It's supposed to save money for the company, but, mostly, it's regarded as just a perk for the upper-level executive.

Many middle- to upper-level executives here have sought for months to establish residence elsewhere.

A typical traveling arrangement for upper-level executives is to have an armored Jeep Cherokee with a driver and another car following with three armed guards.

About 600,000 middle- and upper-level executives lost their jobs between 1984 and 1986, he said, and many more positions were eliminated in 1986 and 1987 - possibly more than 100,000.

"MCA is the new Motown, there's no question about that," says Ed Eckstine, president of Mercury Records and one of the few upper-level black executives in the record industry.

Not long ago I visited the Philip Morris headquarters on several occasions and spoke with upper-level executives.

Another new program already on the market is Career Navigator, published in late 1987 by Drake Beam Morin, an outplacement firm whose services are generally limited to mid-and upper-level executives.

"The upper-level executives got their money," Mr. Lindquist said.

The extent of that activity is not known, but word spread on Wall Street yesterday that more than one upper-level executive at Long-Term Capital was facing possible personal bankruptcy.

The student making the analysis was a banker, and his classmates were also upper-level executives, mostly in their mid-40's.