December 11, 1999

First the rent on Desmond Parkin's optometry business on 125th Street in Harlem went ''through the roof.'' Then a Sterling Optical store moved in across the street. Dr. Parkin, 36, had thought he would retire in Harlem. Instead, unable to compete, he decamped for Brooklyn, abandoning his old space to a Starbucks coffee shop. In the fate of Dr. Parkin, who is black, would seem to be inscribed all of Harlem's worst fears about the remarkable economic development along 125th Street: that small black businesses will be crushed by an avalanche of outside (read white) capital trolling for profit, and by landlords looking to capitalize on it.

Nasdaq Composite Index Reaches Yet Another High Technology stocks rallied to send the Nasdaq composite index to another high, its fifth since Thanksgiving. The index rose 26.06 points, or 0.73 percent, to 3,620.23. The Dow Jones industrial average, increased 89.91 points, or 0.81 percent, to 11,224.70, and the Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks, climbed 8.93 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,417.04. Shares of FreeMarkets, an online auctioneer for industrial products, jumped 483 percent from its initial price of $48, to $280, on its first day of trading. This was just a day after the price of VA Linux Systems had an eightfold increase, setting the record for the first day of trading of an initial public offering. [Page C3.]

Wal-Mart Stores and America Online are negotiating a far-reaching alliance to market each others' products and services; Wal-Mart needs partner that can send a steady stream of traffic to bolster what has been a disappointing trial on the Web, and America Online sees in Wal-Mart access to a large pool of potential users for its Web services and a big stream of revenue if the retailer grows to dominate the Web as it dominates conventional retailing (M)

Russian spies or accomplices installed an eavesdropping device in a State Department conference room by removing a piece of molding and replacing it with a nearly identical piece with the electronic bug embedded inside, investigators said. Article, Page A8.

Pres Franjo Tudjman, onetime Communist general who led Croatia in 1991 into secession from Yugoslavia, and from there to independence and war, dies at age 77; no cause of death is given, but there have been reports that cancer for which he was treated in 1996 spread to his brain; Vlatko Pavletic, parliamentary speaker, assumed presidential power on Nov 26; photos (L)