The key U.S. and foreign annual interest rates below are a guide to general levels

The base rate on corporate loans at large U.S. money center commercial banks .

8 3/4 % high , 8 11/16 % low , 8 5/8 % near closing bid , 8 11/16 % offered .

traded among commercial banks for overnight use in amounts of $ 1 million or more .

The charge on loans to depository institutions by the New York Federal Reserve Bank .

8.50 % 30 to 44 days ; 8.25 % 45 to 65 days ; 8.375 % 66 to 89 days ; 8 % 90 to 119 days ; 7.875 % 120 to 149 days ; 7.75 % 150 to 179 days ; 7.50 % 180 to 270 days .

sold through dealers by major corporations in multiples of $ 1,000 :

8.09 % one month ; 8.04 % two months ; 8.03 % three months ; 7.96 % six months ; 7.92 % one year .

paid by major New York banks on primary new issues of negotiable C.D.s , usually on amounts of $ 1 million and more .

8.52 % 30 days ; 8.35 % 60 days ; 8.33 % 90 days ; 8.17 % 120 days ; 8.08 % 150 days ; 8 % 180 days .

8 11/16 % to 8 9/16 % one month ; 8 5/8 % to 8 1/2 % two months ; 8 11/16 % to 8 9/16 % three months ; 8 9/16 % to 8 7/16 % four months ; 8 1/2 % to 8 3/8 % five months ; 8 7/16 % to 8 5/16 % six months .

8 11/16 % one month ; 8 11/16 % three months ; 8 7/16 % six months ; 8 3/8 % one year .

The average of interbank offered rates for dollar deposits in the London market

Canada 13.50 % ; Germany 9 % ; Japan 4.875 % ; Switzerland 8.50 % ; Britain 15 % .

Results of the Monday , October 23 , 1989 , auction of short-term U.S. government bills ,

sold at a discount from face value in units of $ 10,000 to $ 1 million :

Posted yields on 30-year mortgage commitments for delivery within 30 days .

9.80 % , standard conventional fixed-rate mortgages ; 7.875 % , 2 % rate capped one-year adjustable rate mortgages .

Posted yields on 30 year mortgage commitments for delivery within 30 days

9.75 % , standard conventional fixed-rate mortgages ; 8.70 % , 6/2 rate capped one-year adjustable rate mortgages .

Annualized average rate of return after expenses for the past 30 days ; not a forecast of future returns .

Three new issues begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today ,

and one began trading on the Nasdaq/National Market System last week .

manages medical and disability aspects of worker 's compensation injuries

Also beginning trading today on the Big Board are El Paso Refinery Limited Partnership , El Paso , Texas ,

On the Nasdaq over-the-counter system , Allied Capital Corp. , Washington , D.C. ,

Banco Exterior de Espana is seeking to shed its image of a state-owned bank and move into new activities .

Under the direction of its new chairman , Francisco Luzon , Spain 's seventh largest bank is undergoing a tough restructuring

The state-owned industrial holding company Instituto Nacional de Industria and the Bank of Spain jointly hold a 13.94 % stake in Banco Exterior .

Catching up with commercial competitors in retail banking and financial services ,

when the European Community plans to dismantle financial barriers .

With 700 branches in Spain and 12 banking subsidiaries , five branches and 12 representative offices abroad , the Banco Exterior group has a lot

to transform Banco Exterior into an efficient bank by the end of 1992 .

The market for export financing was liberalized in the mid-1980s , however ,

At the same time , many of Spain 's traditional export markets in Latin America and other developing areas faced a sharp decline in economic growth .

As a result , the volume of Banco Exterior 's export credit portfolio plunged from 824 billion pesatas

The other two main pillars of Banco Exterior 's traditional business

also began to crumble under the weight of heavy competition and changing client needs .

to face the challenges of a changing market by its links to the government ,

it 'll trim another 1,200 jobs over the next three to four years .

Banco Exterior this year issued $ 105 million in subordinated debt ,

The bank is now aggressively marketing retail services at its domestic branches .

Last year 's drop in export credit was partially offset by a 15 % surge in lending to individuals and small and medium-sized companies .

the country still has one of the most profitable markets in Europe ,

Expansion plans also include acquisitions in growing foreign markets .

it 's interested in purchasing banks in Morocco , Portugal and Puerto Rico .

But the bank 's retail activities in Latin America are likely to be cut back .

before the four Spanish stock exchanges underwent sweeping changes in July .

as Spain continues to open up its market to foreign competition .

will whip the bank 's capital market division into shape by the end of 1992 .

to channel investment from London , Frankfurt , Zurich and Paris into the Spanish stock exchanges .

The next time you hear a Member of Congress moan about the deficit ,

The Senate , 84-6 , voted to increase to $ 124,000 the ceiling on insured mortgages from the FHA ,

For construction in West Virginia , Mr. Bush requested $ 4.5 million ;

For Iowa , a $ 1.8 million request became $ 12 million for Senator Grassley , ranking minority member of a military construction subcommittee .

Rep. Jamie Whitten of Mississippi and chairman of House Appropriations turned a $ 20 million Bush request for his state into a $ 49.7 million bequest .

Senator Sasser of Tennessee is chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on military construction ;

Mr. Bush 's $ 87 million request for Tennessee increased to $ 109 million .

we 've seen the peak of military construction spending for many years to come . ''

Tell us what measure , short of house arrest , will get this Congress under control .

On the surface , the overall unemployment rate is expected to be little changed from September 's 5.3 % .

But the actual head count of non-farm employment payroll jobs is likely to be muddied by the impact of Hurricane Hugo , strikes , and less-than-perfect seasonal adjustments ,

including : the September leading indicators index , new-home sales and October agricultural prices reports due out tomorrow ; the October purchasing managers ' index and September construction spending and manufacturers ' orders on Wednesday ; and October chain-store sales on Thursday .

