February 3, 2000

Federal Reserve Chmn Alan Greenspan raises interest rates by quarter of percentage point and signals that further rate increases will probably be needed to keep strong economy from generating inflation; move, fourth rate increase since June, is in line with what most economists and investors expected; financial markets take announcement in stride; central bank, in increasing its benchmark Federal funds target rate on overnight loans among banks by quarter-point to 5.75 percent, pushes rates above where they had been in mid-1998; also raises its discount rate on loans to banks from Federal Reserve system by quarter-point, to 5.25 percent; graph; Greenspan photo (M)

Theft of an important Cezanne painting from Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is example of made-to-order art theft, a crime that has plagued art world over the years and that is deeply connected with unsavory underworld of drug smuggling and money laundering; intruder left behind room full of Renoirs, Rodins and Toulouse-Lautrecs; photos (M)

Six weeks ago the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that gay couples deserve the same rights and benefits as heterosexual spouses and must be granted them. But Vermont remains a state divided, even polarized, as it takes its new position at the center of the country's long-running debate over gay marriage. Article, Page A16.

New Jersey Devils defeat New York Rangers, 3-1; photo (M)

Amazon.com says it lost $323 million in fourth quarter of 1999, more than expected and 543 percent more than it lost in quarter a year earlier; sales in quarter increased 167 percent, to $676 million; Amazon says it cost $19 in marketing to acquire each of its 3.8 million new customers in quarter, far less than other online businesses; says its 14 million active customers spent average of $116 for the year, up from $106 in 1998 (M)