March 21, 1991

Reflecting higher confidence among investors, the banking industry has already raised more capital in stock offerings this year than it did during all of 1990. The rush to market -- through a flurry of offerings of common and preferred stock, most of them this month -- is a sign not only of improved demand for bank stocks but also of a recognition by bankers that they must have more capital if they are to expand into new businesses or acquire other banks.

Five New York City police officers were arraigned on murder charges yesterday in the death of a car-theft suspect who the Queens District Attorney said was punched, kicked and choked as he was being arrested. The Medical Examiner's office ruled that the suspect, Federico Pereira, died of asphyxiation. The District Attorney, John J. Santucci, said yesterday that one officer had choked the 21-year-old man in Queens on Feb. 5 as he lay face down with his hands cuffed behind his back, but that all the officers had acted in concert to cause Mr. Pereira's death. "Each played a part, varying in degrees," Mr. Santucci said.

From a technology standpoint I.B.M.'s house is largely in order, most analysts agree. But the company is clearly worried that it is moving too slowly to transform itself into a pared-down company that can compete in the new world of the 1990's, those analysts say. The International Business Machines Corporation announced on Tuesday that it expected sharply lower revenues for the year than most analysts had anticipated. And that sent its stock tumbling, down $12.75 on Tuesday and another $1 yesterday, to $114.125.

The Mayor of this Fairfield County corporate center is proposing to lay off 174 city workers and raise property taxes 10 percent in a budget that reflects the impact of reduced state and Federal aid as well as a slowdown in Stamford's once-booming economy. In his $264.3 million budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1, Mayor Thom Serrani on Tuesday proposed eliminating 44 vacant positions and laying off 174 of the city's 1,449 employees outside the school system. Eighty-four layoffs would come from eliminating the trash-collection division of the Department of Public Works, replacing it with private trash collectors.

The nation's trade deficit grew moderately to $7 billion in January as imports rebounded, the Commerce Department reported today. But the import growth was substantially offset by stronger exports. Economists generally welcomed the rise in exports, which they hope will continue and eventually help pull the economy out of recession later this year. They cautioned, however, that the trade figures for January were unusually difficult to interpret because of the weak dollar, turn-of-the-year distortions and irregular shipments because of congestion in ports as a result of the Persian Gulf war. The trade gap was $6.3 billion in December.