February 19, 1991

Investors' headlong rush toward the safest type of money market funds seems to have slowed, perhaps reflecting lower interest rates and reduced fears about the fragility of America's financial system. Since the beginning of 1991, investors have added money to ordinary money market funds at about the same pace as they have added cash to the super-safe funds that invest only in Federal Government securities.

COMPANIES Drexel's bankruptcy case moved a giant step closer to a settlement as the main parties agreed in principle on the division of what is left of the firm. The agreement could even make it possible for Drexel to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy. One of the two judges involved said the case could be wound up in a couple of months instead of dragging on for years. [ Page D1. ] Wendy's said its earnings rose 35 percent in the fourth quarter. The company also promoted its chief executive to chairman. [ D8. ] THE ECONOMY A White House task force has recommended biotechnology regulations that simplify the approval of genetically engineered crops, pesticides and animals. The panel urges regulators to evaluate products made through gene splicing just as they would treat products made through traditional methods. [ D1. ] Banking lobbyists are out in force, seeking legislative help for their ailing industry and trying to escape the taint of the savings and loan scandal. And despite heated controversy over savings and loan contributions, the political action committees representing financial interests are continuing to inundate members of the banking committees with political contributions. [ D1. ] Business travelers are on the move again, raising airlines' hopes that things will get better soon. [ D1. ] Upward of $5 billion a year is spent in the workaday, often overlooked world of municipal contracting in New York City. Every important analysis of the system has said that millions of dollars are being wasted. [ A1. ] Texas is about to become the first state to ban temporarily the development of new commercial hazardous-waste sites and stop the expansion of existing ones. [ A12. ] INTERNATIONAL Soviet consumers were told to prepare for sweeping price increases of no less than 60 percent under the Kremlin's latest plan to revive the critically troubled economy. [ A1. ] Aleksandr Samsonov has made his factory a showcase by Soviet standards, but Watch Factory No. 1 also claims achievements that would embarrass Western watchmakers. [ D1. ] Colombian economists and executives say the cocaine trade is actually retarding that nation's economic growth, because the huge profits are repatriated as contraband goods. [ D2. ] MARKETS Talks in Moscow on the Persian Gulf war lifted stock prices and the United States dollar on overseas markets. U.S. markets were closed for the Washington's Birthday holiday. [ D8. ] TODAY'S COLUMNS Investors' headlong rush toward the safest type of money market funds seems to have slowed, perhaps reflecting lower interest rates and reduced fears about the fragility of America's financial system. Floyd Norris: Market Place. [ D1. ] Eleven large companies and their insurers have decided to test a system in which employees and their doctors are asked about the specific consequences of a treatment. Business and Health. [ D2. ] Some credit market analysts think the Fed will delay further cuts in short-term interest rates because of indications that an end to the Middle East war may be in sight. Credit Markets. [ D9. ] Higher postal rates appear likely to cut down on the "junk mail" that consumers receive. Kim Foltz: Advertising. [ D11. ]

When New York City needed burglar alarms for its soup kitchens and its centers for the elderly, only one company bid on most of the contracts. The lack of competition almost certainly forced the city to pay more than the going rate. When the city needed someone to paint small bridges in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx, there was so little response that the city ended up hiring a company with a questionable record: On its last city job, the city charged, the company added thinner to the paint and spilled some in the river. City law-enforcement officials say the company is being investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney's office, which says it has evidence of a Mafia-led conspiracy to rig bids on all local government painting contracts. Cries of Protest When the Parking Violations Bureau needed a computer system to process tickets, it hired a Virginia company to help develop specifications and answer questions from bidders. Half a dozen companies bid. The winner, to the others' cries of conflict of interest, was the city's consultant.

Business travelers are on the move again, raising airlines' hopes that things will get better soon. Many travelers had avoided overseas trips since the Persian Gulf war began last month, but now, though fears of terrorism may persist, some are putting off travel no longer.

The instructor looked out on his eager students, but not quite at them. They sat there looking back, but in all different directions. "I'll be giving you the examination in a few moments," the teacher said. "But don't worry. This is a perfect example of the blind leading the blind." Everyone laughed. He was right. All the students -- and the teacher -- were blind. Although the sightless students and their sightless teacher do not regard that as anything special, their class is. It was the first formal presentation in the United States of an unusual curriculum intended to teach the blind how to administer CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation.