Daily News from New York, New York • 899

AHOY AHOY 9 DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL 3,629.04 (Average of 30 stocks) 3 500 DAILYONEWS EXCHANGE 442.32 435.42 (Index of all exchanges) (National Rapid-fire ban on By KAREN HUNTER-HODGE Daily News Business Writer As fast as rounds from an Uzi. assault weapons were selling off the shelves at gun shops throughout Long Island the only place in the metro area where it has been legal to sell these weapons. "We may have a few left." said Angelo Sbrocchi, owner of American Outdoor Sports. "But they are selling fast. We don't normally sell that many during the course of the year.

Maybe five per cent of all our gun sales are military-type weapons. So, this new law won't put us out of business." New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut already ban such weapons. The House version approved Thursday is similar to that of the Senate. but a conference committee must work out the differences before it gets sent to President Clinton. In addition to 19 weapons and copycat models.

each version would ban magazines. or ammunition clips. that hold more than 10 bullets. By yesterday. American Outdoor Sports.

a gun shop in Farmingdale. L.I.. was nearly sold out. Nationwide. people have been purchasing assault weapons at a frenzied pace to beat the new law.

Customers have been waiting to get into gun shops. many have tried to place orders by phone. and ammunition is being bought at a rapiffire pace. according to an Associated Press report. "Sales have gone through the roof.

We've had a run on just about everything that shoots. It's been sort of in- AMERICANO OVER THE COUNTER 8 722.96 Index) (NASDAQ Index) TICKER Looking for new digs Bear Stearns says it needs more room to operate. and is looking to move out of its corporate headquarters at 245 Park Ave. It's lease there expires in 2002. Besides the 700,000 square feet of office space there, the financial company has offices in Brooklyn and Whippany, N.J.

Officials say they are looking for a new site in Manhattan. New Jersey, or Connecticut with about 1 million square feet. Bear Stearns employs about 6,100 I people in New York. with about two-thirds working at the Park Avenue building. JUD Designs on Paramount Architect Philip Johnson, who has designed the and Seagram buildings in Manhattan, has been hired by Donald Trump and the Galbreath Co.

to design the conversion of the Paramount Building, the former Gulf Western Building, into a 50-story luxury condominium tower. Trump said the designs should be completed by Oct. 1 for the $300 million project. The Paramount Building stands near the southwest corner of Central Park. IBM sells tower IBM is selling its office building at 590 Madison Ave.

to a real estate partnership of Odyssey Partners LP and developer Edward Minskoff. The estimated price was $200 million. The new owners will lease back to IBM about a third of the one million square-foot building. 4B deal on line With a boost from the Clinton administration. Corp.

won a $4 billion. seven-vear agreement to build an advanced digital communications network in Saudi Arabia. Terms of the largest international order ever must still be finalized, but through the year 2000 it could add annual sales of about $600 million to which had revenue last year of $65 billion. Last month. President Clinton sent a letter to Saudi King Fahd that urged be chosen.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher mentioned it in a visit. On second thought Cablevision Systems Corp. said it's re-examining plans to spin-off its programing operations to shareholders because of new FCC rules that resulted in lower cable rates for many subscribers. It reported a loss of $2.46 per share. or $57.1 million.

for the first '94 quarter. vs. a loss of $55.7. or $2.46. in '93.

T. time The Treasury Department sold $12.1 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 4.32%. the highest since they sold for 4.39% on Dec. 2. 1991.

Another $12 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 4.81%. the highest since they averaged 5.04% on Oct. 28. 1991. Gold silver Gold fell $2.20 on the New York Commodity Exchange.

closing at $381.20 a troy ounce. Silver lost 2.6 cents. to close at $5.409. since weapons IS HOT ITEMS OFF GUN RACK UZI Cost: $900 $1,800 Made in Israel M-10 Made in the USA Cost: $350 $1,050 Colt AR-15 Made in USA Cost: $800 $2,200 Beretta AR-70 Made in Italy Cost: $2,000 DAILY NEWS credible." said Mike Saporito. senior vice president at RSR Wholesale Guns of Orlando.

which supplies thousands of retail shops. "They cleaned out warehouse after warehouse after warehouse." Customers say they want the guns for target shooting or as items. Sbrocchi said some local dealers are charging two and even three-times the price for weapons like the For example, an AK-47 that sold for about $200 last week has increased 50 percent. And Colt-made AR-15s and Sporter rifles the civilian version of the military's M-16 infantry weapon have doubled from about $900, and in some places. shops were asking $2,200.

according to Bob Lesmeister of the National Association of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers. Some New York City stores. where the ban on assault weapons has been in place since 1991. have increased its sales of handguns like the powerful 9- mm. and the 38-revolvers.

which retail from between $400 to $2.000. Others, however. have seen a lull in overall sales. "People are afraid to buy any gun that even looks like the assault weapon." said Tony Jovino. owner of Jovino Gun Shop in lower Manhattan.

"We've had a decrease in sales of all our long guns. rifles and shotguns. which were our hottest selling items. I had to lay off two people last year because our business is down." Understandably. Jovino says the ban isn't likely to work? -The ban is meaningless." said Jovino.

"People who purchase these weapons and get licenses for them. very rarely use them to commit a crime. And since the ban. has crime gone down?" According to Sgt. Tim Ganun of the Firearms Control Board.

those who own assault weapons get involved in very few incidents. except for a few suicides and marital disputes. Anxious traders bring Dow down Wall Street stocks tumbled vesterday in a market gripped by uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the fourth time this vear. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 40.46 points to close at 3.629.04. adding to Friday's loss of more than 26 points.

The Nasdaq over-the-counter index dropped 9.90 points to 722.96. After a stronger-than-expected report Friday on April employment. the stock and bond markets braced for the Fed to hike interest rates for the fourth time in as many months. But the anxiety-filled markets sold off both Friday and yesterday after: the Eeft did nit tighten credit to hold. down inflation pressures from a rom hot-selling Colt AR-15.

which normally costs about $800. and the M-10 which goes for about $350. "I know a couple of stores that are gouging prices, said Sbrocchi. Nationwide. price tags vary.

but the guns on the endangered list are fetching whatever the market will bear. It's a basic law of economics whatever is in short supply and has a big demand will rise in price. REUTER bust economy. Analysts said investors were tormented by uncertainty over how aggressively the central bank would move to fight inflation. "We're running a Federal Reserve gauntlet.

said Gene Jay Seagle. a consulting technical analyst. "The question is not will they. but when. The other big question is.

how In a Reuter survey of economists. 13 out of 18 said it was possible that the Fed could move before the middle of this week. In anticipation of a credit tightening. the yield on the Treasury's 30- year bond shot up to 7.63%. the highest since November 1992.

from 7.55% at Friday's close. But some analysts said they took heart from the relatively light volume on the NYSE. which suggested that the market could rally once the Fed made its next rate move. "The market's operating under the feeling that (a rate hike) will pass." said Eugene Pirrone, senior trader at Dreyfus Corp. "When it does.

that's when you might see a rally but until that time I think you're under that cloud." Analysts said that the market has taken a technically bearish turn. "What happened last week turned the market back down." said Harry Laubscher. analyst at Tucker Anthony. adding that a new sell signal flashed when the Dow Jones index broke below 3.660 on Friday. Don Hays.

director of investment strategy at Wheat First. said the market was hearing the point where it will find technical support and rally..