February 14, 1997

Ralph Blumenthal article suggests some places to go and things to do for romantic day in New York City; photos (M)

As Dow Crosses 7,000, Investors Don't Look Back The next 1,000-point mark used to be a milestone for the Dow industrials. Now it is more like the finish line of a 100-yard dash. Only 82 trading days after the index reached 6,000 points, it crossed 7,000, closing at 7,022.44, up 60.81 for the day. Investors have been encouraged by an economic outlook of rising corporate profit and low inflation, oblivious perhaps to worries among some Washington policy makers and Wall Street analysts that share prices may be too costly. $(Page A1.$) Even optimists on Wall Street have been left in the dust as the bull charges ahead. $(D6.$) Bond investors shrugged off a mediocre Treasury auction and went on a buying spree. The yield on the benchmark 30-year bond tumbled to 6.62 percent from 6.71. $(D15.$) Retail Sales Increase Retail sales rose modestly in January, though less than expected, after a holiday season that was much weaker than retailers had hoped. But initial claims for unemployment benefits tumbled last week, a sign of surprising strength in the labor market. $(D6.$) S.E.C. Sues 2 in Towers Scheme The S.E.C. filed suit against two former executives of Qualis Care, accusing them of looting Towers Financial, the bankrupt company whose creditors they were supposed to help. $(D4.$) Staples Deal May Face Challenge The F.T.C. is considering a challenge to the planned $3.4 billion acquisition of Office Depot by Staples unless the companies can persuade antitrust officials that the merger will not cause consumer prices to rise, a person familiar with the discussions said. $(D4.$) Heinz and Campbell Settle Dispute H. J. Heinz and Campbell Soup settled a legal dispute over Heinz's attempt to hire a Campbell executive. The executive, Daniel O'Neill, has agreed not to take up any duties at Heinz until Sept. 15. $(D2.$) Accounting Problem At Penguin USA Pearson, the British media company, said that it might take a $163 million charge against last year's earnings after discovering accounting irregularities at its Penguin USA book publishing unit. Pearson attributed the problems to unauthorized discounts, which began in 1991 under a previous management, that were given to some retailers in return for early payments. $(D2.$) Korean Officials Are Arrested A South Korean Cabinet minister and two lawmakers were arrested and accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from the founder of Hanbo Steel, which collapsed under $6 billion in debt. $(A8.$) Loss at Philips Electronics Philips Electronics reported an unexpected net loss for the fourth quarter, reflecting charges taken as part of a sweeping overhaul, as well as slower sales growth. $(D18.$) Nokia Earnings Up 76% Nokia of Finland, one of the world's largest makers of mobile telephones, said that its pretax profit jumped 76 percent in the fourth quarter and that it expected strong growth this year. $(D18.$) Standards for Child Safety Seats The Government will soon issue long-awaited regulations to standardize the installation of child safety seats in cars. Auto industry officials indicated that regulators had settled on a system designed by General Motors that would add about $20 to the cost of a car seat and $10 to $20 to a vehicle's cost. $(A16.$)

Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani says that he wants to prohibit all lobbying of New York City agencies, asserting that his administration is so accessible and fair there is no need for anyone to hire lobbyists; but he concedes that he does not know how such a ban would work and that concept raises spotty questions about free speech; makes his proposal after Democrats criticize him over his relationship with two prominent unpaid advisers, Raymond B Harding and Herman Badillo (M)

Clyde Haberman comments on New York City Transit Authority's experiment on subway courtesy at Grand Central; scores Transit Authority for imposing service cutbacks, even as fares were raised; complains that city straphangers are subsidizing city transit, paying 88% of fare, while cities such as Boston, with 85 cent fare, get heavy govt subsidies (M)

Imperial Ball, part of St Petersburg: A Cultural Celebration, is held at Winter Garden World Financial Center in lower Manhattan; boat in which Peter the Great learned to sail is spotlighted at ball; celebration has drawn steady stream of nostalgic Russians, and others, to lower Manhattan; Peter made boat a symbol of his push to make Russia a nautical nation, with his newly created port of city of St Petersburg the centerpiece; photos (M)