European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 29, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 Thi stars and stripes business news Good deficit Gnu figures push Buck up the Dollar edged slightly higher at the end of the week fuelled by updated figures on the . Gross National product and inc narrowing Trade deficit. Traders were mixed on whether the Dollar d ild sustain ils climb this week however noting Nat the fear of Central Bank intervention appeared to be inhibiting a breakout for the Buck. Still most Trad ers concede the Dollar has reached a new. Higher trading Range that could allow the currency to climb to As sigh As 1.73 against inc West German Mark in inc coming weeks. The Dollar s gain follows a pair of generally Bright reports on the . Economy. On thurs Day the Commerce department reported that the Gnu the largest measure of a nation s out put of goods and services Rose at a healthy 19 percent in the first Quarter of this year. That rate 2.3 percent estimated by the department a month ago. Earlier in inc week the government reported that inc Trade deficit shrank at an annual rate of ji6.7 billion in the first Quarter of this year the Best performance since the first i rec months of i960. You re Likely to Sec a stall at the Start of the week As some of the people decide to dump the dollars they Bough at 1,69 or 1.70 Marks one Frankfurt trader said. After that we re predict ing the Dollar will resume its upward trend. We re targeting 1.73 As the upper  other traders were not so bullish i think the Dollar has done As much As it s going to on the strength of the Trade and Gnu figures one  trader said. Part of the problem is that the Market is a Little baffled by the Gnu improvement. There seems to be some question Aslo whether . Economic figures can be trusted in this election year. Arc they being fiddled other traders warned of Central Bank intervention should the Dollar continue to push against the Barrier of 1.71 Marks. There Hnsen t been any sign of the Central Banks coming in yet but it s still very much on everyone s minds a go Man Bank treasurer said. Those worries aside there was almost Complete agreement hat America s robust economic growth will Force the . Federal Reserve system to tighten the Money Supply As a Means of fighting inflation meaning interest rates will climb. The Dollar in fact closed higher Friday on the belief that the . Discount Rale would be boosted. Although a jump in interest rates should signal increased interest in and higher Exchange rates for the Dollar financial experts offered conflicting out looks on the Buck for the rest of the summer. Several traders and economists proponents of a sort of Black Hole theory on . Trade believe the current account deficit slowly will shrink Over the next several months before closing in on itself completely in what a German banker called one enormous  based on Sueh an enormous improvement in the deficit these traders predict a year end Dol Lar Fin in Germany of As High As 1.85 Marks other financial experts however predict a Long hot and excruciatingly slow summer with the mar Ket perking up Only briefly each time the monthly deficit figures arc released in Washington. It s going to be a Mailer of wailing for the deficit figures working madly for about i min utes and then everyone heading Back to their computer games one trader said. British traders were predicting the Pound to stay at current Levels Aro and s 1.s8, in slow Trad ing until fall. The Market always slows Down in summer one London trader said. What s different this year is How slow things Are already. It s not even june but the Market is trading like  Usa eur still opposes class i store Transfer by Charlie Bowden Munich Bureau the army in Europe remains steadfastly opposed to transferring without reimbursement it Chain of liquor stores pcs pile a Congo is ional mandate directing that cafes take Over army and air Force class a stores. The Exchange service however apparently is proceeding on the Assumption that the inventory and All other class i assets will be transferred at no Cost. Usa eur is firm in its stance that cafes buy out the class i assets As part of any Transfer of responsibility command spokesman Rex scribble said last week. We will hold to the buyout of inventory which has been paid for by Usa eur class i vie said. We cannot simply give it  the House armed services morale welfare and recreation panel included a provision in the House defense authorization Bill directing the two services to Transfer their class i operations to the Exchange service. However the report did not detail How the Transfer should be accomplished Only that it he done. While usage aft had agreed to the concept of the Transfer the command objected to giving away the inventory. Two earlier draft Transfer agreements had been prepared but the headquarter and at least two other major army commands fell the agreements did not adequately address the buyout Issue or the lost income to the command s morale program from liquor profits. But a draft operations plan distributed within cafes channels last month stated that. Title to the inventory will be transferred to cafes at no Cost. Equipment will be inventoried and transferred to cafes at no  an undated cover letter to the operations plan cautioned that the action is a Touchy Issue with the commands. Please keep a close hold on this plan and related information the letter slated. The annual report for the army in Europe s liquor program for fiscal 1987 lists the organization s total assets As s22.8 million. Sales last year totalled ij2.7 million with a net profit of nearly ii1 million. The program contributed $9 million last year to army morale support funds according to inc report. Exchange service officials have referred All queries on the class i Issue to the Community and family support Center in Washington it s impossible to give an update right now a Csc official said it s still in staffing and it would be inappropriate to talk about the staffing actions at this Point. Based on the results of an cafes study of six Sites including Hanau and Fulda in West Germany the Exchange service had predicted increases ranging from 12 percent to 40 percent in Money contributed to morale support funds. If adopted the merger would result in an average increase in earnings of 20 percent army wide according to the results of the study of the six stores. The House committee cited the cafes study in its report ordering the Transfer of army and air Force package stores. Wendy s restaurant opening planned at Naples this summer Byj. K1ngcruger  Bureau Naples Italy the Navy plans to open a Wendy s restaurant a first for the service to re place the Mcdonald s fast food outlet that formerly operated at the naval support activity. Under the terms of the contract the Navy Exchange will own and operate the franchise in much the same Way the army and air Force Exchange service docs in its arrangement with Burger King according to cmdr. Bill t. Wimett the officer in charge of naval resale activity at Naples. The Navy will hire the employees buy the equipment and food and will pay Wendy s a fran Chise fee he said last week. We arc shooting to open up As soon As possible Pou ibid in july or August. Wendy s representatives will be coming to Naples in Early june to Sec what must be done and equipment for the restaurant should Siau rolling in later that  i mall said that while the Navy has yet to make final decisions on the restaurant s opening hours and menu it intends to of Crnic the fast food full cd a much like a stateside Wendy s As possible. The restaurant will occupy Navy Exchange premises vacated by Mcdonald s. Mcdonald s closed its privately owned franchise at Asa in december. At that time a Mcdonald s spokeswoman attributed the closing to a Lack of business and an increase in operating costs mainly attributable to the decline in the value of the Dol  the Asa outlet the first restaurant to be opened by Mcdonald s on a naval installation in Europe opened with much fanfare in june 19b6. A second Mcdonald s outlet opened shortly afterwards at the naval air station at Simonella Sicily but closed less than a year later because of Lack of business. Since the closing of those outlets the Navy had been looking for another nationally recognized Chain As replacements John Russas a spokesman for the Navy resale and services support office headquartered at Stalen Island n.y., said in a Telephone interview Botn Dunn pro Mulloni or a jms7 in Pun lining Fawn 1sm Amy ten Honn  Vogt Kaki Frantt. Of at Horn be Oiw Iri to have that in Naples along with the Bur Jeri and we arc looking at offer ing a breakfast menu too she added