October 26, 1983

Companies U.S. Steel reported a $52 million profit for the third quarter, its first in more than a year. The company cited rising oil income and a smaller loss in its steel operations. Analysts said the improvement at the No. 1 steelmaker was an indication that most steel companies would show better results in the fourth quarter. (Page D1.) Exxon's third-quarter net rose 20.5 percent, and Standard Oil of California said its profit increased 10.9 percent, although both companies reported drops in revenues. They attributed the increase to higher earnings from overseas operations. But Unocal, the parent company of Union Oil, said its earnings dropped 15.3 percent. (D1.)

A Federal District Judge yesterday proposed that the Manville Corporation create a sinking fund to pay the future claims of those who have been exposed to asbestos but have not yet shown any sign of the illnesses that such exposure can cause. The money for the fund, United States District Court Judge David N. Edelstein said, should ''be supplied by sacrifices on the part of all the other creditors.'' Although Judge Edelstein was technically hearing only a small procedural question in Manville's 14- month-old Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, he said that because the bankruptcy court proceedings seemed inadequate to protect future claimants who have a ''moral right to compensation,'' he wanted all the parties to consider creating a 20-year sinking fund to pay future claims as they arose. A sinking fund is a pool of money earmarked to pay future obligations.

The Exxon Corporation, the world's largest industrial company, said yesterday that its net income in the third quarter rose 20.5 percent, to $1.23 billion, from a year earlier. The increase was due partly to sharply higher earnings from overseas operations. The Standard Oil Company of California, the nation's fourth-largest oil company, also reported a profit increase attributable partly to improved results from overseas. Its third-quarter earnings were up 10.9 percent, to $509 million.

At midday Saturday, as President Reagan was in the midst of a round of golf at the Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia, he had under active consideration a secret request from Caribbean nations to join in the invasion of Grenada. The President, already a legend in the Administration for keeping his own counsel, had begun the most secretive and momentous week of his incumbency with a golf club in his hands. One of his golfing partners, Secretary of State George P. Shultz, was receiving the latest details of Grenada plans going on back in Washington, and discussing them with the President on the golf course, according to White House officials. At the same time, the President's national security adviser, Robert C. McFarlane, was monitoring the situation nearby as the President stroked away.

Louis L. Hoynes Jr., an attorney with Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York, settled into his wide, burgundy colored seat, took some papers from an attache case and got down to work on a flight to Chicago on the Midway Airlines' Metrolink service developed specifically for business travel. ''It's a very comfortable configuration,'' he said, noting that the two-across seating on the DC9-30 provided more elbow and leg room for his six-foot, one-inch frame. And instead of the usual 115 seats on such a plane, there are only 84. This year, a small group of airlines, such as Midway, Air 1 Inc. and America West Airlines, have started service aimed directly at business travelers, and have been gradually winning a steady following at the expense of the major carriers.