June 9, 1995

With blue-chip stocks up 16 percent since January, many Americans are a lot richer today than they were on New Year's Day. This year's bull market, the strongest surge since late 1990, has been powered by lower interest rates and rising corporate profits. It has already added more than twice as much to the wealth of America's households as all the money families painstakingly salted away in savings last year. So now that signs of an economic slowdown are multiplying, the Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, is acknowledging the possibility of a brief downturn this summer, and anxiety is starting to well up, shouldn't all that freshly minted wealth help make the economy safe from recession? Maybe, but don't count on it. When it comes to the fortune of someone like William H. Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, or the outlook for specific companies, the stock market is a powerful force. But when it comes to determining the course of the overall economy, it is still just a bit player.

The people who know Scott F. O'Grady are overjoyed that he survived for six days on bugs, grass and rainwater in hostile territory. But no one is surprised. Little more than a decade ago, he was a wide receiver and kicker on Lewis and Clark High School's football team in Spokane, Wash. "He was one of the smaller guys on the team, and not one of the standouts," an assistant coach, Patrick Pfeifer, recalled yesterday. "I often wondered how he stayed on the team."

Cuts Loom in New York City New York City will receive far less in state assistance than expected, leaving an enormous task for Mayor Giuliani and the City Council as they struggle with the budget. Page B1. Echoes on Wall Street As corporate takeovers rise, insider-trading inquiries are at a pace not seen since the mid-1980's. Page D1. Democrats' Welfare Plan Senate Democrats unveiled a plan to revise welfare, retaining guaranteed payments to poor families but limiting them to five years. A21. New Microsoft Inquiry Seen The Justice Department is reported to be scrutinizing Microsoft's plans to enter the commercial on-line business. Page D1 Plea in Montclair Shooting The man arrested in a shooting rampage at post office in Montclair, N.J., has pleaded guilty. Page B1.

The janitor arrested in the shooting rampage at a post office in Montclair, N.J., admitted his guilt today, reversing an earlier plea. But his terse confession in court did little to explain the mystery of his actions: Why would a man with no criminal record, who came from a religious family and aspired to be a police officer, kill four helpless people and seriously wound another, all for a few thousand dollars? That question seemed to hang over the proceedings today in United States District Court here. Before a room filled with relatives of his victims, Christopher Green, 29, acknowledged in almost a whisper that he had committed the murders, which jolted the prosperous suburb of Montclair into a painful reexamination of its sense of security.

A Baltimore man did indeed fall on a wet floor at the Sands Hotel and Casino here. But the bruise on Robert Ginski's knee did not keep him out of work, the authorities said yesterday, alleging that he faked letters from his employer and doctor saying that the injury cost him $3,000 in wages. Mr. Ginski has been charged with forgery and attempted theft by deception.