European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 a the stars and stripes business newsmen continued to fall despite doctors cure the terms a damage control and a a spin doctors most often Are associated with politicians attempts to put embarrassing political developments in a favourable Light through creative Public relations. When a president senator or other elected official opens his Mouth and inserts a foot the underlings scatter to the four winds to inform the press what their Boss really meant to say. That a what press secretaries Are for. In International financial circles the same desire to put events in the Best possible Light also surfaces with some frequency. Sometimes the line Between reality and Wishful thinking gets blurred. A telling Case in Point occurred last Randy Mcclain week following a meeting in Paris in which the United states West Germany France Canada Italy Britain and Japan sat Down to discuss the state of the world Economy in general and the weakness of the japanese yen in particular. Japanese officials entered the meeting expressing concern Over the yen a recent plunge against the Dollar and other currencies. Since Jan. 1, the Buck has increased in value 11 percent against the yen and if you go Back 15 months the Buck has gained a whopping 28 percent. The yen also has fared poorly against the West German Mark which continues to reign As Europe a strongest currency. Both developments make the Cost of Oil and other imported goods that much More expensive in Japan and that threatens to Spur inflation to dizzying Heights in the far East. The japanese were hoping to get assurances from their six Maior trading partners that they would help out in the yen a hour of need. Japanese officials went to Paris seeking commitments from the United states West Germany and the others for massive yen purchases on world currency markets to make the yen Rise in value. After the meeting which ended with a vaguely worded communique on the subject the question became did Japan get such a commitment readers of most Tokyo newspapers last monday were told the answer was  that optimistic appraisal was based in Large part on statements attributed to a japanese finance minister who breathed a deep sigh of Relief and said All of Japan a trading partners had promised to at least stabilize the yen and perhaps even strengthen it. Trouble was no other country backed up the ministers pronouncement. As a result his attempts to put a positive a a spin on the Paris get together backfired and the yen has continued to lose ground. As trading wound Down for the easter holidays one Dollar was Worth just Over 158 yen late last week the highest value for the Buck in three years. But the dollars strength in the far East was the Only Bright spot for the Buck. Against the West German Mark and British Pound the Dollar fared poorly. At weeks end the Buck stood at 1.673 Marks a loss of More than two pfennig on the week. At military banking facilities service members will be Able to Trade a Dollar for 1.64 Marks through tuesday. That a a loss of two pfennig when compared with a week earlier. One British Pound meanwhile was Selling for roughly $ 1.64 on world exchanges. Most currency analysts expect the Dollar to continue to languish against the two european currencies. One thing that could help the Dollar though is a favourable report on the . Trade deficit. Numbers for february Are due out wednesday. And any improvement when compared with january a $9.3 billion deficit might serve to boost the Buck a notch or two. The Start and str Paa credit unions serving military in Europe expanding arms by Randy Mcclain financial writer military credit unions in Europe Are moving full Speed ahead with plans to expand their networks of automated Teller machines on the continent giving customers easy Access to Cash around the clock. Finance Federal credit Union which has eight branches in West Germany leads the Way in electronic one up Manship with four Money machines in operation and plans for four More. No other credit Union has More than three machines on line. A usage among our customers is increasing on a Day to Day basis a said finance Federal vice president Ben Russ. Finance Federal son line arms Are located at its branches in Augsburg Ansbach Bamberg and Neu Ulm. A fifth  will be added in the next few Days at Vilseck with others planned for Erlanger the Firth shopping Center and the Grafe Wohr training area. All the machines Are connected with Cirrus a major Money machine network in the United states that includes hundreds of Banks. The connection to Cirrus allows finance Federal  card holders to withdraw Money from stateside Bank accounts while overseas. It also allows them to use any other Money machine worldwide that displays the Cirrus logo. Several other credit unions with operations in West Germany Spain and the United kingdom also Are expanding  service. Service Federal credit Union based in Kaiserslautern West Germany was the first credit Union in Europe to offer  service starting last summer. It has three automated tellers in operation at Ramstein a Baum older and Stuttgart. Plans Call for two More machines in Berlin and Heidelberg in the next few months. Service Federal a arms Are not connected with any International  networks but a spokesman said that s not necessarily so bad. That a because the crids Union s new Money machine cards can be