include overtime, are prepared by trie state chiefly as an economic indicator They are not designed tor use in bargaining mm (Sept.) not seasonally adjusted) Oldham, Bullitt counties) (value) $112 3M $139 6M $114 9M $135 9M 4 82 0.63 LOCAL RATES (current week, in without a 45-second shot clock and playing man-to-man or zone defense. The contest Itself unfolds on a three-part screen with a running box score In the lower half and a game clock In one corner. The clock can be set for a 40-mlnute game or speeded up to about 12 minutes.

The other corner shows a scrolling play-by-play. The terse descriptions "Walker stuffs; good feed by Harden" aren't as colorful as Cawood Ledford, but they could give Milo Hamilton some competition. The package has some of the marks of a low-budget production. For example, there's no way to back up when you're paging through the team list and you can't escape from the program once a game begins. Hoops could also benefit from a companion booklet that would review the teams and their stars.

Part of Hoops' fun is its nostalgia element, but not every fan can remember where Bill Russell played or which Notre Dame team had Austin Carr. Overall, Hoops is easy to learn and master. And like the best games, it can be as simple or, elaborate as you choose. Hoops' contests also seem to be quite realistic. When I replayed that IU-UK match from last year, Alford scored 33 and hit all of his free throws.

However, bragging rights went to UK. Kenny Walker hit for 27 and won it on a lay-in with four seconds to go. How can you pick the right college out of more than 1,500 schools? Try a database. The Perfect College, from Mindscape packs more than 400,000 facts about 1,650 accredited four-year schools onto one computer disk. The fun part Is searching the database for schools that match your interests.

Want to major In sports theory at a co-ed school in a warm climate that Isn't too expensive or too picky about SAT scores? No COMPUTER REPORT Cruise Control is a little $30 speed demon that comes to us from Revolution Software. If you follow the manual's simple Installation instructions, you may never see a visible sign of its presence, but it zips you along through screens and keystrokes on IBM PCs and compatibles, and gives you better keyboard control. Do you erase mistakes by hitting the backspace key? Cruise Control makes your key seem supercharged. Want a computerized date stamp? Hit Cruise Control's 'on switch plus and the program automatically Inserts today's date into any program's file wherever you want it, in whatever format you specify. Hit the 'on' key plus and it types the time.

(Again, you can pick the format.) Do you worry about leaving your computer on while you're at lunch? It's not a good idea to keep turning It on and off, but It's also true that some monitors are permanently damaged and some others temporarily image-etched if you leave the same image showing on the screen too long. Cruise Control has an automatic image turn-off that you can preset to work after any number of minutes you choose. (Call 201 366-4445 for nearest retailer.) Does your favorite friend send you computer-written love letters? PRIME 7.5 7.5 9ft FIXED-RATE MORTGAGE 8-97 8ft-9 10Vfc-12Vi ADJUSTABLE-RATE MORTGAGE 6-10 6'-10 8VM3 6-MONTH CD (highest) 5 65 5 65 7 40 2-YEAR CD (highest) 6 20 6.20 8 60 MONEY MARKET DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS (highest) 5 50 5.50 6 75 LOCAL LOAMS OUTSTANDING (week ended 1203) TO COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY $2 21B $1 87B TO INDIVIDUALS 1 43B 1.43B 1.21B TO STATES AND MUNICIPALITIES 545 6M 547.1M 4721M TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS 4.9M 4.9M 8.0M ejnipmiiaaj.il ji i jiinn ii Hmimmimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimmm mm euiiMarmi.il i utiiiiiMii'Uffit Have a computer buff on your gift list? A 'shy' utility program would be perfect REAL ESTATE SALES (Jefferson, search options under five main categories. Just keep fine-tuning your search until it comes up Ari zona State or Hawail-Hilo. You can specify the school's size and location, tuition costs, student grade point average, housing options and majors.

