European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pagala the stars and stripes sunday october 30,1sb8 business news Buck recovers a ghz a offer week of lumps thank heaven for Small favors. After yet another week in which he Dollar took its lumps is. The West German Mark and other currencies the Buck at least made a slight rally Friday id recoup some of its earlier losses. The Dollar stood at 1.7840 Marks Friday after having traded As Low As 1.7695 Marks earlier in the week. The military Exchange Rale which had fallen from 1.77 Marks to the Dollar to a Low of 1.75 Marks by thursday decided to split the difference As the week ended. The Buck s value through Mon Day will be 1.76 Marks per Dollar. As has been the Case for several weeks poorer than expected us. Economic reports started the Dollar inching downward in the past week the first bad news came tuesday with inc com Merce department s announcement that orders for the manufacture of durable goods by . Factories fell a whopping 4.1 percent in september. By Randy Mcclain one american banker in Frankfurt who spoke on the condition that his name not be used said currency traders were prepared for a modest drop of 0.8 percent in durable goods orders. But when. The actual number came in five times worse than that the Dollar was bound to be jolted it was t until wednesday though. Ilia the Buck really took a dive. It fell from 1.7b90 Marks to 1.7740 Marks in Europe in one trading Day aft Eric Commerce department reported the . Gross National product increased by a Mere 12 percent in the third Quarter. Currency markets had expected the Gnu to increase by 3.3 percent but instead growth came in at its lowest level in two years. Trad Cra took the sour Gnu news As Confirma Tion that the inflation dragon has been slain Back Home. That Means interest rates won t be going up and the Dollar which is generally helped by High interest rates won t be going up either. At week s end traders were keeping a close Eye on the major Central Banks for any sign that the would intervene to support the Dollar and prevent other currencies such As the yen and Mark from becoming overvalued. The Bank of Japan Lent modest support to the Dollar thursday but the Bundesbank and Federal Reserve kept to the Side  published report Friday suggested that at least the Bundesbank will remain out of inc action unless the Dollar Falls near 1,70 Marks. But the Buck won t sink quite that Low very soon according tothe Frankfurt banker quoted above. It looks As if i.76so Marks is a major support level for the Dol Lar he said. Well still Sec 1.75 Marks per Dollar but not until after the presidential  Bruno Seidler a vice president with merchants National Bank in Frankfurt agrees. For the next 0 Days i Don t see a major change he said. And after that Setd Fer suggests keeping an Eye on . Trade figures. Continued big deficits there will mean an Ever weakening  most pessimistic View published recently about How Low the Dollar could fall comes from former Carter administration official c. Fredburg Slyn who now Heads the Institute for International economies. Bergsten said the Dollar will have to fall to 1.25 marts and Domestic expansion m Japan and West Germany will have to really heal up to put a Dent in the . Trade deficit Over the Long haul by boosting demand for us. Exports Bergsten Calls the need for such a fall in the Buck s value a brutal  luckily few other economists believe such a drastic fall m the Buck will be necessary. With any Luck bar Glen will prove to be of target if he s right Hough it la be a rough 1989 for americans overseas. Cafes gets Back to roots with new corporate logo  Munich Bureau Munich West Germany if you can t beat pm join pm. That seems to be the motto of he army and air Force Exchange service As it prepares to adopt a new corporate logo for the second tune this decade. Cafes which for six years went by the Emblem a arcs recently adopted a new Emblem in a Pali. Otic color scheme hat not Only capitalizes the letters cafes but tops them off with the letters pm or by. The reason for the change according to Brig. Gen. Jeffrey d. Kahla is to bring cafes corporate image More in line with the Way soldiers and airmen actually View the organization. In Short no matter what look cafes used in the past military Consumers continued to think of in Exchange service at their time honoured Post Exchange for inc army or base Exchange for lie air Force. Now instead of shunning the pm and by terms cafes is going to display them As part of its new look. We Are going to identify ourselves As our customer sin their military heritage have always identified us said Kahla. Who recently assumed command of cafes worldwide. Kahla was in Munich recently to attend a change of command at the Exchange service s european head quarters. He told the stars and stripes that cafes May have overlooked its history in a Rush to be More like the shops and malls Back Home. The new logo reflects a Back to basics approach he said. In having the new logo designed Exchange service officials called in a top consulting firm to do Market research and lapped schlame design a Newton mass., graphics design firm to bring the researchers recommendations to life. Selame has handled similar jobs for corporate giants Amoco Oil co. And Eastman Kodak co. First though creative