`` The employment report is going to be difficult to interpret , ''

said Michael Englund , economist with MMS International , a unit of McGraw-Hill Inc. , New York .

seasonal swings in the auto industry this year are n't occurring at the same time as in the past ,

Samuel D. Kahan , chief financial economist at Kleinwort Benson Government Securities Inc. , Chicago , said

because it often presents the first inkling of economic data for the month .

`` Some people use the purchasers ' index as a leading indicator ,

David Wyss , chief financial economist at Data Resources Inc. , Boston , said

The consensus view on September leading indicators calls for a gain of 0.3 % , the same as in August .

greatly increased consumer optimism , a larger money supply and higher stock prices helped lift the index .

All orders-related components , such as consumer-goods orders and building permits , are thought to have been weaker .

that he will be keeping a closer eye than ususal on October chain-store sales .

Usually , October `` is n't a very interesting month { for retail figures }

of whether consumers ' general buying habits may slack off as much

Seasonal factors are also expected to have taken their toll on September new-home sales ,

which are believed to have fallen sharply from August 's 755,000 units .

Construction spending is believed to have slipped about 0.5 % from August levels ,

the rate probably will pick up in the months ahead in response to hurricane and earthquake damage .

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are now going head to head in the markets for shares of Jaguar PLC ,

that it received permission late Thursday from U.S. antitrust regulators

that the No . 2 U.S. auto maker had raised its stake to 13.2 % , or 24.2 million shares , from 12.4 % earlier in the week .

In late trading Friday , Jaguar shares bucked the downward tide in London 's stock market

In the U.S. , Jaguar 's American depositary receipts were among the most active issues Friday in national over-the-counter trading

that the two U.S. auto giants will move quickly to buy up 15 % stakes in Jaguar ,

setting up a potential bidding war for the prestigious Jaguar brand .

British government restrictions prevent any single shareholder from going beyond 15 % before the end of 1990

With the golden share as protection , Jaguar officials have rebuffed Ford 's overtures ,

that the government and Jaguar holders remove the barriers to a full bidding contest before December 1990 .

by involving an eventual 30 % stake for the U.S. auto giant as well as joint manufacturing and marketing ventures .

Jaguar and GM hope to win Jaguar shareholders approval for the accord

`` There 's either a minority { stake } package capable of getting Jaguar shareholder approval

Union sentiment also could influence shareholder reaction to a Jaguar-GM accord .

GM 's U.K. unit holds crucial talks today with union officials about its consideration of an Ellesmere Port site for its first major engine plant in Britain .

`` If they try to build it somewhere else { in Europe } besides the U.K. ,

they are going to be in big trouble '' with unionists over any Jaguar deal .

Bruce W. Wilkinson , president and chief executive officer , was named to the additional post of chairman of this architectural and design services concern .

Mr. Wilkinson , 45 years old , succeeds Thomas A. Bullock , 66 ,

but will continue as a director and chairman of the executive committee .

it will restructure $ 192.5 million of certain subordinated debentures

The 13.25 % subordinated debentures due 2002 were issued in August 1987 as part of the $ 690 million financing for a leveraged buy-out of the company .

Leaseway provides transportation services for manufacturers , distributors and retailers .

it has begun discussions with certain institutional debt holders

which would exchange the debt for new subordinated debt instruments and equity securities .

Specific terms are subject to review and a final agreement with debt holders ,

But the proposed transaction calls for an exchange of the debt for new debentures of lower face value and reduced cash interest .

Also , debt holders would be offered an equity position in Leaseway ,

which in total would represent a controlling interest in the company .

Leaseway fulfilled payment requirements of its debt obligations since the leveraged buy-out ,

but `` our performance since the { buy-out } makes it imperative to implement actions

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega may have accomplished over the weekend what his U.S. antagonists have failed to do :

and President Bush parried the question at a news conference here Saturday ,

just as they were slipping from the agendas of their most ardent supporters .

that Mr. Ortega 's threat was `` a very unwise move , particularly the timing of it . ''

to highlight Central America 's progress toward democracy in the region ,

attended by President Bush , Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and 14 other Western Hemisphere leaders .

that he would end the cease-fire this week in response to the periodic Contra assaults against his army .

that the remaining U.S. humanitarian aid be diverted to disarming and demobilizing the rebels .

Not only did Mr. Ortega 's comments come in the midst of what was intended as a showcase for the region ,

as Nicaragua is under special international scrutiny in anticipation of its planned February elections .

to monitor the registration and treatment of opposition candidates .

if the Contras are to receive the rest of the $ 49 million in so-called humanitarian assistance under a bipartisan agreement

which pays for supplies such as food and clothing for the rebels

after his { Mr. Ortega 's } act yesterday or the day before , we 'd have unanimous support for quick action on remaining humanitarian aid . ''

While renewing military aid had been considered out of the question ,

Mr. Ortega 's statement provides Contra supporters with the opportunity

that congressional Democrats intend to honor the March agreement

to give non-lethal support to the Contras through the February elections ,

Mr. Baker 's assistant for inter-American affairs , Bernard Aronson ,

In addition to undermining arguments in favor of ending Contra aid ,

Mr. Ortega 's remarks also played to the suspicions of some U.S. officials and conservatives outside the government

that Mr. Ortega is seeking to demobilize the Contras prior to the elections

it will report a write-off of $ 2.5 million , or seven cents a share , for its fourth quarter

The restaurant operator cited transaction costs from its 1988 recapitalization

The write-off will be reported as an extraordinary item in the company 's 1989 operating results .

In addition , the effective interest rate on the $ 410 million of total remaining bank debt after the restructuring is 10.66 % .

The combined effect of these changes is expected to save the company about $ 4 million in interest expenses next year , or six cents a share .

to finance $ 585 million of the company 's $ 728 million recapitalization

The company has made payments of $ 175 million against the original $ 585 million of bank debt

These payments consisted of $ 54 million in scheduled payments and $ 121 million in prepayments ,

funded by $ 82.8 million from operating cash flow , zero-coupon subordinated debt and assets sales .

and its Houston work force has been trimmed by 40 people , or about 15 % .

it has n't named a successor to Ronald Bufton , the vice president

a lot of people have been scouring the financial landscape for just such an investment .

