Business Notes INVESTMENTS

Like bargain-hungry shoppers rattling the racks at a department-store sale, foreigners are stocking up on American corporations and real estate. Last week the Commerce Department reported that overseas investors spent $65 billion on U.S. assets last year, up from $40.3 billion in 1987. The Government noted a pronounced jump in large transactions: the number of foreign investments worth more than $1 billion doubled from six to twelve.

As they have been throughout most of postwar U.S. history, the British were the largest investors last year, plunking down $21.5 billion. In second place were the Japanese ($14.2 billion), ahead of the Canadians ($10.4 billion). U.S. firms have been popular targets partly because of the steady growth of the American economy during the past six years. Another reason for their attractiveness is the large and relatively homogeneous U.S. consumer market. American investors still control more assets overseas ($330 billion) than foreign owners do in the U.S. ($304 billion), but that advantage has been narrowing in recent years.