European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 25, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes tuesday february 25, 1966 Dollar threatens to dive out of control deliberate downward nudge has spawned new Trade problems by James Sterngold new York not the Dollar has dropped almost on Cue Over the last five months just As the leading Industrial nations had hoped when they agreed in september on a joint Effort to weaken the currency. Bui those who believed that the Central Bankers were in fir command were disabused of that notion in the past several weeks As the Dollar raced downward threatening to run out of control. The lesson of that unexpected slide number of currency traders and analysis contend was that volatility has become an integral feature of the foreign Exchange Market. The downward nudge that inc governments gave to the Dollar unleashed powerful and unpredictable Market forces that might become As they threatened to last week As much of a problem As the Overly Strong Dollar had been. The Dollar plunged to a Low of 177.50yen last week from a Rale of about 203 yen at the beginning of the year and pos Ted similar losses against other Curren cies. It was the first time since Britain France Japan Germany and the United states the so called group of five Industrial countries initiated their drive to push the Dollar Down in september that they seemed not to be in control of the situation. The Market was not at a blow off but with the Rale of decline accelerating As it was it certainly had the potential Tor doing thai said David Redding Money Market economist and currency trader at the Bankers Trust co. The trend spurred worried comments from leading Central Bankers including Paul a. Volcker the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board that the Dollar should not fall further. Volcker acknowledged the fierce impetus that was devel Oping behind the Dollar when he said that the Dollar had nearly reached danger  his comments managed to Brake the slide and bring the Market to jittery standstill. What the experience demonstrated currency traders and analysts said is that even Central Banks do not have Clear control Over the multimillion Dollar for eign Exchange Market. It also showed that the group of five had missed on another of its goals that of creating stability in the foreign Exchange Market. The Central Banks have done an excellent Job As far As timing goes said Albert Soria head of foreign Exchange at the Swiss Bank corp. In new York. But their tools arc not sophisticated enough to prevent a downfall if the momentum really builds. They know that i would Cost them a lot More to Stop a collapse of the Dollar than it did to pus the Dollar Down last year when they really did t have to intervene that  Daniel a. Schwitter the head of for eign Exchange trading at the Union Bank of Switzerland in Zurich added it i always very dangerous and Tricky to try to manipulate Exchange rates. There Isno such thing As control in a Market this  most traders agree that in inc near term the Prospect is for continuing volatility with the Market highly nervous Over the intentions of the Central Banks. There is some Prospect they said for Quick Snapback in the Dollar s value while in the longer term most arc betting on a further decline. Feelings arc mixed to some degree but there is Little doubt that the Dollar is headed lower if nothing is done to Stop it said Schwitter. You still cannot exclude some  c. Fred Borg Stan the director of the Institute for International economics said the Dollar is Likely to decline another10 percent to 15 percent in the next three to six months. The head of foreign Exchange at a major american Bank said that during 1986 the Dollar will surely hit 160 yen if not 150." the weaker Dollar is expected to bring about a number of benefits Over time. American made goods would become cheaper and thus More competitive inter nationally imports would become More expensive. This would trim the United states yawning Trade deficit which wid ened to a record $148.5 billion last year. One possible negative Side effect an increase in the inflation rate domestically because of inc higher Cost of imports has been countered for now by the propitious and unexpected decline in Oil prices in the past two months. In addition the protectionist senti ment in Congress that threatened to Trig Ger a Trade War six months ago an which prompted the Reagan administration to act against the Dollar has for now been pushed into the background by the weaker Dollar according to Scott Par Dee an executive vice president at the discount corporation of new York these positive results arc what spurred comments last week from James a. Baker Iii the Treasury Secretary and Clayton k. A Cutter the Trade representative that they would be Happy to see the Dollar fall even further. Yet some of the enthusiasm for the Dollar s decline turned to concern when the Dollar abruptly fell off its plateau amid signs that the . Trade deficit was still widening and that the Oil Price decline was far More severe than had been anticipated. Traders said that since Oil is purchased worldwide wit dollars the drop in prices meant that Large importers such As Japan and West Germany would have to buy fewer Dol Lars with which to pay their Energy Bills. That anticipated drop in demand trans lated into a weaker Dollar. In addition the japanese Economy Al most wholly dependent on imported Oil was expected to enjoy a fillip As Oil prices declined. That made the yen particularly attractive to hold and it led the Sharp Rise against the Dollar. Falling Oil prices were also regarded a potentially disruptive to the United states financial system since America Banks have Large amounts of Loans out standing both to Domestic Energy producers and Oil exporting nations. Market psychology turned increasingly bearish and the downtrend began to pick up momentum. The Market was just As unstable last year but it was the reverse situation said Franklyn j. Christie a foreign Exchange trader atthe Chase Manhattan Bank. The psychology in the Market became so Strong that you just tended to go with  Jet s simulation of Battle damage aids technicians by Joe Mapother Brume Rhoaten Bureau Oesterberg. Netherlands a series of explosive charges wracked the single f-i05f Republic wild weasel belonging to the 32nd tac fighter so but the aged fighter bomber swerved neither to the left nor right. Lacking an engine and ground bound there was Noth ing the plane could do but take the abuse dished out by four demolition experts of the 7007th explosive or disposal flight Spang Dahlum a Germany. The mid morning havoc in Holland that brought the visit from the 7007th will become the sauce for the Camp new Amsterdam aircraft Battle damage repair Abr program s version of an italian dinner. The 7007lh s Mission was to turn the f-105 s insides int Spaghetti. . Steven Szydoski and sgt. Tim King did their part by helping place 10 plastic charges behind sandbags to ensure that the explosive charges were deflected into the fuselage. The twisted Metal inside the fuselage will become Foo for thought for a succession of air Force Battle damage assessors in the coming year. They will troubleshoot thef-i05f thunderchief of train for Buttle condition re pairs. A Battle damage assessor has got to be prepared to look and look and look to find All that damage said staff sgt. Edward Moore Abr program manager at amp new Amsterdam. Moore helped put the f-105f together last february after it arrived in a dozen crates from an aircraft Bone Yard in Arizona. But he said he was not sorry to see plastic explosives blow holes into the fuselage last week to simulate 20mm Shell and .50-Calibcr machine gun Bullet hits. It s part of the game Moore said. The air plane whole is totally useless to anybody except As a Static  the perforated carcass despite its age will play an important role in training maintenance personnel to an Alyze and make repairs on the f-15 eagles that the Squadron flies Moore said. Suff so. Edward Moore uses no to make indentations into the of loss Side i the f-i05f, first test flown in 1955, bears Little re semblance to the f-15. However Basic structural and systems repair can be taught using the Jet carcass he said. The alternative of junking a $27 million f-15 is not viable one Moore said. Safe first became involved with Battle damage repair programs in 1978. Rapid repair using fast and simple methods that sometimes do not go by the Book Are objectives of the program. In the Type of War we re going to have to fight in Europe Moore said we re going to have to Fly every Airlane and keep flying them. A Mil. A i we be doin8 is pub Quick Strong repairs that later on Down the Road will Lave to be done again. He Vietnam War the f-i05f gained he a Nick Nam in he weapons system a Sedna  r or act out surface to air missile n arc raft Baler placements. By the end from it the 5c Laus-1 Cliv air for it had switched rom the thunderchief to the newer f-4s Lac runway Al so Sterberg still Ikea