European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 24, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes sunday september 24,1989 business news g-7 meeting May cause Buck trouble it s called the group of seven but what its members arc Likely to do to the Dollar this week end May make them seem More Tike a group of troublemakers to americans living outside the United slates. The group of seven commonly referred to As g-7, is made up of the seven finance ministers of the seven major Industrial countries the United states West Germany. Canada. Great Britain Italy Japan and France. Together they make up a formidable team by Ron Jensen when on the attack. And announcements made before they were scheduled to gather in Washington this weekend hinted that one of their goals is to bring Down the Dollar s value on for eign markets. Experts in Frankfurt West Germany said that could be the eventual outcome of the two Day meeting. It is expected because Over the last few Days the Federal Reserve Bank has been Selling Dol Lars said giant Crncich. A foreign Exchange specialist with the Bank of Boston in Frankfurt. Teich said he expects the Dollar rate to be Between 1.80 and 1.90 Marks at the conclusion of the g-7 meeting. If it gets to that level i think the inflation rate on the continent and in the Western coun tries will come Down he said. And. Also the . Can Export  with the Dollar s value climbing on foreign markets it has flirted with the 2-Mark level for a few weeks in West Germany the United slates can do Little about its giant Trade deficit. Meanwhile the Exchange Market has been quiet while traders await news from the meeting on the Potomac. The Dollar spent the entire week in the mid-1.90s Range. It closed the week at 1.94, and military Bank ing officials set the rate late Friday at 1.92, the same As the Day before. That rate will apply to Community Bank transactions at least through monday. A look at rates for the Dollar against other foreign currency during Friday trading shows the Lack of activity. These arc not final rates but those at midday Friday compared with those from thursday i.684s Swiss francs up from 1.6830 6.5745 French francs up from 6.5710 2.1876 dutch guilders Down from 2.1920 1,399.60 italian lire Down from 1,401.00 1.1810 Canadian dollars Down from 1.1842 in London the Dollar gained against the Brit ish Pound. It Cost $1.5795 to buy one Pound compared with $1.5805 late thursday. Michael Koch with the Bank of America in Frankfurt agreed that the Likely outcome of g 7 s meeting is a lower Buck. It will help the Trade imbalance Between nations he said and boost West Germany s Trade. It s the same scenario for Japan As it is for Germany because we arc big Export countries he said. And news reports have indicated that finance ministers within the g-7 have discussed openly their concern about the Dollar s strength. Tho a incl the West German finance minister and Ryutaro Hashimoto his japanese counterpart recently talked about the need for a weaker Dol Lar during Taigel s trip to Japan. In other words the Buck s flirtation with the 2-Mark level May have been scorned. A. German retailers divided Over longer thursday hours by Rosemary Sawyer staff writer retailers in West Germany Are split three ways on whether they la extend their thursday shopping hours starting oct. 5. A Survey by the nationwide retailers association the Haupt Gemeinschaft Des Deutschen Einza handels showed that about one third of West German Busi Nesses will not stay open later on thursdays. Another third reported that they plan to keep their doors open an extra two hours while the last third remains undecided. Earlier this year the West German parliament passed legislation that allows shopkeepers to stay open on thursdays two hours past the traditional 6 30 . Closing time. Before extending the hours however most businesses must have the agreement of their in House worker councils. To balance the longer once a week hours the Law slates that during the summer months stores May close two hours Early on Long saturday the first saturday of the month when stores Are open past the regular 2 . Closing time. Retailers generally have accepted the plan unlike the 2 million Strong retail employees unions that have fought the longer store hours said Karl Heinz Nichos or. Director of the retailers association. So far. The businesses positions arc falling into three categories said the association which boasts 380,000 members businesses that Don t want to stay open late on thursdays because they think the negative effects of their participation would outweigh the benefits. Businesses that want and arc Able to stay open late on thursdays because they Don t have a worker coun cil or belong to an employers association that has negotiated a contract with a Union. Businesses that want to stay open late but can t until a mediator determines that the threat of Competition necessitates their opening and overrules the employee Council. The retailers association Survey showed that As the october Start of the longer hours approaches More and More stores Are opting to stay open later. Thirty percent of Small businesses