BUSINESS NOTES.

AVIS GOES PUBLIC: HFS Inc. sold 19.5 million shares in Avis Rent A Car Inc. at $17 a share in a $331.5 million initial public offering, said Bear, Stearns & Co., which managed the sale.

Analysts said Avis isn't as strong an IPO as was Ford Motor Co.'s Hertz, whose share have risen 47 percent since its $480 million IPO in April.

Avis, the No. 2 car-rental company, has a different relationship with its parent company than No. 1 Hertz did, making it a less appealing offering, analysts said. And its price range reflected HFS's desire to unload the New York-based company before it had to add Avis's debt load to its own balance sheet.

?13- Bloomberg News

APPLE TO MAKE NCS: Apple Computer Inc., fending off stiff competition for computer customers in schools, reportedly will make machines that are simpler and cheaper than standard PCs. The so-called ``network computers'' running Macintosh software, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

?13- Associated Press 

BANKS MAY GET CUSTOMER-FRIENDLY: As bankruptcies and delinquencies rise, the banking industry is turning to behavioral scientists for help in dealing with customers who can't or won't pay their debts.One result for credit card holders may be less arm twisting and fewer nasty telephone calls when payments are overdue.

The rise in bankruptcies, and how to deal with it, was a key topic for bank executives attending the American Bankers Association's Bankcard Conference, which closed Tuesday at the Long Beach Convention Center.

?13- Associated Press

AMAZON SURGES ON SHORT SQUEEZE: Amazon.com Inc.'s surge is being powered by speculators who bet that the Internet bookseller would flop and now are covering their losses, investors said.

Amazon's shares rose 1-1/2 to 55-1/2 to a record high, climbing 39 percent during the past three days. ``It's absolutely a short squeeze,'' said Mike Molnar, head of Nasdaq trading at Smith Barney Inc.

A short squeeze occurs when speculators bet wrong. They initially sell borrowed shares - called shorting - in the hopes of buying them back later at a lower price. If the shares rise instead, they are forced to snap up the stock to close out their bets, driving prices even higher. That squeezes the remaining short sellers, making their losses even worse.

?13- Bloomberg News

NEWS CORP. REORGANIZES: News Corp. said it formed a new publishing group to include its U.S. book and magazine units, the second step of a reorganization that involved moving the company's marketing business into a separate division.

News Corp. named Anthea Disney, the president and chief executive of its HarperCollins Publishers unit, to run the new News America Publishing Group.The unit will include book publisher HarperCollins, TV Guide magazine, The Weekly Standard magazine, and its electronic publishing units.

The move comes amid speculation that News Corp. might be looking to sell HarperCollins, which like the rest of the book industry has been plagued by lower sales.

?13- Bloomberg News