THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, July 3, 1995                   TAG: 9507010679
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY          PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 
COLUMN: Talk of the Town 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   31 lines

SIGNS APPEAR TO POINT TO AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

In Tidewater, home sales slump. In Charlotte, Nucor cuts steel prices four times since March. In Tulsa, Zebco announces 97 layoffs, cites the national slump in fishing tackle sales.

In Tokyo, analysts wonder if Japan Inc. borders on depression. In Paris, economist Maurice Noblet says: ``It's pretty clear the levels of consumption reached a decade ago won't be attained soon again.''

Sound like the warning peals of a recession? ``History tells us you get a few bumps in the road,'' said the Fed's Alan Greenspan.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Greenspan will convene the Fed's Open Market Committee for another look at the economy.

Alan Gayle, head of the American Bankers Association's economic advisory committee, recommends the Fed cut short-term interest rates. Now.

``If we wait to see the whites of the recession's eyes, the Fed will have waited too long,'' said Gayle, of Richmond-based Crestar Bank.

Hampton Roads Happenings: Eastern Telecom Corp., a Newport News long-distance phone company, has changed its name to Eastern Telecom International. by CNB