December 23, 1986

Markets Oil prices advanced strongly in hectic trading on world markets, as the oil community welcomed OPEC's decision to cut output. The key American grade surged to nearly $18 a barrel, before slipping back to $17.22 at day's end, for a gain of 83 cents a barrel. Futures prices for heating oil and unleaded gasoline also increased markedly. And U.S. oil companies continued to ratchet up the prices they pay for crude oil, to just above $15. [ Page D1. ] Investors have a new reason to sell stocks: They want to pay taxes on capital gains this year because the capital gains rate will increase next year. Tax experts say this thinking could mean selling pressure in the market through year-end. [ D1. ]

President Reagan considered, but rejected, the idea of granting a pardon to Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter and Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North in the hope that they would then tell what they knew about the Iran arms affair, the White House said today. The chief White House spokesman, Larry Speakes, said Mr. Reagan had discussed the option last week, but had decided instead to urge Congressional investigative committees to grant limited immunity to the two former White House officials. Mr. Speakes's acknowledgment was the first public confirmation that Mr. Reagan had considered using a pardon as a tactic to assure the public that he is interested in full disclosure regarding the secret sale of arms to Iran and the diversion of money to Nicaraguan rebels.

IN February 1984, Martha Rusk Sutphen decided that she could make a contribution to New York City's public schools. For six years, she had run a consortium of eight private schools and published a newspaper for them. She had taught at one and been on the board of another. Although she had never been licensed to teach in public schools, the public schools were calling for new teachers. She decided to seek a license to teach English.

Auditors and lawyers for Intelsat are examining the possibility that two former senior executives may have used contracts with outside consultants to divert funds to the executives' personal use, according to United States Government officials and Intelsat sources. These sources said today that the investigators have discovered transactions that contravened the agency's standard procedure for procurement of services. The transactions were authorized by one or both of the executives, these sources said.

A state watchdog agency called yesterday for the abolition of New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission and said the Mayor should be ultimately responsible for regulating the taxi industry and setting rates. The agency, the State Commission of Investigation, in a report on corruption and irregularities at the Taxi Commission, asserted that the taxi panel, in its 16 years of existence, had failed to supervise the taxi industry properly. The ''bottom line indicates,'' the chairman of the Investigation Commission, David G. Trager, said at a news conference that the Taxi Commission has been ''co-opted by the industry that it was set up to regulate.'' In urging the removal of the nine-member Taxi Commission, the state body proposed that the day-to-day supervision of taxi matters be handled by a mayoral agency, the Department of Transportation.