Now , the nationwide average yield on a six-month CD is just under 8 % ,

Yields on most fixed-income securities are lower than several months ago .

And the stock market 's recent gyrations are a painful reminder of the dangers there .

`` If you 're looking for a significantly higher yield with the same level of risk as a CD ,

Short-term municipal bonds , bond funds and tax-deferred annuities are some of the choices

of having to reinvest the proceeds of maturing short-term certificates at lower rates .

-- they do n't need to be shopping for the one interest-rate-type investment and putting all their money in it , ''

Investors with a heavy tax load should take out their calculators .

Yields on municipal bonds can be higher than after-tax yields on CDs for maturities of perhaps one to five years .

That 's because municipal-bond interest is exempt from federal income tax

-- and from state and local taxes too , for in-state investors .

a seemingly puny 6 % yield on a one-year muni is equivalent to a taxable 9 % .

Some of the more cautious CD holders might like `` pre-refunded '' municipals .

says Steven J. Hueglin , executive vice president of the New York bond firm of Gabriele , Hueglin & Cashman Inc .

advises Malcolm A. Makin , a Westerly , R.I. , financial planner .

The idea is to have money rolling over each year at prevailing interest rates .

Bond resale prices , and thus fund share prices , move in the opposite direction from rates .

Consider , for instance , two bond funds from Vanguard Group of Investment Cos .

The Short Term Bond Fund , with an average maturity of 2 1/2 years , would deliver a total return for one year of about 10.6 %

But , in the same circumstances , the returns would be a more extreme 14.6 % and 2.6 % for the Vanguard Bond Market Fund , with its 12 1/2-year average maturity .

bond fund investors ' returns will be about equal to the funds ' current yields .

These insurance company contracts feature some of the same tax benefits and restrictions as non-deductible individual retirement accounts :

Aimed specifically at CD holders are so-called CD-type annuities , or certificates of annuity .

An interest rate is guaranteed for between one and seven years ,

For instance , a CD-type annuity from North American Co. for Life & Health Insurance , Chicago , offers 8.8 % interest for one year or a 9 % rate for two years .

With average maturities of a month or so , money funds offer fixed share prices and floating returns

Still , today 's highest-yielding money funds may beat CDs over the next year

says Guy Witman , an editor of the Bond Market Advisor newsletter in Atlanta .

That 's because top-yielding funds currently offer yields almost 1 1/2 percentage points above the average CD yield .

Mr. Witman likes the Dreyfus Worldwide Dollar Money Market Fund , with a seven-day compound yield just under 9.5 % .

A new fund , its operating expenses are being temporarily subsidized by the sponsor .

Try combining a money fund and an intermediate-term bond fund as a low-risk bet on falling rates ,

suggests Back Bay Advisors Inc. , a mutual fund unit of New England Insurance Co .

the increasing return on the money fund will partly offset the lower-than-expected return from the bond fund .

it agreed to acquire about 54,000 subscribers from First Carolina Cable TV Limited Partnership for about $ 100 million , or roughly $ 2,000 a subscriber .

The subscribers are in 52 different communities in Georgia , Alabama and Mississippi .

Currently , Falcon has about 750,000 cable-television subscribers around the nation ;

the company 's cable-television unit reported 1988 revenue of about $ 100 million .

In composite trading on the American Stock Exchange , Falcon closed at $ 20 , unchanged .

that they and two Soviet partners will construct two `` world-class '' hotels within a mile of Red Square in Moscow .

U.S. and Soviet officials hailed the joint project as a new indication of the further thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations .

of how the East and the West can work together for their mutual benefit and progress , ''

who hosted a signing ceremony for the venture 's partners at the Soviet embassy here .

called the undertaking a `` historic step '' in the evolution of U.S.-Soviet ties .

It will have a Russian tavern , an English pub , a discotheque and Japanese and Italian restaurants ,

Sheraton , a subsidiary of ITT Corp. , will have a 40 % share in the two hotels ;

Pan American , a subsidiary of Pan Am Corp. , will have a 10 % share .

The Soviet owners will be Mossoviet , Moscow 's city governing body , and Aeroflot , the Soviet national airline .

Although a Finnish group has a minority interest in an already operating Moscow hotel ,

the Sheraton-Pan Am venture will be the first joint-venture hotels in the Soviet Union

U.S. companies account for less than 8 % of the 1,000 or more Soviet joint ventures

Chevron Corp. , Amoco Corp. , Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. , and Eastman Kodak Co. are among the U.S. companies

The Sheraton Moscow will charge about $ 140 to $ 150 a day for each of its rooms ,

the U.S. airline 's participation is a natural outgrowth of its current arrangements with Aeroflot

the rising volume of passenger traffic on this route justifies a major investment in new high-standard Moscow hotels .

The maker of engineered materials has acquired more than 2.7 million shares under the program .

The Nasdaq over-the-counter market did n't fully recover from a selling stampede ,

The effects on the market of the mostly computer-driven sell-off among exchange-listed stocks irked many market makers ,

who watched the Nasdaq Composite Index tumble in sympathy with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ,

In contrast , the industrial average recovered almost completely from its skid

The New York Stock Exchange Composite was 0.4 % lower for the day .

As usual , the over-the-counter market 's biggest technology stocks were hardest hit .

but it finished at 80 7/8 , down 2 1/4 on volume of one million shares .

MCI Communications , the most active issue , finished down 5/8 to 42 1/8 .

said Peter DaPuzzo , head of retail equity trading at Shearson Lehman Hutton ,

that the labor-management buy-out of UAL Corp. continued to unravel ,

But the computer-guided selling in response to those developments dealt a serious blow to the over-the-counter market ,

Even though the over-the-counter market usually does n't fall by as much as listed stocks during program-selling blitzes ,

that the sharp swings in stock prices lately is scaring away retail and foreign investors .

While Shearson does n't do computer-guided program trading for its own account ,

The volatility inherent in program trading troubled other traders , too .

In such an environment , a market maker can absorb huge losses .

exacerbating the rise and fall in stock prices during program-dominated trading .

Groused Robert Antolini , head of over-the-counter trading at Donaldson , Lufkin & Jenrette :

Kinder-Care Learning Centers added 1/4 to 4 7/8 on 461,200 shares .

it will make a $ 6-a-share offer for the remaining Kinder-Care Learning Center common stock

if it acquires a majority of the company 's shares in a pending rights offering by Kinder-Care Learning Center 's parent , Kinder-Care Inc .

Shares of KinderCare Inc. closed at 3 1/2 , also up 1/4 , on volume of 700,000 .

The company posted third-quarter earnings of 95 cents a share , down from $ 1.26 a year earlier .

that losses from Hurricane Hugo reduced net income by 32 cents a share in the most recent quarter .

losses from the Oct. 17 earthquake in California have n't yet been determined ,

but that it provides earthquake coverage to about 1,400 properties in the stricken area .

Any quake-related losses will be reported in the fourth quarter ,

The electronics-instruments maker is to be acquired by Asset Management Associates for $ 7.25 a share .

despite reporting third-quarter net of 46 cents a share , up from 39 cents the previous year .

the latest quarter included about $ 3.4 million in special legal and financial advisory costs

related to McCaw Cellular Communications ' bid for the company and LIN 's merger pact with BellSouth .

XL/Datacomp slid 2 1/4 to 16 1/2 amid continuing concerns about the company 's contract negotiations with International Business Machines .

that it was in talks with the company about possible modifications to its current IBM-remarketer contract .

Tons of delectably rotting potatoes , barley and wheat will fill damp barns across the land

grain in the barn will still be a safer bet for the private farmer than money in the bank .

Once again , the indomitable peasant holds Poland 's future in his hands .

Until his labor can produce a profit in this dying and distorted system ,

even Solidarity 's sympathetic new government wo n't win him over .

will be the one buffer between a meat-hungry public and a new political calamity .

Factory workers on strike knocked Poland 's Communist bosses off balance last year ;

That was when the tame old Peasants ' Party , desperate to live through the crisis , broke ranks with the Communists

and joined with Solidarity in the East Bloc 's first liberated government .

The cost of raising a pig kept bounding ahead of the return for selling one .

At dawn on a cool day , hundreds travel to the private market in Radzymin , a town not far from Warsaw ,

In a crush of trucks and horse carts on the trodden field , Andrzej Latowski wrestles a screeching , overweight hog into the trunk of a private butcher 's Polish Fiat .

because his old state sources of rye and potatoes are drying up .

His truck is parked across the field , in a row of grain sellers .

Like the others , it is loaded with rye , wheat and oats in sacks

At closing time , farmers cart out most of what they carted in .

State monopolies will keep on stifling trade , `` free '' prices or not ,

Polish agriculture will need a whole private network of procurement , processing and distribution

to supply it with tractors , pesticides , fertilizers and feed .

Building them now will require undergirding from the West , and removal of political deadwood , a job

who advises Rural Solidarity , the union 's countryside offshoot .

Food is the reformer 's top priority , the key to popular support .

Poland 's 2.7 million small private farms cover 76 % of its arable land .

On it , a quarter of the country 's 39 million people produce three-quarters of its grain , beef , eggs and milk , and nine-tenths of its fruit , vegetables and potatoes .

Like the Roman Catholic Church , the Polish peasant is a pillar of the nation .

A few miles past Radzymin , a dirt road narrows to a track of sand

He grows rye and potatoes for a few hens , five cows and 25 piglets .

In his lifetime , 47 years , the Communists brought electricity to his village

A tractor , his only mechanized equipment , stands in front of the pigsty .

In Poland , only 4 % of all investment goes toward making things farmers want ;

The few big state farms take first crack at what does get made .

They use 60 % more fertilizer per acre , twice the high-grade feed .

The state quit shoving peasants onto its subsidized farms over 30 years ago .

Until recently , a farmer with no heir had to will the state his land

A private farmer in Poland is free to buy and sell land , hire help , decide what to grow and how to grow it .

Villages like Zalubice exist in a desert of poor schools and few doctors .

So the potato crop , once 47 million tons , is down to 35 million .

A private challenge to the monolithic tractor industry will take more time and money

Maria Stolzman , one of its farm experts , lays it on the line :

`` I pay a lot to the farmer and five times the state salary to my employees , ''

He has bought some trendy Western clothes , and a green Mercedes with an American flag in the window .

By taking power in a deal with the Peasant Party 's onetime Communist stooges ,

when Solidarity leader Lech Walesa accepted the Peasants ' support .

when Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki reluctantly named a Peasant Party man as his agriculture minister .

Both the Peasants and Rural Solidarity are forming new political parties for farmers .

But until then , and probably long afterward , the Communists ' apparat of obstruction

-- from the head of the dairy co-op to the village bank manager --

He farms 12 acres in Grabowiec , two miles from the Soviet border in one of Poland 's poorest places .

Now he is mounting the steps of a stucco building in a nearby village , on a visit to the Communist administrator , the `` naczelnik . ''

Mobil Corp. is preparing to slash the size of its work force in the U.S. , possibly as soon as next month ,

but they 'll be centered in the exploration and production division ,

which is responsible for locating oil reserves , drilling wells and pumping crude oil and natural gas .

have been scheduled for Friday at Mobil offices in New Orleans and Denver .

which along with other oil producers and refiners reduced its work force by 15 % to 20 % during the mid-1980s as part of an industrywide shakeout .

Mobil 's latest move could signal the beginning of further reductions by other oil companies in their domestic oil-producing operations .