The program also tells you other important facts, such as admission requirements, special programs and the ratios of students to faculty and males to females. The program Is available In versions for the IBM PC, Apple II series, Commodore 64 and Macintosh. It sells alone for $19.95 or comes free with The Perfect Score, a $69.95 SAT test preparation program. Random Access Lotus Development Corp. and MCI are teaming up to market Lotus Express, a communication package that taps into MCI Mail to exchange files between PCs.

The package includes a filing system, address list and editor. The $100 price Includes an MCI Mail account and one year's subscription. Toshiba appears to be out front in laptop computer derby. While IBM is cutting prices to boost interest in the PC Convertible, Toshiba reportedly has a backlog of orders for its $2,000 T1100 Plus. Financial software for the mining industry developed by The Systems Specialist of Philpot, will be marketed nationally under IBM's software support program for its System36 computer.

Systems Specialist President Wayne Foster said his company's software is already in use in more than 150 mines and quarries in North America. The number of programs for Apple's Macintosh increased 58 percent in three months, according to a company that tracks software for microcomputers. The winter edition of Mac-Guide, a $4.95 directory published by contains listings for more than 2,000 Mac packages. To order a copy, call 800-MAC-MENU or write to 1520 S. College Fort Collins, Colo.

80524. Online appears every other week in Business File. Ric Manning welcomes news about computer groups, products or activities. Write to him at The Courier- Journal Times. 525 W.

Broadway, Louisville, Ky. 40202. Get her or him the collection of programs called simply Number 478: Hard Disk Utilities in the PC-SIG catalog. Like most of what's there, it was written by experienced programmers who don't want to bother with ads, dealers, sales tax, red tape or rainbow-chasing. They make their programs available to PC-Software Interest Group, which generally sells them for $6 per disk.

(If you like the program, everyone hopes you'll send the programmer a few bucks, too.) On this particular $8 disk are programs for making method out of the mess users often get into when they try to manage more files than between-the-ears memory can hold. One utility organizes directories and searches for files that are lost in the computer shuffle. Our favorite program makes selected files or entire directories Invisible to everybody but lover and you. (PC-SIG: 800 245-6717.) PC-SIG programs run only on IBM PC, XT and AT type computers plus most of the compatibles such as Zenith, Tandy, Victor, Compaq, Epson Equity and Kay-Pro (but not the II, 5, or 10). The columnists will answer questions, Send a self-addressed stamped enveloped to the columnists at P-K Associates 4343 W.

Bellline Highway, Madison, Wis. 53711. P-K Associates Inc. puterized tax preparation is a good idea. Last year the IRS allowed a few accountants and tax-preparation services in Cincinnati, Phoenix and the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area to file electronic returns on which refunds were due directly into their regional computers.

Wilson Fadely, an IRS spokesman In Washington, said the system handled 25,000 electronic returns last year. Taxpayers who needed paper copies got neat laser-printed versions. And taxpayers also got their refunds quickly usually in about three weeks. Next year, the IRS will expand the program to include Sacramento, Milwaukee, Norfolk and the Albany-Schenectady, N.Y., area. It expects to go nationwide in a couple of years.

Eventually, Fadely said the IRS will encourage taxpayers to file their returns directly from their home or office computers. "We feel very strongly that this is the wave of the future," he said. JIM THOMPSON Business Writer The sale of commercial V. nroDertv will net us $150,000 Present tax law requires about 20 percent of this be paid in capital gains. Is there any way to shelter any of this to reduce tne immeai ate outlay of cash? We will require monthly or quarterly returns of Interest on Investing the proceeds after paying taxes.

What can we do to get the highest return? (Name and ad dress withheld.) A Louisville Investment advis- er David Richardson said he knows of no significant way to shelter the capital gains on the real estate sale. The president of Asset Manage ment Corp. suggests that you buy Treasury bills equal to the amount owed in taxes, with a maturity near April 15. The rest of the money could go into a diversified package of marketable oil and natural gas royalty interests, Richardson said. "These are very depressed at this time because reduced yields caused by price and demand de clines," he said.

