February 8, 1991

Angel Cordova appeared puzzled by the black unmarked tow truck in front of his apartment building. He was only three months behind on his car payments. He had been discussing his problems with the finance company. Besides, the car had a faulty relay switch. Who makes payments on a lemon? "I'm with Nissan Motor Acceptance," the tow truck driver, Brian Papp, a 325-pound former semi-pro football tackle, said to Mr. Cordova. "Where's the car?"

Two of the last three defendants in the Bensonhurst murder case were acquitted yesterday in another blow to the prosecution in the racially charged case. Plagued by problems, including uncooperative witnesses, the Brooklyn prosecutors have conducted a series of trials under intense scrutiny. Of seven defendants who have been tried on charges stemming from the killing of Yusuf K. Hawkins in 1989, one was convicted of murder, three were convicted of lesser charges and three were acquitted of all charges.

Leading retailers reported generally disappointing results for January, creating concern over profits in the final quarter and the year as a whole. Twelve of the 19 largest chains announcing their results had declines or minimal gains at stores open at least a year, a category known as same-store sales, Some, like Sears, Roebuck & Company, the nation's largest, and the J. C. Penney Company, No. 4, had overall sales declines, including new stores. Wal-Mart, though, showed strong sales growth.

State legislative leaders and Mayor David N. Dinkins reached a tentative agreement today on an ambitious and expensive anti-crime package for New York City, ending four months of arduous negotiations that have left a bitter political aftertaste. Today's agreement is an important victory for Mr. Dinkins, who made the anti-crime package the centerpiece of his first year in office. But legislators and their aides said the tortured bargaining would exact a political cost on the Mayor's strength in Albany.

Senators Seek Overhaul Of Intelligence Agencies Concerned that United States intelligence agencies produce timid assessments of world events and remain focused on cold war issues, leaders of a Senate panel proposed changes in espionage operations. Page A18. Standoff on Atomic Waste Bowing to a threat from Idaho's Governor, a Colorado utility says it will postpone nuclear waste shipments to a Federal storage site. Page A17. Bensonhurst Acquittals In another blow to prosecutors, jurors took only about three hours to find two more defendants not guilty in the killing of Yusuf K. Hawkins. Page B1. Revolving Doors of Justice? A habitual sex offender in Washington State who finishes his prison sentence is likely to face trial for what he might do in the future. Law, page B16.

Three mortar rounds were fired from an abandoned van this morning toward the offices of Prime Minister John Major in 10 Downing Street, and one exploded in the backyard as he presided over his war Cabinet. The Irish Republican Army took responsibility for the attack, in which three people were slightly wounded. "I think we'd better start again somewhere else," a startled Mr. Major told the group as a loud bang cracked but did not shatter the bulletproof windows in the Cabinet room. A rear wall was scorched but there was no structural damage to the building, which is also the Prime Minister's official residence, and none of the country's top military and civilian officials were hurt.

