BIZWATCH\MARKETS.

BOUNCING BACK:Gymboree rose -1/4 to 23-3/4. NatWest Securities upgraded the stock to hold from underperform. The Burlingham, Calif. children's clothing retailer and recreation company said fourth-quarter net income was 35 cents a share, up from 33 a share.

MOUSE CAPTURES FOX: Anne Sweeney, who has overseen Rupert Murdoch's startup cable network operations for three years, has been hired as president of The Disney Channel, it was announced Wednesday. The appointment reunites Sweeney with her onetime boss at the Nickelodeon cable channel, Geraldine Laybourne. Laybourne was hired recently by The Walt Disney Co. to head its growing cable operations that now include Capital Cities/ABC networks like Lifetime and A&E. Disney completed a $19 billion acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC Inc. earlier this month.

ROUND TWO: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sought to prod the White House and Congress to resume moribund budget negotiations, warning that failure to reach a deal already was having adverse effects on financial markets. Testifying before Congress for a second day Wednesday, Greenspan also said he believed the chances were higher than 50-50 that the "soft patch" the economy is going through will not result in a recession.

LEBOW RECRUIT: Financier Bennett LeBow recruited a top British tobacco executive and the former head of California's public employee pension fund for his campaign to get RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. to spin off its food business. Dale Hanson, former chief executive of the California Public Employees Retirement System, would be one of LeBow's 10 nominees to the RJR board, which will be up for election at this year's annual meeting.

CORPORATE ACCOUNT

VIACOM UP:Viacom Inc., owner of the MTV cable network, Paramount Pictures and Simon & Schuster books, posted a small profit Wednesday for the fourth quarter and full-year earnings that more than doubled from 1994.

TELEDYNE QUESTIONS BID:Teledyne Inc., defending itself against a $1.67 billion takeover offer by WHX Corp., said Wednesday that WHX had refused to provide information necessary to evaluate the deal. It also said the offer, made public last week, had ruined its attempts to save $10 million a year by refinancing debt. In a letter to shareholders, Teledyne Chairman William P. Rutledge didn't refuse the WHX offer outright and said it would be studied.

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CHART[ordinal indicator, masculine]PHOTO

Chart (1--Color) DOW INDUSTRIALS (2--Color) BIZ FACTS TWO VIEWS ON EASTERN EUROPE Percent change in DGP, 1995 Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics Network Photo No caption (Alan Greenspan)