used at other financial institutions arms overseas and Manv of those Are electronically connected to stateside Banks Richard Tolle an executive with the credit Union said the new cards Are in the process of being distributed to customers. Service members can determine whether they have the latest  card by looking at the reverse Side. Cards that can be used to connect with stateside Bank networks display the logos of thence systems on the Back he said. Three other credit unions have plans to i manii arms before the end of the year. 1 at Andrews Federal credit Union based in Frankfurt West Germany senior vice president Henry Addison said plans Call for Money machines at military shopping centers in Frankfurt Wiesbaden and Wurzburg by late summer. Quot yes some of our competitors have gotten machines in place before us but i  say we re running behind a Addison said. A we just committed to installing arms last  he said Andrews machines will be part of Cirrus armed forces financial network Afan and perhaps other networks that will give customers Access to Cash Day or night. Pentagon Federal credit Union which operates in several countries plans to install arms at Torrejon a and Zaragoza a both in Spain. The machines will give customers Access to Cirrus most the Exchange Afan and american express. Spokeswoman Mary Lynn Stevens said the machines should be operational before the end of the year. In England Keesler Federal credit Union is planning to install a Money machine in the next few months. Charles Belhassen senior vice president for the United kingdom said Raf Lakenheath will be the site of Keeslerr a first . Hang in there fund investor your loser May become a Star by Kathy m. Kristof los Angeles times investors who stuck it out with some of the worst performing Mutual funds Over the past few years got their Reward during the first Quarter of 1990 As fund performances made a a Tum turning once sorry performers into stars and vice versa. Those who invested in technology stocks which had been languishing for More than two years did particularly Well with six of the top 10 Mutual funds heavily invested in some sort of technology group. But investors who had been Riding High with japanese stocks got pummelled according to Lipper analytical services quarterly Survey of Mutual fund performance. A fall the funds that were still playing last years game got hit very heavily a said Don Phillips editor of a Mutual fund newsletter in Chicago. A and those that were out of favor last year had a pretty Good  Pacific Region funds battered by record declines in the japanese Stock Market lost 13.18 percent of its value during the three month period a by far the worst performance of any group according to Lipper. Other hard hit groups included Gold oriented funds utilities financial services and International funds. However it also was a poor Quarter for Mutual funds Overall with Only two Industry groups a science and technology and european Region funds a posting positive performances. Science and technology was up 2.68 percent while european Region funds Rose a scant 0.83 percent according to the Survey. On a brighter note the average Mutual fund outperformed the Standard amp poor a 500-Stock Index. The a amp a 500 was Down 3.01 percent while the average Mutual fund fell Only 2.8 percent. A i guess for some people the lesson this Quarter was values done to have to go up a said a. Michael Lipper president of Lipper analytical. Despite severe Market drops in 1987 and 1989, Stock performance has been phenomenally Strong throughout the 1980s, Lipper said. And that has Given investors the erroneous impression that investing in Stock oriented Mutual funds is almost a sure Road to riches. But if the first Quarter is any guide the past decades performance May not be repeated. Even the top performing Mutual fund managers Are not Overly optimistic about the markets chances for 1990. The Economy is still not terribly Strong they note and that signals lower corporate  plan big Case lot Sale by the stars and stripes More army commissary customers than Ever in Europe will have the Chance to buy bargain priced groceries starting this month in one of the military a biggest Case lot sales. This years Sale will take place at 25 locations in West Germany Belgium Italy and the Netherlands. Customers can save Between 20 percent and 60 percent on More than 100 products including juices Sott drinks canned foods paper products baked goods snack foods breakfast items pet food health and Beauty aids and condiments. The . Troop support Agency Europe has ordered 218,000 cases of merchandise valued at Ujj million for this years Sale. Here Are the Sale dates for various military communities. All Are in West Germany unless otherwise noted. A april 26, 27 and 28 Vilseck Baum older Heidelberg Karlsruhe Ansbach Firth Patch Barracks i Stuttgart Robinson Barracks in Stuttgart Mumn. Hanau Vicenza Italy and at the spinel Barrac commissary warehouse in Mannheim. A May 3,4 and 5 Bamberg and Augsburg. A May 10, 11 and 12 Darmstadt Frankfurt wies Baden Berlin Giessen Bremerhaven Zweibruck Schweinfurt chevres a Belgium and Schin Netherlands. A May 31 and june 1 and 2 Wurzburg. The Sale will be held during regular shopping n. A ii Xaiv win us Siciu us aug \ re or it i Nufi at each location except at spinel Barracks. Opera j hours there will be 3 . To 8 . On april 26 an and 8 . To 4 . On april 28