SECURITIES

Merger Activity Is Off 37% This Year: The drop in mergers through the third quarter comes even though four billion-dollar deals were announced recently, a financial research firm says. The value of U.S. mergers fell 37%, with 3,203 deals worth $104.2 billion the first three quarters. That is down from 3,889 deals worth $169.7 billion in the first nine months of 1990, Securities Data Corp. said. The recession and a continued scarcity of financing have put a crimp in the mergers business, which peaked in late 1988 with the $24.53-billion leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco Inc.