November 20, 1987

LEAD: ''This kind of neurotic behavior is not usually handled in groups,'' Dr. Perry Frantzman explained. His 14 patients were in a circle. The doctor had agreed to take them on because he knew otherwise it might mean death.

LEAD: The Federal Trade Commission has asked the Justice Department to prosecute Donald J. Trump, the New York developer and investor, for making use of a ''parking'' agreement to facilitate an acquisition.

LEAD: One of the great joys of Laurence Olivier's professional life was watching John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson act together onstage. Seeing those two knights in tandem was ''a dream,'' observed Lord Olivier, ''a brilliant double act'' with ''all guns blazing.'' In modern theatrical history, there have, of course, been other twinned performances of the highest caliber, though perhaps not with the astonishing symbiosis - and contrast of opposites - of these theatrical eminences.

LEAD: ''LAST spring I was feeling very strongly that I wanted to try something I'd never done before,'' Meredith Monk recalled the other day. ''So I called Bobby McFerrin and asked him if he wanted to do some singing together. We just started singing, and working out the best way to proceed. He likes to improvise from zero, whereas I like to have more of a structure.

LEAD: FORESTS of Tiffany lamps cast a color-pulsing glow on Bauhaus chromed metal tables, Art Deco frosted-glass vases and vehemently Victorian carved desks. The bazaar called ''Modernism: a Century of Style and Design, 1860 to 1960,'' one of New York's youngest and liveliest antiques and decorative arts fairs, returned yesterday for its second visit to the Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Avenue at 66th Street.

LEAD: New York City's bond rating was raised yesterday to its highest level since 1975, despite concerns that recent declines in stock prices and employment at securities concerns would weaken the local economy and strain the city's financial condition.

LEAD: Mexico's Finance Minister appealed for confidence in the economy today as the peso fluctuated in chaotic trading after Wednesday's plunge.

LEAD: When Vice President Bush told reporters early this year that he had ''expressed reservations'' to the White House about the secret sale of arms to Iran, many officials in the Reagan Administration were surprised.

LEAD: After telling the Soviet television reporter what they knew about her country - it is part of both Europe and Asia and Moscow is its capital -the geography class at a school in the rural town of Litchfield had some questions.

LEAD: While most members of the Iran-contra committees think their inquiry was a success, many of the lawmakers and their staff assistants say in hindsight that various aspects of the investigation should have been done differently.

LEAD: Stocks continued their seesaw course yesterday, falling broadly amid worries that a deficit-reduction plan would not be reached. The Dow Jones industrial average, which rose nearly 17 points on Wednesday, plunged 43.77 points, or 2.26 percent, to close below 1,900.

LEAD: As one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer electronics, the Sony Corporation knows plenty about the hardware side of the music business. But it has had little experience with the recording side, which includes the delicate task of handling temperamental artists.