December 1, 1994

The Achille Lauro, remembered as the cruise-liner hijacked in 1985 by Palestinian terrorists who killed a Jewish passenger from New York and pushed him overboard in his wheelchair, ended its ill-starred nautical history in flames off the coast of Somalia.

Consumer confidence is reported to be sharply higher. That sounds good, but if history is any guide, the latest readings from the Conference Board survey may be a bad omen for both stocks and President Clinton. That is because consumers' views of the future are significantly less optimistic than their views of the present. And in the past, such a divergence has been a negative indicator for the stock market. Had someone bought and sold the stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average based on an indicator derived from the consumer confidence data since 1969, the portfolio would now be up 515 percent. By contrast, a buy-and-hold investor would have gained 313 percent. And with this week's results, the indicator has issued its first sell signal since June 1987.

Suddenly thrust into the limelight as a vigorous critic of European and British policy on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Senator Bob Dole met today with Prime Minister John Major and other officials and promptly laid down a message they did not want to hear: He called once again for powerful air strikes against Bosnian Serb positions and a lifting of the arms embargo for the Muslim-dominated Government. Both stands are directly contrary to British views, United Nations policy and the latest Clinton Administration thinking.

Paul B. Kazarian, a longtime suitor for Borden Inc., challenged the bid of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts for the company yesterday with an offer that was long on creativity but short on details. Mr. Kazarian submitted a plan to Borden's board in which he would make a $430 million investment to acquire a minority interest in the company, a troubled consumer-products giant.

The New York City Schools Chancellor yesterday took over the management of a Brooklyn school district, and the education of its 28,000 schoolchildren, because its local leadership was paralyzed by political infighting and mismanagement. The board of the district, No. 17, ceded control to Chancellor Ramon C. Cortines without a fight, the first time this has happened since the system was decentralized 25 years ago. Several of the nine board members said they welcomed the Chancellor's action.