July 2, 1995

MARY ANN RAGONA had to work late the other day. Rather than have her gasoline tank run dry late at night, she pulled into a service station in Huntington on her way to work. But when she saw the price on the pump for premium, she asked the attendant to put in only a few gallons. "I paid $1.75 a gallon," she said. "When you're desperate . . . "

THE English have long had a passion for temples, for ruins, for garden follies; starting in the early 18th century, they began dotting them around the landscape like daffodils in the spring. Americans, being more practical, generally eschewed such fantastical and useless architectural objects. Outbuildings were tool sheds, four-square and double-doored; garages were wooden boxes where the family automobile was stored.

This bull market may not be the best ever, but it is one of the most painless. The exciting news for American stock owners is that in the first half of 1995 share prices advanced across the board, with the Standard & Poor's composite up 18.6 percent, not including dividends. But the most remarkable aspect of that is the smooth way in which it happened.

HERE in Europe, it is often said that market trends are like the prevailing weather patterns: they blow from west to east. What is hot in America, the reasoning goes, eventually blows out over the Atlantic and arrives on the Continent some months later. Now, with near unanimity, investment advisers are forecasting warm and sunny weather ahead for European stocks.

With its term that ended last week, the Supreme Court embarked on a bold new era of conservative activism. An ascendant bloc of three conservative Justices spurred the Court to challenge long-held assumptions about Federal power. The Court itself has turned topsy turvy. Activism, once derided by conservatives, is now their domain. Liberals urge judicial restraint. The center has evaporated.