The Economy The common stock dividend is being sliced. With profits shrinking as the recession digs in, the nation's auto, aerospace, appliance and other companies are left with little extra cash to pay to shareholders. Thus another of the corporate excesses of the 1980's is being reversed. [ Page A1. ] Leading retailers reported generally disappointing results for January, creating concern over profits in the final quarter and the year as a whole. Twelve of the 19 largest chains announcing their results had same-store declines or minimal gains. [ D1. ] Former F.D.I.C. regulators told a Congressional hearing that for more than a year their superiors had thwarted their efforts to recover large losses from the billionaire owner of a Phoenix savings and loan that failed. [ D2. ] "An invitation to regulatory civil war." That is what William Seidman calls the Administration's radical plan to change the way banks are run. As head of the F.D.I.C., Seidman stands to lose some of his extensive power under the new bank plan. [ D2. ] Consumer credit fell at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in December, the steepest decline in nearly four years, the Fed said. [ D3. ] New York City bonds are likely to be issued without insurance backing for the first time in years. [ B3. ] Companies Chrysler surprised Wall Street by posting a $31 million profit in the fourth quarter in the face of plunging car and truck sales. But its profit was too narrow to quiet growing concerns that the No. 3 auto maker may soon face severe financial difficulties. [ D1. ] Avon said it would increase its dividend 40 percent and pay a special dividend of $3 a share, or more than a year's profits. Analysts said the surprise move could help it win a coming proxy fight with Chartwell Associates. [ D1. ] MIPS Computer Systems has emerged as one of two leaders in the race to sell computers based on the RISC chip design. [ D1. ] Sony is reportedy talking to Orion Pictures about buying that financially troubled film and TV company. Sony is said to be acting through Castle Rock Entertainment, a small film production company one-third owned by Columbia Pictures. [ D1. ] Mesa Limited Partnership agreed to sell 11 percent of its natural gas reserves for $275 million in cash. [ D3. ] A team trying to arrange an employee stake in The Daily News met to lay out its strategy. [ B4. ] Markets Prices in the credit markets gave ground for the first time in days, as market participants apparently took profits after a successful auction of $11 billion in new 30-year Treasury bonds. [ D1. ] Stocks fell for the first time in almost a week, but trading remained exceptionally heavy. The Dow lost 20.30, to 2,810.64, as many investors switched into lower-priced stocks. [ D6. ] The dollar edged higher in domestic trading for the first time in more than a week after two central banks intervened to shore up the currency. [ D13. ] Oil prices fell after a rally driven by the price of heating oil faded on forecasts of warmer weather in Europe. [ D13. ] Today's Columns The battle has begun over the Administration's proposals for the most drastic overhaul of the nation's banking system since the Depression. Leonard Silk: Economic Scene. [ D2. ] Volvo awarded its $40 million account to Messner Vetere Berger Carey Schmetterer. The account review had been closely watched in the industry recently. Kim Foltz: Advertising. [ D5. ] Just what is a securities exchange? More than 50 years after Congress adopted the Securities Exchange Act, putting the regulatory framework in place for the modern marketplace, a debate is raging on that question. Market Place. [ D6. ]

For the majority of Soviet citizens, the shift in official winds has been most evident not in the Baltic republics, nor even in the stern decrees of recent weeks, but on the 87 million television screens spread to the far corners of the Soviet Union. Over the nearly five years that glasnost reigned, the mammoth Government-owned radio and television network became probably the most far-reaching harbinger of the new openness, riveting viewers with once-forbidden treasures of sights and sounds -- dissidents, banned writers, priests, political debate, uncensored art and honest news.

Prices in the credit markets gave ground for the first time in days yesterday, as market participants apparently took profits after a successful auction of $11 billion in new 30-year Treasury bonds. Bids at the bond sale, the last leg of the Treasury's $34.5 billion quarterly refunding auctions, produced an average yield on the securities of 7.98 percent, down substantially from the 8.71 percent average yield at the last bond sale in November. It is the lowest yield on a new 30-year Treasury bond since the auction in November 1989.

The Pentagon wants to use Syrian airspace in the war against Iraq, but the White House has declined to press Syria, officials said. Page A9.

Douglas Gordon is an Eagle Scout who didn't know he was missing. Neither did Gordon Andrew. And Peter Ruhlin still doesn't know it. They have been living normally all these years, suspecting nothing. But now authorities from their childhood have tracked down these men and hope that they, along with about 9,997 other missing Eagle Scouts in the area, will help solve an acute crisis in the New York region for the Boy Scouts of America.

Another of the corporate excesses of the 1980's is being reversed in executive suites across the country. The common stock dividend, the venerable piece of the capitalist system's pie that grew robustly at many companies in the last decade, is being sliced. Profits are shrinking as the recession digs in, leaving the nation's auto, aerospace, appliance and other companies with little extra cash to pay to shareholders.