In yesterday 's third-quarter earnings report , the company alluded to a $ 40 million provision for restructuring costs

that `` the restructuring will take place over a two-year period

and will principally involve the transfer and termination of employees in our U.S . operations . ''

that there will be a public announcement of the reduction program by the end of the week .

have been reporting lower third-quarter earnings , largely as a result of lower earnings from chemicals as well as refining and marketing businesses .

domestic exploration and production operations had a $ 16 million loss in the third quarter ,

Industrywide , oil production in this country fell by 500,000 barrels a day to 7.7 million barrels in the first eight months of this year .

Daily output is expected to decline by at least another 500,000 barrels next year .

that a reference to the cutbacks was included in the earnings report

The company did n't disclose a purchase price or capitalization figures .

which has a European foothold , Murata Europe Management G.m.b . H. in Germany ,

the latest venture is designed to meet demand for electric parts in European Community countries ahead of the creation of the unified market by the end of 1992 .

Murata expects sales at the unit of about 1.5 billion yen in the first year .

it filed a preliminary prospectus for an offering of common shares .

The company plans to raise between C $ 75 million and C $ 100 million from the offering ,

according to a spokeswoman at Richardson Greenshields of Canada Ltd. , lead underwriter .

Savings and loans reject blacks for mortgage loans twice as often

But that does n't necessarily mean thrifts are discriminating against blacks ,

where the information was released yesterday at a Senate banking subcommittee hearing ,

that financial institutions are routinely discriminating against minorities .

to force banks and thrifts to comply with anti-discrimination laws .

chairman of the subcommittee on consumer and regulatory affairs , said ,

when blacks are getting their loan applications rejected twice as often as whites

James Grohl , a spokesman for the U.S. League of Savings Institutions , said ,

`` Certainly the federal government should take a hard look at it . ''

to follow up on a provision in the savings and loan bailout bill

that required regulators to report on evidence of discimination in mortgage lending .

The legislation also requires broad new disclosures of the race , sex and income level of borrowers ,

but that information wo n't be gathered in new studies for several months at least .

that blacks received fewer home mortgages from banks and thrifts than whites .

they have been too busy handling the record number of bank and thrift failures in the past few years

that we have not devoted the necessary amount of emphasis over the past several years ''

said Jonathan Fiechter , a top official of the Office of Thrift Supervision .

who are being turned away in the mortgage market improperly and unfairly , ''

that needs remedy now , not six months from now , or six years from now , or 26 years from now . ''

Officials of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said

they have punished only a few banks for violations of anti-discrimination laws .

it has issued five citations to banks over the past three years for discriminatory practices .

it found no indications of illegal discrimination in 3,437 examinations of banks since April 1987 .

Thrift regulators did n't give any figures on their enforcement actions .

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has used testers

Using testers could be controversial with financial institutions ,

the U.S. League of Savings Institutions had n't yet taken any position on the matter .

Homestake Mining Co. , San Francisco , blamed the continued slump in gold prices for an 83 % plunge in third-quarter net income to $ 2 million , or two cents a share , from $ 11.2 million , or 12 cents a share , a year earlier .

In New York Stock Exchange composite trading , Homestake closed at $ 15.25 , down 25 cents .

`` A significant increase in gold sales to 248,279 ounces for the quarter from 188,726 in the third quarter of 1988 was more than offset by the continued decline in average gold price realization to $ 367 from $ 429 per ounce , ''

For the nine months , the mining company posted a 40 % drop in profit to $ 30.1 million , or 31 cents a share , from $ 50.6 million , or 52 cents a share , on a 6 % rise in revenue to $ 323.2 million from $ 305.7 million .

that seeks to battle the Japanese in the market for computer memory chips .

that its money would be better spent in areas such as research and development .

to crack the $ 10 billion market for dynamic random access memory chips , a market

its experience during the shortage did n't merit the $ 5 million to $ 50 million investment

because we have been able to satisfy our need { for DRAMs } from the market as a rule , ''

Mr. Kane became president and chief executive officer of U.S. Memories last June ,

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. , Digital Equipment Corp. ; Hewlett-Packard Co. ; Intel Corp. ; International Business Machines Corp. ; LSI Logic Corp. and National Semiconductor Corp .

he expects two or three major corporations to announce their participation in U.S. Memories

soon after the group finishes a business plan , probably late this week .

and plans to meet with U.S. Memories representatives later this week .

In a startling turnabout , Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee are complaining

that someone leaked a letter to the committee from the Reagan administration

that the U.S. would undertake to warn Panamanian thug Manuel Noriega if it got wind of an impending coup

With due respect to `` highly classified correspondence '' and other buzzwords , the leakers are performing a public service .

What went wrong in Panama is a fitting subject for public and congressional inquiry .

Naturally , Senator Boren and his committee would like free rein

in disclosing the debate running up and down Pennsylvania Avenue .

The President of the United States urged the Panamanian armed forces to move against Mr. Noriega .

The executive branch bears the first responsibility for timidity .

For example , what exactly did the CIA tell Major Giroldi and his fellow coup plotters about U.S. laws and executive orders on assassinations ?

CIA chief William Webster , hardly a Washington malcontent , got the debate started last week

The CIA 's Deputy Director of Operations , Richard Stoltz , tried to smooth things over a few days later ,

has led in my view to a proper caution on the part of operators ,

In other words , Congress wo n't let the CIA do much of anything anymore ,

The Intelligence Committee 's ranking Republican , Senator William Cohen , joined with Senator George Mitchell

No doubt many people in the CIA , the Pentagon and the National Security Council have read it .

What kind of initiative should anyone expect from people out on the line

Who wants to end up as the protagonist in a Bill Cohen morality play ?

The order against assassinations is another artifact of the same congressional mind-set , a product of the 1970s Vietnam syndrome against any executive action .

by rescinding the order as an ambiguous intrusion on his ability

The executive order and the reported agreements with the Intelligence Committee are neither sensible nor moral .

It can send a fighter squadron to strafe terrorist hideouts in the Bekaa Valley ,

Both the assassination order and the quality of debate in Washington are telling the world

its third-quarter net income fell 27 % to $ 29.6 million , or 72 cents a share , from $ 40.7 million , or $ 1 a share , a year earlier .

which supplies transmissions and other drive-train parts to auto makers ,

about half the earnings drop came from the `` virtual collapse '' of the Venezuelan auto industry .

making it difficult for auto makers there to afford imported parts .

it was hurt by slumping U.S. truck sales and by a strike at a parts supplier .

