Mystics

Brad Stewart was a teenage stock trader in 1986 when he went to a West Los Angeles financial bookstore and stumbled across a strange, smoke-filled back room devoted to an odd science. The co-owner of the store, Jerome Baumring, sat with his cowboy-booted feet on a desk and chain-smoked while staring through owlish glasses at a computer screen filled with stock market quotes.

The Roman Catholic cathedral of Los Angeles on Monday rescinded its invitation to hold a Christian unity conference later this month after concluding that the principal speaker was to be a controversial self-proclaimed mystic who claimed to speak directly with God, Jesus and Mary. In a letter to the sponsors, Msgr.

A Christian conference that was disinvited from the Roman Catholic cathedral in Los Angeles because it was to feature a self-proclaimed mystic will be held Saturday at the Alex Theater in Glendale, organizers said. Two weeks ago, Msgr. Kevin Kostelnik, pastor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, withdrew the invitation to hold the event at the cathedral.

Sparks tonight VS. WASHINGTON When: 7:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: Webcast on wnba.com. Records: Sparks 9-13, Mystics 12-12 Record vs. Mystics: 0-1 Update: Both teams are struggling with solidifying their chances on the playoff bubble. The Sparks are 3-3 this month, but they lost two straight home games last week to the New York Liberty and Sacramento Monarchs, which stand at the bottom of the Eastern and Western conferences, respectively.