European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 10, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes business news Buck expected to move Little in near future the Dollar should continue to Trade at current Levels in the coming week As currency markets await the release of monthly figures on the american Trade deficit due out Friday. The figures the difference Between import Sand exports in May Are expected to show continued improvement. Traders were split on the Likely sum of the deficit although Many expected it to remain below $ 10 billion for a third consecutive month Likely sparking a renewed rally for the Dollar. Others however said the deficit would total about $ 12 billion. That s still not necessarily bad news for the Dollar a London trader said. The Market is looking for Good news on the Dollar and will find it whether it s there or not. I Don t think the by  Kominicki Dollar will really suffer unless the deficit surges to $14 billion something on that  the Buck posted a mixed performance in the past week As traders repeatedly pushed the currency upward Only to have it reversed by the Centra Lbanks. In West Germany for example the Buck climbed above 1.83 Marks at midweek before Bundesbank intervention sent it Back to earlier Levels. In june the average close for the Dollar against the Mark was 1.8186. Rumours persisted of a rift Between members of the so called group of seven the finance ministers of Japan West Germany France Italy Canada the United states and the United kingdom Over the stronger Dollar. Several traders speculated that a private Deal designed to strengthen the Dollar had been Cut be tween the United slates and Japan. The trader noted a stronger Buck would enhance the political prospects of vice president George Bush a close Friend of Treasury Secretary James Baker Iii. A stronger Dollar also would help curb the Hance of inflation in the United states and would lower the . Trade deficit albeit temporarily by reducing the Overall Cost of imports both Good news to voters. However the rising Dollar really spooks the germans a Frankfurt trader said. They be had worthless currency twice this Century be cause of inflation and they re not willing to risk it a third time so Bush can make it to the Whitehouse. So the Bundesbank has been in the mar Ket nearly every Day this  other traders however dismissed the effect of the West German Central Bank s we Klong sell off. I think the Dollar s upward move just ran out of steam a West German trader said. I think the Bundesbank was just taking the Chance to unload some dollars of which they still have an enormous  British traders were not sure How wednes Day s explosion and fire on a North sea Oil plat form would affect Oil production and ultimately the Pound Sterling. The disaster had no immediate effect on the currency As any decline was offset by the buying effect of an improvement in the British balance of  now it s doing nothing a British trader said Friday. Traders believe the Dollar will continue to Trade in current ranges for the next several weeks fluctuating Between 1.80 and 1.85 Marks in West Ger Many and Between 130 and 139 japanese yen. It was expected to stay within the narrow Range of 1.68 and $ 1.72 against the British Pound. The Dollar attempted to rally against Sterling lat last week on the strength of comments by . Trade representative Clayton Yeutter. He suggested that the United states can remain competitive with the Dollar close to its present level against the yen according to published reports in Britain. Best Mutual fund investments have easy Way to get out too by Chet Curriera business writer new York before you commit your Money Toa Mutual fund investment Check out the exits. That s a lesson Many savers and investors have Learned in the past couple of years with volatility in the financial markets running especially  typical modern Day Mutual fund May have As Many As half a dozen ways to Cash in or redeem shares and it stands ready to do so at any time you wish. Thus if you think of your holdings in a Mutual fund As a very liquid investment you Are Correct with some caveats. In fast moving situations like the one that occurred on Black monday oct. 19, a fund s Telephone switch ing or redemption privilege May not prove to be As fast and convenient As you expected if you have trouble getting through a traffic Jam of Calls from other fun shareholders. The Best time to Deal with any such potential prob lems advisers in matters of personal finance say is before they have a Chance to happen in other words at the time you make your first investment in a fund. Investors can Lay the groundwork for fast an hassle free share redemption says Jonathan Pond in the Wiesenberger Mutual funds investment report newsletter. The prospectus contains information on a fund redemption rules. Read it closely. You May find Lan Guage about minimum holding periods minimum bal Ance requirements Exchange fees or annual limits on share exchanges. If you Are not Clear on such items Call the fund service phone and probe until you understand the fund s  the old Low tech Way to redeem shares still inside use is by letter including explicit instructions your account number and a signature that matches exactly the name in which the account is registered. In Many situations funds require that this signature be guaranteed by a commercial Bank or brokerage firm. Nowadays most funds also handle redemption or Ders by Telephone Bank wire Transfer or in person at their offices. In addition some discount brokerage