Mary Anne Sudol , an analyst at Fitch Investors in New York , said

automotive suppliers were reporting lower profit almost `` across the board . ''

After two mistrials , the stakes in the stock manipulation trial of GAF Corp. and its vice chairman , James T. Sherwin , have changed considerably .

because they were considered to be important tests of the government 's ability

In an eight-count indictment , the government charged GAF , a Wayne , N.J. , chemical maker , and Mr. Sherwin with illegally attempting to manipulate the common stock of Union Carbide Corp. in advance of GAF 's planned sale of a large block of the stock in 1986 .

The government 's credibility in the GAF case depended heavily on its star witness , Boyd L. Jefferies , the former Los Angeles brokerage chief

and then pointed the finger at Mr. Sherwin , takeover speculator Salim B. Lewis and corporate raider Paul Bilzerian .

The GAF trials were viewed as previews of the government 's strength in its cases against Mr. Lewis and Mr. Bilzerian .

Mr. Jefferies 's performance as a witness was expected to affect his sentencing .

that a prosecutor improperly , but unintentionally , withheld a document .

After 93 hours of deliberation , the jurors in the second trial said

Meanwhile , a federal jury found Mr. Bilzerian guilty on securities fraud and other charges in June .

A month later , Mr. Jefferies was spared a jail term by a federal judge

The mistrials have left the reputations of GAF , Mr. Sherwin and GAF Chairman Samuel Heyman in limbo .

For Mr. Sherwin , a conviction could carry penalties of five years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine on each count .

that throughout September , defense attorneys were talking with the government in an effort

that the strategy of GAF 's attorney , Arthur Liman , and Mr. Sherwin 's counsel , Stephen Kaufman , will include testimony by Mr. Sherwin or Mr. Heyman .

For now , defense attorneys are tight-lipped about their plans .

DALKON SHIELD CLAIMANTS hope to stop reorganization-plan appeal .

have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to refuse to hear an appeal of the bankruptcy-law reorganization plan for A.H. Robins Co. ,

The bankruptcy-court reorganization is being challenged before the Supreme Court by a dissident group of claimants

It also bars future suits against Robins company officials , members of the Robins family and Robins 's former insurer , Aetna Life & Casualty Co .

said Alan B. Morrison , a public interest lawyer in Washington , D.C. ,

The company made and marketed the Dalkon Shield in the early 1970s amid mounting evidence

Robins has been in proceedings under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code since August 1985 ;

while jeopardizing the proposed reorganization and the settlement payments to claimants .

Charles A. Donohoo , sole proprieter of a Louisville , Ky. , demolition company , was found guilty of violating the Superfund law as well as the Clean Air Act .

virtually all of the Superfund cases to date have involved civil penalties

concerning the release of toxic substances into the environment .

Mr. Donohoo was convicted in Louisville late last month of violating Superfund

by failing to report the release of asbestos into the environment from a building

He was also convicted of failing to properly remove asbestos from the building , a violation of the Clean Air Act .

Mr. Donohoo faces as much as three years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine for the Superfund conviction and as much as one year in prison and a $ 100,000 fine for the violation of the Clean Air Act .

TED BUNDY 'S LAWYERS switch to victims ' side in death-sentence case .

has taken on another death penalty case before the Supreme Court , this time on the side of the family of four murder victims in Arkansas .

The law firm has filed a friend-of-the-court brief jointly with the Washington Legal Foundation , a conservative legal group .

The murderer , Ronald Gene Simmons , was convicted of killing 14 people .

Another murderer on death row has appealed Mr. Simmons 's death sentence in a `` next friend '' capacity .

that there is no mandatory appellate review of capital sentences

The coupling of the law firm and the Washington Legal Foundation is odd also ,

singled out for criticism two years ago by the conservative legal group

In federal court in Manhattan , three defendants pleaded guilty to charges of fraud in connection with the sale of fake Salvador Dali lithographs .

James Burke and Larry Evans , formerly owners of the now-defunct Barclay Gallery , and Prudence Clark , a Barclay sales representative , were charged with conducting high-pressure telephone sales

in which they misrepresented cheap copies of Dali artwork as signed , limited-edition lithographs .

and that Barclay 's total proceeds from the sales were $ 3.4 million .

although their clients admitted to making some misrepresentations in the sales ,

reported a third-quarter loss of $ 39.7 million , or $ 4.12 a share , on essentially flat sales of $ 807.6 million .

In the year-earlier period , the maker of diesel engines and parts had a narrower deficit of $ 17.6 million , or $ 1.84 a share , with sales of $ 808.3 million .

which provide a higher margin than most of the company 's other products ,

after the company projected a `` substantial '' third-period loss ,

the stock also fell $ 1.125 in composite New York Stock Exchange trading yesterday , to $ 51.75 .

It traded as high as $ 64 a month ago , before the loss projection .

For the nine months , the latest loss trimmed net income to $ 3.6 million ,

which after payment of preferred dividends represented a 31-cent loss a common share .

The year-before loss was $ 8.4 million , or $ 1.36 a common share .

Jim Farooquee , chief executive officer of the Tustin , Calif. , computer accessories supplier , said

that CMS would earn between six cents and eight cents a share on revenue of about $ 42 million .

A year earlier , CMS posted profit of $ 1.1 million , or 13 cents a share , on sales of $ 48 million .

Mr. Farooquee attributed the decline to an industrywide softening of demand for computer enhancement products .

that could restrict the use of criminal racketeering charges against white-collar defendants .

The most significant changes in department policy are new requirements

that federal prosecutors avoid disrupting `` the normal business functions '' of companies

Another important revision of department policy is a new guideline

The department distributed the revisions and clarifications to U.S. attorneys around the country this summer as part of a routine process

brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law .

who allegedly commit a pattern of crimes by means of a `` criminal enterprise ''

The RICO law has come under criticism from some defendants and defense lawyers .

The department 's most significant clarification of existing RICO policy is a directive to prosecutors

that they should seek to seize assets from defendants `` in proportion '' to the nature of the alleged offense ,

In general , the thrust of the department 's directive is to encourage prosecutors to limit pretrial asset seizures

the government may subsequently be able to seize after a conviction ,

-- Prince Charles , Princess Diana , Sarah Ferguson , John Kluge , Milton Petrie .

With the fall social season well under way , name-droppers are out in force ,

trying to impress their betters and sometimes put down their lessers .

But the truth is that almost everyone , from real-estate agents to city fathers , name-drops ;

says Herbert Freudenberger , a New York psychoanalyst , with a high-powered clientele .

`` It can be an avenue of entrance to a certain sector of society . . . .

Like the Long Island matron in the theater district the other day

Name-dropping recently helped Mr. Houston-Montgomery crash a party

that at the party he waved to Malcolm Forbes , publisher of Forbes magazine

These droppers do n't flaunt only their friendships with the Trumps , Brooke Astor or Georgette Mosbacher .

some city promoters seek to link their municipality with the most recognizable names

because former Mayor Ralph Perk set his hair on fire with an acetylene torch

and because its proposed Rock 'n ' Roll Hall of Fame was recently refused an urban-development grant .

`` It helps to point out how many important people came through Cleveland on their way to the top , ''

says George Miller , executive director of the New Cleveland Campaign , a nonprofit organization

that actor Paul Newman 's family owned a sporting-goods store in Cleveland ,

and that comedian Bob Hope 's father , a stonemason , once worked on a church next to Severence Hall , Cleveland 's main concert hall .

`` Power names like that do n't hurt the city 's reputation , ''

and were able to keep the price firm in a weak real-estate market

says David Rambo , a sales associate with Jon Douglas Co. , a Los Angeles real-estate agency .

Press agents and public-relations practitioners are notorious name-droppers .

Len Kessler , a financial publicist in New York , sometimes uses it

when Dan Dorfman , a financial columnist with USA Today , has n't returned his phone calls ,

that he has an important story on Donald Trump , Meshulam Riklis or Marvin Davis .

There are , of course , obvious dangers to blatant , unsubstantiated name-dropping .

Jeffry Thal , a publicity agent for the Lantz Office in Los Angeles , warns

that dropping the wrong name labels the dropper as a fake and a fraud .

that Elizabeth Taylor , a client , `` hates being called `Liz . ' . . .

' '' In New York society , Pat Buckley , the very social wife of author William Buckley , has the nicknames `` Mrs. Buckles '' and `` Patsy . ''

says Joan Kron , editor-in-chief of Avenue magazine , a monthly publication

John Spencer Churchill , a nephew of the late Sir Winston Churchill , former prime minister of Great Britain , is n't that impressed with most name-droppers

Mr. Churchill , an artist , tells how tycoons such as the late Jean Paul Getty , the oil billionnaire , were , in fact , known only by one initial , their last .

Program trading on the New York Stock Exchange in September rose to its highest recorded level as a percentage of total monthly trading volume .

September program trading amounted to 13.8 % of average daily New York Stock Exchange volume of 151.8 million shares , the largest percentage

since the exchange began making such figures public in July 1988 .

A daily average of 20.9 million shares traded in program strategies in September , the second-highest level ever .

when a daily average of 22.1 million shares traded in program strategies .

Average daily trading volume in June of 180.3 million shares was considerably higher than in September .

Program trading amounted to 12.3 % of average daily volume in June .

involving the purchase or sale of a basket of 15 or more stocks .

and offset the position with an opposite trade in stock-index futures

but most of the firm 's activity involved portfolio trading strategies other than stock-index arbitrage .

Overall , Salomon reported program trading volume of 75.2 million shares .

The top stock-index arbitrage firm last month was Morgan Stanley & Co .

Of Morgan Stanley 's 66.8 million shares in program trades for the month , 53.1 million were in stock-index arbitrage trades .

Behind second-place Morgan Stanley were Kidder , Peabody & Co. , Goldman , Sachs & Co. and CS First Boston Inc. 's First Boston Corp. unit .

But this time it 's hurting opposition as well as ruling-party members .

it 's revealing some of the more tangled and seamier aspects of Japanese society .

and forced the committee to plan a special two-day investigation at the end of the month .

says Shigezo Hayasaka , former aide to LDP kingmaker Kakuei Tanaka and now an independent analyst .

Pachinko , a kind of pinball , is Japan 's favorite form of legal gambling .

that changed hands in the Recruit Co. influence-peddling scandal

Recently the industry has faced the threat of new restrictions ,

many of whom maintain close ties with North or South Korean residents ' organizations ,

Garish neon pachinko marquees blaze from the main streets and narrow alleys of cities and towns across the country .

since it took root as cheap entertainment in the years after World War II .

But the total of all those pinging balls has created an industry with a reported annual income of 13 trillion yen

because the pachinko industry is regularly at the top of annual lists for tax evasion ,

it could bring the government a badly needed several trillion yen .

The proposal split the industry in two , along the lines of national origin :

that a pachinko industry organization donated money to Japan Socialist Party members .

or it may have been laundering money back and forth between the JSP and the North Korean residents ' organization , the Chosen Soren .

And at first , neither the opposition nor the LDP wanted to pursue the issue .

as with the Recruit scandal , lists began circulating with names of people

that members of the ruling LDP had received much larger donations from pachinko organizations .

that the South Korean residents ' organization had long been donating directly to LDP members .

that its members received about eight million yen from the pachinko organization ,

and other opposition parties with taking about 2.5 million yen .

that eight cabinet ministers had received five million yen from the industry ,

Direct donations from either of the residents ' organizations would be illegal

That they retain Korean citizenship and ties is a reflection of history

that the organizations or their members would donate to politicians , the way

Both residents ' organizations admit to receiving some funding from abroad .