However, "the outlook over a three-to-five year period Is excellent" Richardson said there are a number of these firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange and said to "concentrate on those that are priced at or under current appraised value of the reserves." He added that there are tax complications to this type of investment, "but the tax shelter aspects of this type of entity have been relatively untouched by the new tax code." QI am 28, married with one child. I'm not currently employed, but will have 1986 Income of $20,000 from wages and interest I will receive $15,000 from a profit-sharing plan and want to put this in a long-term, growth investment Should I consider an IRA for part of this? We have $8,000 in a bank IRA. We also have $10,000 in a bank money-market account and $10,000 in a bank CD that matures in August We use the interest from these to supplement our monthly income. Could this return be Improved, with safety? We already have an emergency fund. (Name and address withheld.) A You should put all the profit- sharing money Into an IRA rollover account said Paula Stilger, a broker in the Louisville office of Stifel, Nicolaus Co.

By doing this, you will maintain the tax-deferred status until you reach 5916 and can start withdrawing them. Because you are looking for an Investment that will offer long-term growth with safety, Stilger recommends Investing the $15,000 In the Putnam Convertible Income-Growth Trust which Invests primarily in income-producing convertible bonds and preferred stocks. She said the fund offers "the opportunity to participate in the equity market while having downside market protection" with the bonds. It yields about 5 percent. Stilger suggests leaving $5,000 in the money-market fund for emergencies and investing the $15,000 left in the account and the CD in the Colonial Government Securities Plus Trust which had a current yield of about 11.5 percent.

Ql'd like to know how to get a stock broker's license in Indiana. D. Deputy, Ind. A First of all, you must be em- ployed by a company that has a broker-dealers license for Indiana, said Jackie Kirk, licensing clerk with the Indiana Department of Securities. Then, you must pass two or more exams: the National Association of Securities Dealers' Series 6 if you are going to sell mutual funds, the Series 7 if securities only, and the Series 63, which covers Indiana state law.

For more information, you can write Kirk at 1 N. Capitol Suite 560, Indianapolis, Ind. 46204. Questions about investments and money may be sent to Money Maze, co Marketplace, The Courier-Journal and The Louisville Times, 525 W. Broadway, Louisville, Ky.

40202. Every question cannot be answered, but all will be considered. Personal replies cannot be guaranteed. Advice given in this column is not intended as a solicitation or endorsement of specific securities. NUMBER SOLD'tOct.) 605 495 650 AVERAGE PRICE (Oct.) $62,725 $58,019 $56,954 Previously me number mclurjed sales pending and closed, now only closed sales are counted SINGLE-FAMILY PERMITS (number) LOUISVILLE (Nov 1 10 4 JEFFERSON COUNTY (Nov 58 111 52 MULTIf AMILV PERMITS (number of units) LOUISVILLE (Nov) 0 16 0 JEFFERSON COUNTY (Nov) 163 132 366 COMMERCIAL PERMITS (value) LOUISVILLE (Nov $8 5T $28T $420T JEFFERSON COUNTY (Nov $1 61 $5 47M $1 87M STATE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS NON-RESIDENTIAL (Oct RESIDENTIAL (Oct By FRANKLYNN PETERSON and JUDI K-TURKEL CeJumnrttt Want to see the computer buff you know and love beaming as broadly as a gadget lover in a bargain basement? Buy her or him a utility.

To anyone who's reasonably normal, these little programs are just dust collectors, but to buffs, they're energy savers. Take, for example, Borland's SideKick. Programmers had been writing helpers like it for decades mostly for themselves and their friends. Borland brought utilities to the masses. SideKick comes in two versions, an $85 one for IBMs and compatibles and a $100 one for Macintoshes.

