May 8, 1986

Saatchi & Saatchi, the British advertising company, agreed on Tuesday night to acquire Ted Bates Worldwide, the third-largest advertising agency in the United States, according to three independent sources. However, Robert E. Jacoby, chairman and chief executive of Bates, who has not been available for comment since the rumors began about the deal, said yesterday that nothing had been signed and there still remained some major ''hangups'' that could either be resolved in as little as a day or be ''deal breakers.'' A Saatchi spokesman in New York said late yesterday afternoon that conversations were indeed in progress, but that there had been no signing. Price Is at Issue The price being discussed, according to industry sources, all of whom requested anonymity, is $280 million. Bates, a privately held company, had $466 million in gross income on $3.1 billion in billings in 1985.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, arriving here for a 24-hour visit, said today that the Reagan Administration strongly supported the South Korean Government's efforts to make changes and assailed those in the opposition who ''incite violence.'' At the same time, the Secretary, who is to meet Thursday with a cross-section of Koreans, declined to meet with Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young Sam, two of South Korea's most prominent political figues. Mr. Shultz seemed to go out of his way not to indicate any lessening of Washington's backing for President Chun Doo Hwan. Ties to U.S. Stressed The reasoning for this strategy, American officials said, is that Washington believes it is important for stability here for the Chun Government to carry out its stated intention to carry out a peaceful democratic power transfer in two years. They said Washington believed that the Seoul Government, which has been accused of human rights abuses, and of trying to limit the opposition's ability to present its views, will only move ahead if it feels secure in its military, economic and political ties to the United States.

The Senate today unanimously approved the most sweeping plan to reorganize the nation's military hierarchy in nearly 30 years. The bill, which passed by a vote of 95 to 0, would enlarge the advisory role of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's highest-ranking military officer, while giving field commanders more control over fighting forces in combat. The measure would reduce the authority of the heads of the individual services in an effort to increase cooperation among the Army, Navy and Air Force, which in the past have cherished their autonomy. Poor Coordination Blamed Advocates of the changes have blamed poor coordination of joint efforts for a series of operational blunders including the failed hostage rescue mission in Iran in 1980, the terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983, and communications flaws in the United States invasion of Grenada in 1983.

An article in Business Day on Monday about the acquisition of Kidder, Peabody & Company by the General Electric Company misidentified the law firm that represented G.E. It was Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. Sullivan & Cromwell represented Kidder, Peabody.

PREDICTING collecting trends in the decorative arts is not so different from forecasting which stocks will soar on Wall Street - theories abound, and timing is everything. In decorative arts, however, it is the antiques dealers, auction house experts and museum curators who create trends. While current notions about what to collect next range from primitive ceramics to American Indian blankets, just how these items become favored is an interdisciplinary affair. Curators organizing an exhibition, for example, spark the interest of dealers. And savvy collectors, constantly on the lookout, are in turn eager to get into the action early. The combined interest of museum, dealer and collector inevitably raises prices.

The tax revision plan approved by the Senate Finance Committee early today would have a far-reaching impact on the everyday financial affairs of individuals, from the way people save for retirement and their children's college education to the amount they borrow to finance a car. For individuals, the implications of the tax plan stretch far beyond the average 6.2 percent tax cut they are projected to receive. The reduction in the top individual tax rate from 50 percent to 27 percent - its lowest level in more than half a century - and the elimination of dozens of tax benefits would reduce the role that taxes play in the daily financial decisions of Americans. In addition it would remove some of the layers of complexity from the tax code that has long frustrated millions of taxpayers. ''There's a lot of cleaning up of the tax code in the committee plan,'' said Joseph Pechman, a tax policy expert and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. ''It will be a simpler system for most individuals.''

Leading senators and representatives from both parties said today that the Senate Finance Committee's unanimous approval of a tax bill shortly after midnight meant that comprehensive tax-revision legislation would almost certainly be enacted before the end of this year. Bob Dole of Kansas, the Republican majority leader in the Senate, said a tax bill would pass ''easily'' when it goes before the full Senate next month. He said the new balanced-budget law would make it more difficult for senators to amend the committee's bill. Representative Dan Rostenkowski, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, who steered similar legislation through the House of Representatives last year, said he was ''elated'' by the Finance Committee's action. Differences in Bills ''We have taken another giant step toward reforming the tax code,'' added Mr. Rostenkowski, an Illinois Democrat. He noted that the House and Senate versions differed in many important respects but said, ''The differences, should we see each other in a conference, can be ironed out.''

Here in the sparsely settled foothills of the Adirondacks, it takes a remarkable event to attract enough people even to call it a crowd. The annual return of the Sacandaga swifts is one such unusual event, according to natives of this tiny town, which is about 50 miles northwest of Albany. To back up this claim, they point to the hundreds of spectators who have lined the streets every May 6 for decades to watch the birds dive at dusk into an 80-foot chimney in the center of town. This year, the swifts, which according to popular belief have made an uninterrupted journey from Peru, were greeted by a crowd that had waited tensely through a day filled with forecasts of evening thunderstorms. Some came from as far away as Greenfield Center, 25 miles to the east, and arrived four hours early to grab the best parking spots.

The Burroughs Corporation, waiting barely three days for the Sperry Corporation to respond to its $4.1 billion takeover bid, announced late yesterday that since the computer maker had not replied, it was taking the offer directly to Sperry stockholders. J. Peter Hynes, a spokesman for Sperry declined to comment on the Burroughs move and refused to respond to speculation that Sperry was calling an emergency board meeting. Although Wall Street traders had been expecting the move by Burrough's, Sperry's stock slid 87.5 cents, to $70.375, on a volume of nearly 6 million shares making it the day's most active issue on the Big Board. Higher Bid Expected The price remained slightly above Burroughs's $70-a-share offer - in the expectation that Burroughs may increase its bid at some point.

Because of an editing error, an article on April 23 about NASA management and the text of a statement by the space agency printed on April 26 referred incorrectly to a NASA official convicted of fraud. The official, who has since died, was a former director of NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland.

THE outside of the gray clapboard two-family home at the end of a cul-de-sac in Fairfield, Conn., looks much like every other house on the street. The front lawn is neatly kept. The black paint on the shutters and the white trim are starting to bubble and peel a little. And lined up in the parking area in front are a couple of not-so-new cars. The inside, however, tells a tale of the 80's. Instead of the two nuclear families that would doubtless have occupied such a dwelling a decade or so ago, there are now two groups of young single men and women, all in their 20's. They share the rent. They share each other's furniture. They share the housework, the telephones, the rented television. On occasion, they even share friends. No figures are available on just how widespread the phenomenon of group living has become, but clearly, it is a growing way of life for younger singles, for the newly divorced and for employees on temporary assignments.

Agreement on broad legislation that would make it a crime to break into computers was announced today by Governor Cuomo, State Attorney General Robert Abrams and key legislators. The bill would create the new crimes of unauthorized use of computers, computer trespassing and computer tampering. It would also make it a crime to use information stored by computer while committing other crimes, such as forgery or theft of business records. Although 40 other states have already approved similar laws, legislation in New York, a banking and communications center and a hub of computer use, is considered a major step in stemming computer crime in this country.