September 20, 1994

President Clinton and his three high-level envoys declared success today in their last-gasp bargaining to avert an invasion of Haiti. Mr. Clinton pledged that a peaceful American occupation now under way will "make sure that the leaders keep their word" to restore that country's first freely elected President. [ Excerpts from the news conference by Mr. Clinton and his envoys, page A14. ]

This year is shaping up as the worst ever for bond market investors -- and yet there are signs that speculation in bonds is building again as investors who lost money betting on bonds decide to step up and place new bets. It is that speculation -- which shows up as the heavy borrowing of money to buy bonds -- that alarms some bond market analysts and persuades them that bond prices might have farther to fall.

EVEN supposing that mankind one day stems the population explosion and finds ways to prevent famines, wars, epidemics, the impacts of asteroids and other global catastrophes, Earth will still confront its ultimate doom: a bloated, searing Sun is destined to scorch and melt the planet, wiping it clean of life. But a new and highly detailed projection of the Sun's future behavior suggests that the Earth may escape being swallowed and annihilated by the Sun, as some astrophysicists had predicted. The planet will still be melted and purged of life, but it will probably survive as a blob of matter and later as a frozen cinder.

Helped by favorable exchange rates and a growing domestic economy, New York City drew more tourists this summer than in any of the previous six years. Not only did tourists visit traditional attractions like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building in increasing numbers, but many, particularly those from overseas, ventured to less likely destinations, like Brooklyn and Harlem.

Eliminating another potential obstacle to its merger with R. H. Macy & Company, Federated Department Stores Inc. said yesterday that it had agreed to close six stores in the New York metropolitan region -- including its Abraham & Straus store on Herald Square -- to ease the state Attorney General's concerns that the merger would reduce business competition. Separately, Myron E. Ullman 3d, chairman and chief executive of Macy, surprised the retail industry by announcing he would resign from the merged company at the end of January. "I felt it was important to make my intentions clear sooner rather than later so no one misunderstood my role at the company going forward," he said.