BIZWATCH : MARKETS.

MARKET LOGIC: The Dow Jones industrial average passed 6,800 for the first time Friday. The Dow rose 67.73 to 6,833.10 for its fourth record-high close this week and eighth in two weeks. The blue-chip barometer rose 129.31 points on the week, bringing the new year's gain to nearly 385 points, or 6 percent.

MEMO

OFFER REJECTED: United Airlines' main unions have rejected new wage offers, ending a brief era of labor peace and possibly jeopardizing an innovative employee ownership plan. In exchange for 55 percent ownership of UAL Corp., United's parent company, United pilots and mechanics surrendered up to 25 percent of their earnings in wages and benefits and got representation on the board. The airline has flourished under a period of labor cooperation and economic growth. The unions say their hard work is responsible for much of that success and that they should be rewarded. Management says boosting salaries too much would jeopardize the airline's financial health.

SILENT SATELLITE:Loral Space & Communications Ltd. will likely pay less for AT&T Skynet Satellite Services now that one of its two main satellites has been declared permanently out of service. AT&T announced Friday that it has failed to re-establish contact with the Telstar 401 broadcast satellite, which went silent last Saturday, and has given up hope of doing so. The 401 was included in Loral's agreement last year to buy Skynet for $712.5 million.

PILL RECALLED: Bristol-Myers Squibb recalled 150,000 packages of the birth control pill Ovcon 35 because of a packaging mix-up that the government says could put certain women at significant risk of pregnancy. Bristol-Myers tried to play down Friday's recall, calling it unlikely that a woman would get pregnant as a result of the mix-up. But the pills' own labeling advises women to use a back-up contraceptive to be safe - and the Food and Drug Administration concluded women who don't notice the mix-up would be left without adequate protection.

INTERNET SERVICE: Joining the ranks of low-cost local on-line service providers, PerfectData Corp. of Simi Valley announced on Friday a joint venture with Starnet Universe Internet Inc. PerfectData will offer users in Los Angeles an $8.30-per-month, unlimited-use service. This will give subscribers unlimited access to the Internet, as well as TCP/IP access to on-line services such as AOL and Prodigy for an additional fee.

TESTING PROGRAM: Netcom Systems' SmartBits testing program won a Hot Products of the Year award from Data Communications magazine. The Chatsworth-based company's system helps software developers identify design weaknesses early in the production cycle. This can help staff reduce the risk of system failure and decrease the lag time between fixing the problem and getting the product to market.

MUTUAL FUNDS: Fidelity Investments and Salomon Brothers Inc. announced a unique alliance Friday that will give the giant mutual fund company better access to stock offerings and sophisticated research and the Wall Street firm an instant retail brokerage network. Under this arrangement, Fidelity, the largest mutual fund company and a big provider of discount brokerage and other financial services, will distribute through its retail network stock offerings lead-managed by Salomon in return for guaranteed access to Salomon's equity offerings and research.

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2 Charts

Chart: (1) DOW INDUSTRIALS

(2) Working Globally

Major industries for the more than 12,500 U.S. affiliates of foreign companies, 1994

Knight-Ridder Tribune Grpahics Network