BIZWATCH : MARKETS.

MARKET LOGIC: The Dow Jones industrial average made quick work of another milestone Thursday, plowing past 7,000 as the stock market rallied amid more signs the economy isn't growing at an inflationary pace. The Dow experienced a gain of 60.81 on the session and a three-day advance of 215.90 points.

MEMO

TV MANUFACTURE: Thomson Consumer Electronics, the largest maker of television sets in the United States, plans to close its only U.S. assembly plant and shift production to Mexico, eliminating more than 1,500 jobs. Thomson's exit from the U.S. television-making business is just the latest in an industry struggling to cut costs. Like Zenith, Mitsubishi and other electronics companies before it, Thomson cited fierce competition that has driven down prices of color TV sets, weakening profit margins at a time of lower-than-expected sales.

LIFE INSURANCE: American General Corp. moved to solidify its place in the life insurance business, announcing an agreement to buy rival insurer USLife Corp. for $1.8 billion in stock. The deal, announced Thursday, comes as insurance providers are teaming up more frequently in moves that enable them to cut costs and compete more effectively with banks and securities firms making inroads into the insurance business. It marks Houston-based American General's fifth acquisition deal in a little more than two years and would be its biggest purchase to date. Once the deal is completed, American General would have $74 billion in assets and its market value would be more than $10 billion.

EXXON OIL SPILL: Exxon Corp. signaled its intention to appeal the $5.3 billion judgment it faces for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Exxon is asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the standards U.S. District Court Judge H. Russel Holland used in determining the $5 billion in punitive damages.Exxon also said Thursday that it objects to instructions Holland gave the jury during the 1994 trial and to the $6.75 billion letter of credit the judge is requiring Exxon to post. It also is appealing the way Holland calculated some of the compensatory damage awards, which thousands of Alaskans and fishermen are in line to collect.

PUBLISHER'S ACCOUNTING:London-based Pearson PLC uncovered accounting irregularities at its U.S. publishing subsidiary, Penguin, that will lower last year's profits by as much as 100 million pounds, or $165 million, the company said. Penguin's credit department gave unauthorized discounts to customers who paid early - and for six years executives had fudged the figures on the publisher's books by listing the amounts as money still owed to Penguin.

SOUP SETTLEMENT:H.J. Heinz Co. and Campbell Soup Co. settled a legal dispute Thursday over Heinz's attempt to hire a Campbell executive. The giant food-industry competitors had been feuding since last month, when Heinz said that it had hired Daniel O'Neill, who headed Campbell's domestic soup business, to run the Heinz pet-food and tuna businesses. Campbell contended that O'Neill had signed a noncompetition agreement that precluded his working for Heinz for 18 months. According to the terms of Thursday's settlement, O'Neill has agreed not to take up any duties at Heinz until Sept. 15.

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Chart: (1--Color) DOW INDUSTRIALS

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A VANISHING BENEFIT

Percent of employers offering health care insurance to retirees

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