April 16, 1992

A Long Island car dealer borrowed $1.75 billion from General Motors last year to finance tens of thousands of cars that did not exist, Federal prosecutors said yesterday. They charged the dealer with fraud in what one prosecutor called "the mother of all kiting schemes." In a civil suit two weeks ago, the General Motors Acceptance Corporation accused the dealer, John McNamara, of defrauding the company of more than $400 million. But the staggering scope of the accusations became clearer yesterday when Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged Mr. McNamara with mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Companies American Airlines said the lower fares it introduced last week generated a 46 percent increase in bookings. It also announced first-quarter earnings of $20 million. [ Page D1. ] Apple's legal setback in its copyright suit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard could provide a freer environment for developing new software. [ D1. ]

Stocks rallied again yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average reaching a closing high for the second consecutive day, on a second day of upbeat earnings reports. The Dow jumped 47.63 points, or 1.4 percent, to 3,353.76. After a sharp rise at the opening, the Dow climbed gradually through morning trading, steadied itself in the early afternoon, and then shot upward in the final 30 minutes of trading. It closed near the day's high. On Tuesday, the Dow closed above 3,300 for the first time.

Job losses in New York State over the last three years were worse than they have been for half a century, since records began being kept in 1939, a leading economist said yesterday. But he also reported signs that the pain may be easing. The report by Samuel M. Ehrenhalt, Regional Commissioner for the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, is just another sign of just how concentrated the national recession has been in this region. Over the last two years, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have suffered the second-worst declines in nonagricultural employment of any states in the nation. The worst declines were recorded in the region encompassing Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Cyrus R. Vance, the United Nations Special envoy, called on Serbian leaders in Belgrade today to suspend military actions in this ethnically torn republic. Serbian forces pounded areas occupied by Muslim Slavs and Croats with artillery fire. "Those who think you can remove the problem by violence, by more killing, are dead wrong," Mr. Vance said tonight after meetings in Belgrade with Serbia's President, Slobodan Milosevic, and Yugoslvia's Acting Defense Minister, Gen. Blagoje Adziz.