in Small cities have elected to stay open while 34 percent of businesses in medium size cities will serve customers later on thursdays. In Large cities 43 percent of businesses have approved the longer hours the Survey said. Of those reporting they planned to stay open 8 percent Are targe businesses 37 percent medium size and 55 percent Small. While highly industrialized and populated areas showed a Strong willingness to stay open suburban towns showed an even greater interest in extending hours. Obviously those shops in Small towns Are counting on customers leaving the City to do their shopping. Niches or said. They May View this As a Chance to get business into their towns that was taken away by the big City stores. Stores in shopping malls arc the biggest supporters of the new hours. Chain stores that have More than 10 outlets agreeing to stay open will probably Force All outlets to stay open especially stores that sell everyday goods. The Survey said that although Many stores have agreed to stay open they do not necessarily agree on the merits of the longer hours. They re especially Wor ried that after the autumn sales and Christmas Rush people will not go shopping on thursday nights niches or said. All in All the consumer will be the one to decide whether the shopping evening will be a continued Suc Cess or a Flop he said. Contributing to this report staff writer Regma Kerf Bendau in Darmstadt. Well Germany switch from variable rate loan to fixed rate May not save Money Bojoh Cunniff a business analyst new York indications from around the coun try show Many homeowners still anxious to Exchange variable rate mortgages for fixed rate Loans even if the numbers might not add  Many people they really Don t. Is it worthwhile for you to dump your existing Mort Gage in order to save two percentage Points even if the lower rate cuts your monthly payments by enough to allow you to put Money in the Bank or go out once or twice a month maybe not even if your friends financial Counselor neighbors and spouse say go ahead. If you do be sure you know the Cost the length of time you la be keeping the mortgage and a lot about your local Market. To refinance usually Means a fee of i percent or 2 percent of the total mortgage and sometimes As much 3 percent. These Are Points but Seldom arc they the Only  additional charges might include origination application appraisal Legal and other fees. In some instances they can Cost another 1.5 percent of the mortgage amount. If so your up front total is then 3.5  Cost of these fees should make you think again especially if you arc remortgaging to lower your inter est charges by just one or two percentage Points. The charges might be heftier than the savings. Scars mortgage corp. Offers this formula to clarify your thinking add the Points being charged by the Lender to the total amount of fees expressed in Points. Two Points plus another 1.5 Points for fees is your total up front Cost. Determine the difference Between the interest rate you arc now paying and the rate being offered. If you Are paying 11,5 percent currently and have the Opportunity for a new rate of 9.5 percent unlikely your answer is 2, Divide that 2, or whatever number applies into the total  answer will be the number of years required for you to break even that is to pay off the Points. Thereafter you arc ahead of the game. But up to that Point you arc behind. If you were saving just one percentage Point of inter est and your total Points were 3.5, it would take you 3.5 years to break even. If you were paying 4.5 Points it would take you about 4.5 years to break even. These factors have special meanings depending on the owner s age and likelihood of remaining in the House. Relatively few people pay off mortgages. At limes the average mortgage has had a life Span of just seven  this should be considered in relation to whats happening in your local Market not just on what you hear about National averages. Prices vary from one neighbourhood to another interest rates from one City to  forget that real estate markets Are cyclical. More so than almost any other segment of the econ omy they have  and  your area is Down and Likely to fall further then interest rates might also fall even if Only by a fraction of a Point. More importantly your Lender might become friendlier perhaps even knocking off one full Point Gar owners should ask insurers about rebates Darmstadt West Germany is car own ers in West Germany who think they May be eligible for car insurance rebates arc being urged to Contact their insurance agents. Nato Tariff companies National Union Ai Zurich and no Kura arc offering rebates to their clients based on a West German Law that requires companies that earn More than a 3 percent profit on liability insurance to return part of their excess profits to policy holders. In order to receive the rebate no Kura requires its policy holders to have a four year record of claims free driving while National Union and Zurich each require. One year. Eligible policy holders should be contacted by their respective insurance companies but address changes and Field duly can delay the notification process