Both versions are shy; they hide quietly Inside your computer's memory until you tickle the right keys. Then they show their stuff as built-in calculators, calendars, electronic notepads, phone dialers and doers of other nifty tricks. (For nearest retailer, phone 800 255-8008.) When other programmers saw how successful Borland was with SideKick, they polished their own handy dandy little utilities and sent them into the world. Most of them, too, sit unnoticed in your computer's memory until you turn them on. Then they perform magic tricks and, Just as quickly as they popped up, disappear again.

Computer programs make returns less taxing 'ii. II i i.i. ii ii, i ii i ii.li.i. i i.i AREA TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS (Nov.) 6,359 8,607 6,734 TELEPHONE DISCONNECTIONS (Nov 5,627 7,294 6,425 AVG. DAILY CALLING VOLUME (Nov) 4 8M 4 6M 4 7M LBS.

OF AIR FREIGHT (Oct 685,204 555,858 730,168 LBS. OF EXPRESS PACKAGES (Oct 86 4M 79 5M 101. 1M KENTUCKY SCBELL PHONE CONNECTIONS (Nov 15,077 20,045 15,504 SCBELL PHONE DISCONNECTIONS (Nov 12,969 17,706 14,576 SCB AVG. DAILY CALLING VOLUME (Nov 10 4M 10 0M 10.0M NEW DOMESTIC CORPORATIONS (Nov 531 674 601 NEW OUT-OF-STATE CORPORATIONS (Nov 117 139 115 GENERAL FUND RECEIPTS (Nov $270 5M $215 6M NATIONAL HEAVY TRUCK SALES (Nov 18,189 23,158 19,425 LIGHT TRUCK SALES (Nov 252,461 341,193 289,033 MAJOR APPLIANCE SHIPMENTS (Oct.) 4.1M 4.0M 3.7M t8.1BlP KY. SALES AND USE TAX (Nov.) $73 5M $72 7M KY.

MOTOR VEHICLE USE TAX (Nov) $11. 0M $8 4M JEFF. CO. NEW CAR REGIS. (Nov 1,725 2,609 1,558 JEFF.

CO. NEW TRUCK REGIS. (Nov.) 375 549 570 WsM mm STAMPIf PRO HELD DAILY PLANE DEPARTURES (Dec.) 95 102 107 TOURISM (Oct KY. TRAVEL BAROMETER (change from year ago) 5 4 -3 4 0 0 STATE MOTOR FUELS TAX RECEIPTS (Nov) $15 9M thousands millions billions NA not available To obtain a list of the sources of information contained In Data Bank, write to Business File, 525 W. Broadway, Louisville, Ky.

40202. grams simply help taxpayers fill out the IRS forms and don't actually give advice. Day said Best Programs promises to pay any penalties assessed to its users that result from Inaccurate calculations. Professional tax consultants, however, warn computer users not to expect too much from tax soft-, ware. "When it comes to the calculation work, fine, let the computer do it," said Bob Hill, a certified public accountant who works with a Louisville firm.

Taxpayers who expect computer programs to handle complex financial affairs "are being penny wise and pound foolish," he said. Even software publishers say there are some things their products can't do. "I don't think a machine can have all the years of that a CPA has," said Bretta Brick-ston, marketing executive for Howardsoft. In general, the IRS thinks com Continued from Page 1 already scrambling to cope with new rules that go into effect for 1987. One of the first to reach the market was Taxcalc Tax Planner, from Taxcalc Software Inc.

The program works In conjunction with spreadsheet software such as Lotus 1-2-3 or Multlplan. As the tax laws and tax software become more complex, the Internal Revenue Service has begun watching computer programs more closely. A recent IRS ruling says that if a tax program offers "substantive tax instructions rather than just mechanical assistance," the software publisher becomes a "return preparer" and is subject to penalties for any negligence in filling out the form. If a program understates a user's tax liability, the publisher could be fined $100 for each return. Most companies say their pro.