An article in Wednesday's Business section misstated recent levels of some interest rates. The market rate on three-month notes has fallen to 5.6 percent. That is below the 6 percent target for the federal funds rate set by the Federal Reserve Board for loans between banks, but still above the 5.25 percent discount rate that the Fed charges banks for overnight loans. (Published 5/12/95)

Long-term interest rates, which began falling last week, yesterday crashed through the 7 percent barrier as Wall Street investors tossed aside earlier fears about inflation and an overheated economy and began worrying whether the economy was cooling too much.

Rates on three-month Treasury notes were trading as low as 5.75 percent, half a point below what the Federal Reserve Board has been charging banks for overnight loans. Traders said this phenomenon -- known as an "inverted yield curve" -- reflects a widespread expectation among investors that the Federal Reserve will lower its rates sometime during the next six months.