February 4, 1996

It was during a period of speculative frenzy that the Dow Jones industrial average hit a record of 2,722.42 on a summer day in 1987. Within a few months, after share prices crashed, money managers could be heard muttering they would never again let valuations grow so excessive. Now, eight and a half years later, the Dow is on the verge of doubling that figure, having topped 5,400 on Thursday. Investors who held on after the crash have long since felt vindicated. Those who bought after the crash are even happier. The Dow is more than three times as high as it was then.

SAN SALVADOR - Correction: February 25, 1996, Sunday

Despite concerns about Washington's already tense relationship with Beijing, the Clinton Administration has warned China that it risks the imposition of stiff economic sanctions in the next few months because Beijing has ignored previous warnings and continues to violate a key trade agreement signed a year ago. The warning, made after a series of White House meetings in recent days to reassess the Administration's China policy, comes despite considerable concern from some officials that prompting a confrontation over China's piracy of American software, music and videos could harm Washington's effort to defuse growing tensions between China and Taiwan.

POP MUSIC Correction: February 4, 1996, Sunday An article on page 28 of the Arts and Leisure section today about music shows on radio in New York City misidentifies the station on which "The New Afternoon Show" is broadcast. It is WNYU, not WNYC.

Along one wall of his indoor swimming pool, John Eleuthere du Pont had mounted a mosaic as Olympic-sized as the pool itself. Made of a million pieces and imported from Florence, the mosaic depicts Mr. du Pont in the various disciplines of the modern pentathlon -- running, swimming, horseback riding, shooting and fencing. The mosaic is an idealized version of an athlete as a champion in the world of amateur sports, a figure of glory and admiration. In reality, Mr. du Pont the athlete was, according to pentathlon officials, a "competent dilettante" who failed to qualify for the 1968 Olympic team.