firms offer Toby and sell fund shares for you collecting a commis Sion that comes atop any redemption or Exchange fee charged by the fund itself. One popular Way to Cash in shares is to use a fun group s Telephone switch program moving from a Stock or Bond fund into a Money Market fund. Most Money funds and indeed some Bond funds As Well allow you to redeem snares by simply writing a Check. When you fill out an application to open a fun account you normally Are asked to choose which if any of these extra features you want to use. Says Pond it never hurts to sign up for All the services a fund offers. Someday they could come in  it also pays to Bear in mind that any redemption from a fund whose shares fluctuate in value is what accountants Call a taxable  when you Cash in you realize a capital gain or loss for tax purposes. If you Are dealing with a loss warns William Bren Nan an investment adviser in Valley forge pa., watch out for a trap that can be sprung by the internal reve nue service s Wash Sale Rule. This can arise when investors have instructed funds to reinvest their dividends or capital gains distributions in new fund shares. If you write a Check against fund shares within 30 Days of such a distribution and reinvestment you might forfeit the right to deduct on your tax return some or All of the loss realized on the shares you redeemed. Says Brennan before you write a Check determine when the next dividend payment is  Rig fire will Cut North sea supplies but should t Hurt British Oil Industry London a the Oil Rig fire off the coast of Scotland will Worsen a shortage of North sea Oil and the news quickly boosted prices but the disaster is no Likely to have a big Impact on the British Oil Industry. The fatal Accident prompted the government s department of Energy to postpone the process for Grant ing new offshore licenses which would open up More areas for exploration. The department had been scheduled to announce on thursday the blocks for which twas inviting License bids. Because of what happened we be decided to postpone that at the moment said a department spokesman who spoke anonymously in keeping with British practice. The Price of Brent blend the most widely Trade International crude Oil jumped thursday to $ 15.05 a barrel for september delivery up 32 cents from lat wednesday when the fire started. The cause of the fire that engulfed the Oil Rig pipe ralpha owned by Occidental Petroleum co., was not known. The Rig produced 167,200 barrels a Day the company said. A barrel contains 42 Gallons. The company said it shut Down four related  meant production was Cut by about 220,000 barrels a Day or roughly one ninth of the British sector total average Oil production the department said. There s pressure on the immediate availability for North sea crude said Philip Morgan an Oil analyst with the London investment firm Warburg securities. Lucy Mullins an Oil analyst with the London invest ment firm Barclays Dezoete Wedd ltd., added though that s going to be fairly  the related Fields should be Back in production in week and Piper Alpha probably will be out of production for up to a year Mullins said. Morgan said the Industry already was experiencing shortage because of the regular maintenance Oil Compa Nies generally do in the summer when the weather i Milder. North sea Oil production in the British sector averages2 a million barrels a Day the department of Energy said. Production is Down 400,000 barrels a Day from that level because of the maintenance Morgan said. Producers of the organization of Petroleum Export ing countries of which Britain is not a member will step in to meet demand Mullins said. Oil prices also have been boosted by favourable statistics released last week Morgan said. There is starting to be a perception that the glut i world supplies in general is not As bad As people thought Morgan said. Occidental Petroleum s production won t be severely affected by the fire because it has other outlets Mullins said. The disaster could prove expensive for the Northsea Oil producers in general Morgan said. Obviously questions Are going to be raised about safety which might involve companies in a lot More expenditure Morgan said. Public Confidence in Economy fell new York up american Confidence in . Economy declined in june after reaching an 18 year High in May but Consumers still Are More optimistic than last year the conference Board said. The conference Board s Index of consumer Confidence released last week dropped from 120.2 in May to 115.5 in june. Only 27 percent of the 5,000 households in the monthly Survey by the private business research organization said the Economy was Good compared with 32 percent in May. Survey respondents also were slightly less optimistic about the future of the Economy. Twenty percent said business conditions would improve compared with 22 percent the previous month. Fears about inflation and interest rates May Well have contributed to the current dip in Confidence said Fabian Linden executive director of the Confer ence Board s research Center. About 72 percent said they anticipated a Rise in interest rates the study showed. The number of Consumers plan Ning to buy an automobile within six months shrank from9.4 percent in May to 8.5 percent in june. About 29 percent said they were planning to buy a major appliance Down from 36 percent the month before. More Survey respondents planned to buy a House injure than in May. About 4 percent said they would Purchase a Home within six months compared with3.3 percent a month earlier