>And since I have your ear, how in the heck do you display negative numbers on a report surround by "(" rather than a "-"? Sheesh, this should be a piece of cake but I am drawing a blank!

Click the dotted button next to "Format". Choose Numeric (radio button) and "(Negative)" (check box) in the left column. This shows as "@(" in the Format text box.

You might not like the format - I don't think it's trimmed nicely.