Markets

At House of Kahn Estate Jewelers in Chicago, Kathleen Markiewicz fingered a ruby-encrusted brooch, shaped like a fish and pinned to the lapel of her shirt. She had paid $4,000 for the piece. "I felt aquatic today," she said, taking a sip of sparkling wine. For Markiewicz, such purchases have become almost a monthly affair, part of efforts to move her investments away from the rise and fall of the markets and onto her fingers, neck and ears. "I'm protecting my money," she said.

Baltimore City's neighborhood municipal markets play an important role in many older neighborhoods. They're more than places to shop for food. Many are focal points -- in the suburbs they'd say "anchors" -- for neighborhood retail centers. They are also the places where neighbors bump into each other and get a chance to chat, a modern version of the village green. As such they are worth preserving, and Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has taken a welcome step in that direction.The markets have languished for many years under inept city management.

Key world financial markets reacted yesterday and today to the attack on Israel:STOCKS: Prior to the attack on Israel, the New York Stock Exchange closed up 114.60 points yesterday to 2,623.51. This afternoon on the Tokyo exchange, which opened about the time of the attack, the Nikkei average was up 248.95 points at 23,695.76.OIL: February crude oil traded in the after-hours spot market was up $2 a barrel, U.S. traders said. Oil futures had fallen $10.56 to $21.44 a barrel in earlier trading.

Surprise, surprise.With Asia and Latin America offering up so many unwanted surprises lately, investing in the more mature markets of Europe doesn't seem quite so adventuresome anymore.European economies have proven more robust than expected as they work their way out of recession.The biggest problem of the past year was investor concern over whether such growth could be sustained and whether inflation would increase.A recent slowing in economic growth eased inflation paranoia a bit.Meanwhile, solid earnings fundamentals of companies in the region are being noticed, which could signal a good 1995 performance from these reasonably priced stocks.

If there is one thing Wall Street can't stand that's worse than bad news, it is good news. Latest Conference Board reports that consumer confidence has surged to a four-year high helped send stock and bond prices tumbling this week to lows 8 percent under their Jan. 31 peak. The reason: Fears of inflation and a consensus that the Federal Reserve Board will keep increasing short-term interest rates to stop it at the pass.That, at least, is one explanation for the market's jittery performance.

At Steve Bongiovani's tidy produce stand, the lettuce is crisp, the cherry tomatoes sweet and the strawberries fresh. His spirits, however, are wilting.A third-generation grocer at Baltimore's Cross Street Market, Mr. Bongiovani cherishes the tradition and independence of his business but fears he could not survive substantial rent increases proposed by the city at a time when, according to the merchants, the daily flow of customers is dwindling.He is one of scores of merchants from the city's six municipal markets who plan to protest a rent restructuring that is expected to be considered by the Board of Estimates this morning.

The professionals who spend their time pondering foreign stock markets say that, on balance, they are optimistic about 1992.But their optimism, bolstered by an end-of-the-year rally, is tempered by the underlying economic outlook, especially uncertainty about a global recovery.This makes 1992 harder to call than 1991, despite the threat of the war at the beginning of last year.Some analysts predict returns on equities this year of 20 percent to 25 percent worldwide, better than the returns of 1991, which were up 16.53 percent in dollar terms after sharp declines in 1990.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan virtually declared victory over both inflation and the risk of recession yesterday and said "the economic outlook is, on balance, encouraging" for a period of modest growth with prices well under control through 1996.Financial markets, which had plunged Monday on warnings about prospects for technology stocks, nose-dived harder yet after microprocessor leader Intel Corp. reported disappointing earnings. Then Mr. Greenspan's upbeat morning report to Congress broadened the rout to other stocks and to bonds, though an afternoon rally trimmed some of the worst losses.

World stock markets begin 1991 facing the threat of a war in the Persian Gulf, recessions or economic slowdowns around the world, and dismal earnings the same factors that drove stock markets down sharply in 1990. Yet many market watchers expect a better year than the one ending today.In 1990, these pressures resulted in a worse year for stocks than even 1987, when stock markets crashed in October.The Financial Times World index for 24 markets, excluding the United States, dropped 30.8 percent in local currency in 1990, compared with a 1.7 percent dip by the end of 1987.

In an attempt to breathe new life into Baltimore's languishing neighborhood markets, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke moved yesterday to dismantle a 200-year-old city bureaucracy that he acknowledged had become more costly and inefficient under his stewardship.By the end of the month, Mr. Schmoke said, he will turn over five of the six historic markets to a private nonprofit corporation to manage. His goal is to phase out the city's subsidy -- which grew to nearly $1 million under the last administrator -- in the next five years.