May 29, 1991

Describing its results as "unsatisfactory" and vowing to take steps to bolster sales, R. H. Macy & Company yesterday reported a loss of $100.9 million for the quarter ended May 4. It was the largest quarterly loss for the company in nearly three years. In the corresponding quarter of last year, Macy's loss was $63.1 million.

Pressing to avoid a showdown over Gov. Mario M. Cuomo's threatened vetoes, legislative leaders today presented a $51.9 billion budget plan to the Governor that includes about $1.2 billion in new taxes and fees and a program to curb the escalating costs of Medicaid. The leaders urged Mr. Cuomo to accept the plan or negotiate with them over it, but their aides said that if he refused, they would begin passing the budget in the Legislature anyway and dare him to veto the parts he does not like.

COMPANIES I.B.M.'s chairman read his managers the riot act earlier this month, saying the company had "too many people standing around the water cooler waiting to be told what to do," according to notes of his remarks. [ Page D1. ] L.A. Gear agreed to sell a 30 percent stake for $100 million to an investment firm headed by Roy E. Disney. L.A. Gear's shares rose more than 10 percent. [ D1. ]

YOU'RE standing in the back of a crowded elevator. The elevator stops at your floor and you say "Excuse me," but the people toward the front of the car don't budge. Do you shriek "getting off" and elbow your way to the front or meekly ride to the next floor? A co-worker has the phone to his ear and his eyes on the computer screen. Should you hover over the desk and thumb through the morning paper or just plunge right into conversation?

The Supreme Court gave an expansive interpretation of antitrust law in a ruling in favor of a doctor. Page D2. The Justices upheld a prosecutor's right to exclude people fluent in Spanish form a jury. Page A20.