But LDP members and supporters of the prepaid card idea tend to speak in innuendo about the JSP 's alleged donations ,

that MedChem 's AMVISC product line infringes on the Pharmacia patent .

The patent is related to hyaluronic acid , a rooster-comb extract

In its lawsuit , Pharmacia is seeking unspecified damages and a preliminary injunction

the products contribute about a third of MedChem 's sales and 10 % to 20 % of its earnings .

MedChem earned $ 2.9 million , or 72 cents a share , on sales of $ 17.4 million .

the court 's ruling was issued as part of a `` first-phase trial '' in the patent-infringement proceedings

it is considering `` all of its options in light of the decision ,

that it plans to `` assert its other defenses '' against Pharmacia 's lawsuit ,

-- to set a date for proceedings on Pharmacia 's motion for a preliminary injunction .

Lawyers for dozens of insolvent savings and loan associations are trying a new tack in their efforts

because neither the S & Ls nor the extinct Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. has the money

even the S & L lawyers concede there 's little precedent to back their position .

and the lawyers have renewed their arguments in Texas and eight other states

The dismissal of the pending suits could go a long way toward clearing court dockets in Texas

The S & L lawyers were encouraged last month by an appellate-court ruling in two cases

brought against defunct Sunbelt Savings & Loan Association of Dallas by the developers of the Valley Ranch ,

best known as the training center for the Dallas Cowboys football team .

Sunbelt and the FSLIC argued to the Fifth U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals

`` this contention would justify dismissal of these actions on prudential grounds . ''

it lacked enough financial information about Sunbelt and the FSLIC

because Sunbelt 's liabilities exceeded its assets by about $ 2 billion

says Mr. Haworth , a partner in the Dallas office of Andrews & Kurth , a Houston law firm .

But a lawyer for Triland Investment Group , the developer of Valley Ranch , dismisses such arguments as a `` defense du jour . ''

a judgment for Triland could be satisfied in ways other than a monetary award ,

including the reversal of Sunbelt 's foreclosure on Valley Ranch .

`` We 'd take the Valley Ranch free and clear as a booby prize . ''

and after a thorough and exhausting job search , was hired in August 1989 .

are out of date , certainly as an average for the Northeast , and possibly for the rest of the country .

what bothered me most about the piece was that there seemed to be an underlying attitude

showing the average number of months in a job search as `` Time Off . ''

Looking for a job was one of the most anxious periods of my life

it reduced its rating on $ 165 million of subordinated debt of this Beverly Hills , Calif. , thrift ,

citing turmoil in the market for low-grade , high-yield securities .

it reduced its rating on the thrift 's subordinated debt to B-2 from Ba-2

and will keep the debt under review for possible further downgrade .

that all thrifts divest themselves of such speculative securities over a period of years .

Columbia Savings officials were n't available for comment on the downgrade .

it downgraded its rating to B-2 from Ba-3 on less than $ 20 million of this thrift 's senior subordinated notes .

Franklin 's `` troubled diversification record in the securities business '' was one reason for the downgrade ,

citing the troubles at its L.F. Rothschild subsidiary and the possible sale of other subsidiaries .

The following U.S. Treasury , corporate and municipal offerings are tentatively scheduled for sale this week ,

Three million shares of $ 25 preferred , via competitive bidding .

2.6 million Class A shares , via Smith Barney Harris Upham & Co .

$ 100 million of general obligation veterans ' tax notes , Series 1989 , via competitive bid .

including $ 32 million hotel occupancy tax revenue bonds , Series 1989A , and $ 36.23 million convention center revenue bonds , Series 1989B ,

$ 144.5 million of Kaiser Permanente revenue bonds , via a PaineWebber group .

$ 100 million of general obligation capital appreciation bonds , College Savings Plan , 1989 Series B , via a Prudential-Bache Capital Funding group .

$ 117 million of revenue bonds for Hahnemann University , Series 1989 , via a Merrill Lynch group .

West Virginia Parkways , Economic Development And Tourism Authority --

$ 143 million of parkway revenue bonds , Series 1989 , via a PaineWebber group .

$ 640 million of gas and electric revenue refunding bonds , via a First Boston group .

$ 51.1 million of Rapid City Regional Hospital bonds , via a Dougherty , Dawkins , Strand & Yost Inc. group .

Small investors matched their big institutional brethren in anxiety over the weekend ,

they were resigned to riding out the latest storm in the stock market .

as he watched the market plunge on a big screen in front of a brokerage firm .

on Monday the small ( investors ) are going to panic and sell , ''

whose investments include AMR Corp. 's American Airlines unit and several mutual funds .

said Lucy Crump , a 78-year-old retired housewife in Lexington , Ky .

her Ashwood Investment Club 's portfolio lost about one-third of its value

At the annual congress of the National Association of Investors Corp. at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Minneapolis , the scene was calm .

no special bulletins or emergency meetings of the investors ' clubs are planned .

and many wonder about the long-term implications of what is widely viewed as the cause of Friday 's slide , reluctance by banks

to provide financing for a buy-out of UAL Corp. , parent of United Airlines .

that there 's a general distaste for leverage among lenders . ''

if California investor Marvin Davis steps back in to the United bidding with an offer of $ 275 a share .

she 's generally skittish about the stock market and the takeover activity

She and her husband pulled most of their investments out of the market after the 1987 crash ,

and partly because she recently quit her job as a legal assistant

Discount brokerage customers `` have been in the market somewhat but not whole hog

says Leslie Quick Jr. , chairman of the Quick & Reilly discount brokerage firm .

Hugo Quackenbush , senior vice president at Charles Scwhab Corp. , says

Schwab customers `` have been neutral to cautious recently about stocks . ''

government regulators will have to more closely control program trading

But it 's not only the stock market that has some small investors worried .

Alan Helfman , general sales manager of a Chrysler dealership in Houston , said

which is within a few miles of the multi-million dollar homes of some of Houston 's richest citizens .