July 21, 1986

In the wake of terrorist attacks overseas last spring, Robert and Sandy Pittman canceled their trip to Europe and went trout fishing in Pennsylvania instead. To prepare for the vacation, the couple spent $2,500 on rods, reels and other equipment and another $800 on a three-day course at a fancy fly-fishing school in Vermont. ''We've been American consumers this year,'' said Mr. Pittman, the 32-year-old president and chief executive of MTV Networks Inc., the music video television company. The Pittmans have not been alone. Lower gasoline prices, a weaker dollar and the fear of terrorism abroad will persuade three million more Americans to vacation in the United States this summer than last year, according to the U.S. Travel Data Center, an independent research organization in Washington.

Despite opposition from civil rights groups and ethnic organizations, efforts to declare English the official language appear to be gaining strength in parts of the country. In California, advocates of limiting the use of Spanish and other foreign languages recently gathered more than a million signatures on a petition, more than enough to put a measure on the Nov. 4 ballot that would declare English the state's official language if voters approved it. Moves Elsewhere Foreseen Although the proposal is worded so that some critics believe it would have little practical effect, Hispanic and Asian groups say they may spend millions of dollars to try to defeat it because they fear its passage could lead to enactment of similar measures in other states and touch off a new wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. In Florida, advocates of a similar measure, after failing this spring to persuade state legislators to make it law, say that by early next year they expect to have 450,000 signatures on a petition, more than enough to put the question before the voters.

Although experts are not predicting an imminent upturn for agriculture, many are seeing some glimmers of hope through the gloom of the continuing farm depression. The major sign is a slowdown in a five-year slide in land values. The decline has left many farmers with land worth less than half what they paid for it and left many ''land poor'' - owing more money than they could raise if they sold everything and facing foreclosure action against land they put up as collateral for loans. At the same time, the experts say, the decline has brought prices of land closer to its worth in terms of the income it can produce. A Chance for New Farmers The increasing stability in land values improves the prospects for the farm economy in general. With lower land prices, young people have a better chance to get into farming, and others have better prospects of expansion. The stability signals at least an eventual slowing of the pace of foreclosures.

The world economy is suddenly displaying unexpected signs of weakness just when falling oil prices and low inflation appear set to strengthen recovery. The weakness reflects an unforeseen slowdown in the rate of economic expansion in the United States, West Germany and Japan during the opening three months of the year, and signs the slower trend has continued through the second quarter as well. Businesses and consumers simply are not spending at levels that will stimulate strong growth either in their own countries or in less-developed nations that depend on foreign demand for their goods. Production from factories and mines in these three major industrial powers - which together account for almost half of the world's gross national product - has been particularly weak, leaving prospects for the global economy as a whole looking flat. Dampening Expectations At a time of growing interdepencence of world economies, the slowdown in the world's three major economies is dampening expectations throughout the rest of the developing and industrial world. As a result, many economists fear that heavily indebted poorer countries, already suffering from a collapse in raw material prices, could be pushed closer to default on their debt, raising renewed fears of an international banking crisis.

Companies Colt announced a $1.6 billion recapitalization plan that would give public shareholders $85 and a new share for each share owned. Colt said the plan, which would also give employee shareholders more stock, would increase shareholder return. [ Page D1. ]