October 11, 1994

Top Federal Reserve officials say the American economy is growing briskly, making further increases in short-term interest rates almost inevitable in the coming months to try to prevent the economy from overheating and feeding inflation. But while many bond market analysts worry that the next increase will come this week, there seems to be a growing possibility that the Fed will not raise rates again until the next meeting of its top policy committee on Nov. 15.

The ruble is crashing amid mounting fears of renewed inflation, and the fledgling stock market is still smarting from its first big downturn. Bankers and entrepreneurs are being gunned down in the streets. There is little financial regulation and considerable fraud. But for American and other foreign investors, those unpleasant realities are becoming far less important than their growing sense that Russia presents a business opportunity so big that they can no longer afford to hold back.

As part of a wider antitrust investigation of auto pricing, the Justice Department is looking into the increasingly popular practice of no-haggle selling by car dealers, according to dealers and others who have been questioned in the inquiry. It is not clear what wrongdoing the Government suspects. Besides possible price-fixing arrangements between manufacturers and dealers, the investigators might be looking at possible price-fixing efforts among the dealers themselves or the manufacturers themselves.

International For foreign investors, Russia is too big a business opportunity to avoid, despite the crashing ruble and rising crime. In recent months, American and foreign investment funds and companies have been pouring in money, taking stakes in promising Russian enterprises. They are betting that the nation's industrial core remains badly undervalued and that in the long run big parts of it will prove to be vibrant and profitable. [ Page A1. ]

NEW YORK CITY EIGHT YOUTHS WOUNDED AT RAP CLUB The altercation in a Manhattan rap club began with a shoving match, escalated into a spray of gunfire and ended with a stampede of 300 youngsters down East 29th Street. Eight youths -- including at least one New York University student and one 15-year-old -- were left wounded on the dance floor at the Melting Pot. B3.