European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stabs and stripes tuesday. January 19.1988 columns William Safire a three Point plan to stabilize Stock Market what can be done right now to bring bark a semblance of lability to the Slock Market we now know that october s 500-Point crash was rooted in a wild months Long run up with buy out fever rampant and Stock prices losing touch with earn Ings reality. In the inevitable reckoning moneymaking s new Inch ology turned on is creators speeding collapse and worsening the panic. At Leas that was a rational Market what a even More troubling is the to Point drop of Jan. 8, when the Market broke and lost nearly 7 percent of its value in 45 minutes. No bad news accounted for this aftershock no excessive run up had occurred that needed correction this Lime once burned investors were being careful. This year s sudden slump was caused Only by the Market mechanism itself on the very Day that Apanel of Wall Street experts issued a study of the octo Ber drop. The government appointed commission cd plod cd the myth that the budget or Trade deficits orsome Tuny Lack of leadership in Washington was to blame for last year s plunge this month s volatility underscores the panel s conclusion that something is Rollen in the state of the Market. What Are we doing about it twiddling our thumbs the Brady commission did a Nice Job of pointing to the problem. The Street s movers and shaken at major institutions Are paralysed. The exchanges and regulatory agencies will do some More studies and male minor adjustments Congress will meddle in a Field it knows Little about. Meanwhile individual investors Are coming id the realization that the Stock Market is rigged against them. Their Good judgment is no match for the computerized Edge being snatched by institutions. If that disillusionment con Linus the Over sophisticated Market could Jolt downward until its prophecy is self fulfilled in world recession. Here is what to do right away i. Reduce volatility by sharply raising the margins for futures and for option on the Stock indexes. Al though buyers of stocks must put up 50 percent of i hair own capital buyers of the new indexes and futures need put up Only 10 percent. In a sinking Market this highly leveraged portfolio insurance causes the wholesale dumping of stocks by computer decision partially Prelec Ting relatively few investors and endangering everybody. Even As experts study the i Dom of this practice altogether we should move immediately to slow Down the options merry go round by jacking up margin requirements. John Shad the former chairman of the securities and Exchange commission suggests an in crease to 25 percent. Investment banker Fetik Rohatyn would take it up to 50 percent same As stocks. I m with Felix. 2. Require All open end Mutual funds to have per cent of holdings in Cash Ai the end of each Day. This idea first raised by Robert mans Tel of Goldman Sachs the Walt Syrecter i Trust most would reduce the Mutual funds fear of share owner redemption that now drives the funds to dump huge blocks during panics. When All these funds have a rash Cushion to Ink care of expected redemption cd most prudent funds did a pc cration ago pressure to sell at Dis Tress prices will Lessen with this caution As a new requirement not even the most go go fund manage would have cause to complain he would be competing on a level playing Field albeit a More conservative one. Those two actions would do no Hart As some other suggestion for suspending trading might do they can be taken right now to Cut Down panic potential. Then to a longer Range solution 3, charge the Federal Reserve with a new responsibility to help coordinate global exchanges. A world Stock Exchange in Eft eco already exists but no International group has yet been created to help National exchanges interact smoothly As we have seen recently the fed already dec this sort of thing Wilh Money effectively working he Cen tra Bankers in Britain West Germany France Japan and elsewhere. With a mandate from Congress the fed s chairman Alan Greenspan should appoint a banker of world stature preferably very tall to set up this new Stock Exchange coordinating Council any National Exchange that resisted agreed upon Rule of investment would be recognized As unduly sky by wary global investor. You like this three Point action plan. Wall Street if you do let s get with it right away if Youdon to let s hear another plan 10 take specific Steps right now to fix the Market s inadequate plumbing before it Puels us at Down the Drain. Anthony Lewis palestinian protest opens eyes changes views Jerusalem palestinian protests Over the last five weeks have brought about Al least one profound change in israeli thinking. People no longer believe that it will be easy to go on occupying the West Bank and Gaza. Everyone has come face to face Wilhite reality said Clinton Bailey an israeli specialist on Arab affairs. You have a population out there that you really cannot control or not without very great that is a Basic change in per Caplinn. Until recently As one person put it every one said the occupation will jus go on the arabs Are cont need enough. Now people know the status quo does not Why to Start Wilh the military Reali ties have changed. The israeli army is no Longcr dealing with isolated incidents Hui 3 few soldiers could handle with a few shots in the air. It has on its hands what just about everyone now agrees is a genuine popu Lar uprising the changed nature of Fth conflict has psychological consequences Loo for the army and the israeli Public. This cannot be justified As a War on terrorism. Young 1x is who throw stones at soldiers arc not terrorists. The 38 palestinians killed Over these weeks one of them 10 Yean old cannot be explained so easily. It is a situation of our 20-year-Olds battling i hair 20-year-Olds," Hirsh Good Man the Jerusalem Post s military correspondent wrote ours using Armor helicopters and guns theirs clubs rocks and primitive Molotov nor is it possible for any serious person to believe any longer that palestini ans arc Content under occupation. Socall the occupation benign was always Wishful. The uprising against in makes Manifest the real feelings of the occupied rage is Felt not Only by Young people crowded into the refugee Camps of Cazabat also by Middle class palestinians Liv ing in the West Bank. Raja Shihadeh Awell known lawyer Speaks of feeling con stantly humiliated by the occupation rules and bureaucrats and by the cold Nita lion of the land by the Middle of the current protests Israel s housing minister dedicated a new jewish settlement in the West Bank. If must israelis understand now that Francc in israeli for that reason he questions the notion that protesters can be starved Inlo submission by sealing refugee Camps or by keeping palestinians from jobs in Israel is easy when palestinians arc terrorist Ezra i says but not when the re a debate is shaping up thai cuts into the deemed israeli sensitivities an across party lines the mayor of Tel but suppose israelis find thai the Cost Aviv Shlomo Laval. A member of the of suppression is High and unending right Wing liked party has just come suppose they find that they have to pay out for giving up the West Bank an with their own values of democracy and Caza As liabilities human rights. What then still ahead is the hard question Merod bin Venisti the leading expert of How withdrawn would be negotiated on the Weil Bank and Gaza a Jues that the protests show More clearly than Ever rational judgments about the Cost of the that Israel cannot Deal with King Hus win of Jordan alone that in must Laju Inlo account the reality of palestinian continued occupation will be costly the crucial question follows arc they pre pared to give up the occupied territories and there the picture is not so Clear. The immediate effect of the fal Cislini an protests has been to Harden the Hawk ish tone of israeli politics. Officials make hard line statements about suppressing the uprising and most of the Public seems to approve. Occupation will be overwhelmed by the emotions of nationalism in Israel As in other divided societies. Ii will be said thai you need the Terri tories for survival he says and then no Cost is too on the other Side Yoron Ezra i professor of political science Al the hebrew University says the Cost of suppression May exceed the Point of lol nationalism. That raises other Israel doubts and fears. But now they Loo will be weighed against the perceived danger of continued occupation. a or who n h Ken my Ancamp a in met we of the a that v4 in a la to con tart my l c and Street