research of Chicago canvassed stateside exchanges from coast to coast inter viewing customers employees Exchange managers and commanders. What the researchers found was confusion not Only among customers but also within the Exchange serv ice s predominantly civilian Hierarchy. They told us that our customers arc in fact con fused about How we identify ourselves Kahla said. Sowas cafes. On one cafes directive Kahla noted the researchers found five different logos. Enter the new cafes Emblem to save inc Day. The designers turned to the . Hag for inspiration cafes new look combines Bolh the colors and the stars and stripes of the Flag in addition to the pm or by Label. With the new logo Kahla nit we can Tel then military customers in a very Quick visual statement that we re part of the military Community. Elinor Selame president of Selame gainsaid the old cafes Emblem Jutt was t working. Tie lower Case letters weren t bold or inspirational she said. In fact they were fairly weak and the military Community is nol known for  the new red White and Blue logo on the other hand is bold enough to be seen from a distance on sign either Large or Small but in not Overly Augret Sive Selame said. It s a highly memorable design that will give cafes a consistent image worldwide from Post to Post and from base to  Selame said the logo works both in color and in Black and while. Plus it s flexible in terms of size she said. Ii looks Good on a big sign but it can easily be reduced to a Quarter Inch for us on pens and business  said the switch to the new logo won t happen overnight. In will be phased in beginning with station Ery in Storc signs and employee name tags. Exterior signs will be among the last things to be changed. That will happen during building or renovation projects he , As contracts expire the new logo will Start appearing on inc labels of aafes1 Cal endive line of in House products ranging from disposable diapers to vitamins. Phase in of the new logo is expected to Lake six to 12 months. This is the third Lime in cafes 93-year history thai a change in logo has been made but Kahla believes this latest look has slaying Power probably for 20 years or  docs such a Good Job of linking us to our military heritage and that s the key. When Tricy customers see this Mark they la immediately recognize that this is cafes. That his is part of their company store he  said consistency worldwide is cafes goal for its new logo. To help in that regard Selaw producing a graphics manual that will dictate the size color and style of the new logo in virtually every m store and exterior application. It will become the Bibl for everything from display advertising to outdoor signs. Contributing Reimt import eth wet of c junk Bond Mutual funds prove they re Worth something in 88 by Chet Currier a business Wriler new York investors who ignored Many dire warnings and stuck with junk or r High yield Bond Mutual funds have been rewarded for their Faith this year. As a group these funds have outperformed funds hat concentrate on top Quality corporate Bonds or on govern ment securities through a period when Many financial advisers were urging extreme caution. For the nine months through sept. 30, High yield funds averaged a total return yield plus change in net asset value of 9.6 percent according to Sheldon Jacobs pub Lisher of the advisory letter no Load fund investor. That compared with a return of 7.4 percent for funds confining themselves to investment Grade Bonds which Are rated As much less prone to default and therefore substantially safer. The junk Bond funds recently were yielding ii .6 per cent compared with a 7,9 percent yield on investment Grade Bond funds Jacobs added. If you had tried to Tell Many experts last Winter thai the results would turn out that Way you probably would have found yourself in an argument. The Stock Market crash last october raised fears of an economic slump that would Strain the ability of Man companies with lower credit ratings to meet their obligations. Analysts pointed out thai the junk Bond Market which has grown from about s60 billion id $ 1 to billion since the Start of 1985, had never been subjected to the acid lest Ofa recession. It still has l. But widespread fears Hal investors in the High yield Market would suffer severe losses have been unfounded said the Alliance for capital Access a group that represents companies that have issued these Bonds. David Aylward the group s executive director said this year the Market has significantly outperformed in Treasury Bond Market the  Bond mar Ket and the Stock Market Anil did in 1987," docs that mean Hal conservative investors who Stic Wilh government guaranteed Bonds or Bank Certini Icalas of Deposit Are missing bet not necessarily Jacobs said. Jacobs is Well aware of studies finding that he extra yield hat investors go in a diversified portfolio of Jun Bonds More than compensates them Over time for losses suffered when individual defaults , As always has i s Reward he said. Nevertheless a Good investment Over the Long run Isnoel necessarily a Good investment in the immediate fun in sum we believe his is a Lime for caution. While current economic data Are Strong recessions have a Way of arriving unannounced and even conservatively positioned funds could have losses in that eventuality. Jacobs said