July 21, 1985

Clint Eastwood has grown accustomed lately to fancy questions about the esthetics of his films. So when a reporter calls him at his Carmel, Calif., home to discuss the mythological-existential-metaphysical-theological implications of his new western, ''Pale Rider,'' he does not answer with a silky snarl and the Dirty Harry line -''I'm afraid you've got the wrong idea about me.'' Rather, the plain-spoken actor and director is polite as he muses over the query about whether his character, known as the Preacher or the Stranger, is meant to represent Death, Injustice, the Avenging Angel, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse or, perhaps, the Son of God. The nameless hero rides down from the mountains to help some gold prospectors who are being harassed by an unscrupulous robber baron and a gunslinging marshal. ''People read so many things into it,'' says Mr. Eastwood, whose films were once dismissed by many critics as ''noisy,'' ''brutish'' and ''simple.''

The Consumer Price Index for June, to be announced Tuesday, should show no major change in the inflation rate. For the second straight month, prices will rise two-tenths of a percent, or about 2.4 percent annually, said Martin A. Armstrong, chairman of Princeton Economic Consultants.

Those who think gasoline and sodas do not mix should look at the sales figures of roadside convenience stores. In 1984, gross sales of the nation's 58,000 convenience stores rose 13.6 percent to $50.1 billion.

STRICT new rules limiting Medicare payments for home health care will severely strain the home health agencies that serve Medicare patients in New Jersey and could make it more difficult for some patients to receive the care that they need, officials of those agencies contend. The rules, which took effect earlier this month, set the maximum rates that Medicare will charge for home visits made by registered nurses, home health aides, medical social workers and speech, physical and occupational therapists. By ''capping'' the rates for these visits, Medicare expects to save $105 million nationwide in the next three years. The maximum rates will be reduced in each of the next two years to yield an estimated $443 million in additional savings. Analysts for Medicare, the Federal health plan for the elderly and disabled, said that up to 70 percent of the home health-care agencies in the country exceeded the new limits for at least one type of service. They said that the new rate policies would force agencies to become more cost-efficient.

Premium cigars and cognac are enjoying rising popularity as the baby-boom generation passes into middle age. ''Demographics have suddenly caused sales of cigars and cognac to explode,'' said Carol L. Colman, partner in Inferential Focus Inc., a market research organization.

OFF-YEAR political campaigns for the 18 seats in the Suffolk County Legislature rarely raise civic passions. This year may be different. With the future of the Shoreham nuclear power plant seemingly placed in the legislators' hands by recent state and Federal court decisions, the November election is considered crucial by all sides in the struggle over whether the $4.5 billion plant will ever go into commercial operation. Consequently, the political season is off to an early start. There is agreement that the continued refusal of the Legislature to involve the county in emergency planning for communities around the Shoreham plant should there be an accident at the facility remains the greatest single obstacle to its opening - barring a major failure during low-power testing, which is entering the third week.

The conversion of a former twist drill factory on Route 110 in Melville just south of the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County underscores the evolution of this major north-south throughfare from a manufacturing strip to an office center. In the last few years, about two million square feet of office space have risen on Route 110.

THE WEATHER this time of year 90 miles northeast of here in Rocklin can be miserable. Searing heat. Temperatures as high as 105 degrees. Blinding sunlight. ''When there's a cloud in the sky, everybody claps,'' said Joe Montana. ''But you can go a month without seeing one.'' Such are the atmospheric conditions that await the San Francisco 49ers when they collect this week to begin training camp at Sierra Community College. The rookies get the worst of it by two days. They are due to report Wednesday, the veterans on Friday. But even with the brief respite, the old heads know to expect more than uncomfortable weather. Especially this summer, when the weather is not the only source of heat. For the second time in four seasons the 49ers will set off as the National Football League's defending champions, and the last time they were in such a position, 1982, they did not handle it well. After beating the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI, 26-21, they self-destructed in the strike-shortened season of 1982, losing six of their nine games and failing to make the playoffs.

The influx of newcomers, particularly Asian immigrants, into Flushing, Queens, has helped spur a boom in both residential and commercial development there. Now a 20-story, 214-unit apartment project, which its developers believe is the largest condominium to go up in Flushing, is under construction at 138-35 Elder Avenue, between Colden Street and Kissena Boulevard.

SAMUEL H. ARMACOST, president and chief executive officer of BankAmerica, and Barry F. Sullivan, chairman and chief executive of the First Chicago Corporation, have much in common. Both have been rising stars in the banking community. Each has held the top post at his bank for approximately five years. And both are likable fellows whose styles contrast sharply with those of their autocratic predecessors. Now both men may be seeing their futures dim, along with their banks' profitability. Last week's stunning $338 million loss reported by the BankAmerica Corporation was the second-largest loss in American banking history. Only the $1.2 billion loss reported in last year's second quarter by the Continental Illinois Corporation was greater. For First Chicago, too, the second quarter was dismal. Its net income plummeted 80.9 percent, to only $10.1 million. And it was in the black only because of a $21.9 million tax credit. Otherwise, it, too, would have had a loss, of $11.8 million. The steep decline in net income was the result of a $115 million special reserve to offset losses by a Brazilian affiliate. The bank had already charged off millions to the affiliate in the first quarter. And this followed big loan losses in last year's third quarter that added up to a $71.8 million aftertax loss.

How does terrorism play on television? It depends. Consider the two-part documentary ''Terror!'' Its point of view is clear; the exclamation point tells us that. Terrorism lies outside the pale; it is something to be abhorred. Ideologists define terrorism to their own ends, while the United Nations, the documentary notes, has been unwilling to define it at all. Most reasonable people, however, need no definition; they recognize terrorism when they see it. Terrorism is a bombing, an assassination, a hijacked plane. It is a violent act in a political context, and it is, as Arthur Hill, the narrator of the documentary, says, ''a part of the world we live in.'' ''Terror!,'' which begins on WNEW-TV/Channel 5 tomorrow night at 9, is something like a compendium of terrorist groups. It says that more than 1,000 groups have claimed responsibility for some 8,000 incidents since 1968, and that more than 500 terrorist groups are operating now. ''Terror!'' looks at some that are, or have been, prominent: the Japanese Red Army, Black September, Provisional Irish Republican Army, Fatah, Prima Lenai, Hezbollah, Armenian Secret Army, Red Brigades. They come from the left and the right. They all kill indiscriminately.

AN ongoing issue in hundreds of New York City's small multifamily buildings with rent-regulated tenants concerns the right of the owner to obtain possession of an apartment in order to move in or to have others in his immediate family move in. If the apartment is rent-controlled, an owner must be able to show an ''immediate and compelling'' need to occupy it before the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal will allow a tenant to be evicted - a standard established under regulations that went into effect in May 1984. To take over a rent-stabilized apartment, the landlord can merely refuse to renew a lease. But if the tenant will not leave and the landlord is compelled to seek an eviction order, the landlord must be ready to convince the court that his intention to use the apartment as a primary residence is genuine.