European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 9, 199.1 the stars and stripes 4 a a Page 21 Money matters i it amp c u m Pentagon oks danger pay dollars a a a a a Gold was quoted at $368 50 an ounce Silver at $3.85. Feb. 7 feb. 8 British Pound. 1.9945 1.9855 German mark1.4552 1.4570 French franc. .4.954. 4.9710 dutch Guilder. 1.6388 1.6435 belgian franc 30.025 italian lira a. .1,094,10 1,097.75 Swiss franc. 1.2425 greek drachma 155.55 156.15 turkish lira. .3,024.40 3.046.60 saudi arabian Riyal. .3.7503 3.7503 Spanish peseta. 91.68 portuguese escudo., .128.43 a it 128.97 Canadian Dollar 1.1570 t.1582 austrian Schilling. .10.229 10.265 norwegian Krone. 5 686 5.716  .5.5960 56175 1 i i f Mutual funds that invest in health and biotechnology stocks were the no. 1 performer of All Stock based Mutual funds last year posting an average gain of almost 20 percent. Some analysts think this year will bring More of the same. One big Winner of 1990 to watch again is the Fidelity select biotech fund. Last year it Rose a stunning 44.4 percent it and other Mutual funds in the health care sector will Benefit if drug research bears fruit in the fight against aids cancer or other serious illnesses analysts say. Conversion rates London up fridays closing rates for the Juls Dollar to other  Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.42 through monday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York up York Stock Exchange Stock Uniss corp general motors Chrysler corp Boeing co ism corp Philip Morris exx Orl corp at amp to company Pepsico inc Upjohn co Texas utilities Eastman Kodak get corp Goodyear tire Ford motor co a the 15 most Active stocks a new comp sales 4.840.700 2,634,800 2.598.900 2.024.100 1.751.700 1.715.100 1.671.100 1,643,000 1.631.100 1.619.900 1.574.900 1.565.900 1.514.300 1.487.100 1.476.300 on Friday ast 4 37% 11% 52% 129% 59% 53% 34 29% 42% 37% 45% 30% 18% 31 net chg. Up1% up off up1% up 1 up on of off up up up 1 % up unch up1% american Exchange new York american Stock Stock Western digital Wang labs inc b Amdahl corp Salomon it Amerl Cust. Am exploration Hill Haven corp Bat industries fruit of loom Dow chemical it Pic the 10 most Active stocks in Mange composite trading Friday. Salei last net chg. 3,134,600 4%. 0111% 1,595,600. 3% up 552,000 16% up 93apr 484,200. 2% by 2 so 369,200 6% 357,800 3% up 316,600 2% unch 311,600 1211-16 off 3-16 271,700 11% up 262,300 5 off % Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages fonday. A 30 industrials 20transpoit 15 utilities 65 stocks High 2847.28 1112.13 215.86 �?�1021.74 Low 2787.13 1088.15 212.46 1000.91 cd sgt 0.05 close 2830.69 up20. 1102.26 Oft 1.41 214.66 up 1.19 1014.91 up 4.43 for gis in 5 More nations by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington  Pentagon has authorized imminent danger pay of $110 per month for thousands of additional . Service members in five Southwest asian nations. The new countries on the list Are Turkey Syria Jordan Egypt and Israel. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney authorized the pay for personnel assigned in those countries and their coastal Waters wednesday officials said. The state department recently made Federal civilians Riyadh and the Eastern province of saudi Arabia eligible for its version of d a n Ger pay a  to,25 percent Erthe employees salaries. But a state department official said there Are no plans at the moment to extend danger pay to Federal civilians in other parts of the Region. T last september Cheney designated the entire arabian Peninsula As a danger area making All personnel in saudi Arabia Yemen Oman Bahrain Qatar and the United Arab emirates As Well As their surrounding Waters eligible for the monthly pay. \ the total number of . Service me my ers in those areas now tops 500,000. Cheney later expanded the list to in elude Kuwait and Iraq which would allow . Personnel taken As prisoners of War As Well As service members who might operate in those two nations for extended periods to remain eligible for the pay. Defense department figures show that  personnel arc assigned to Turkey although the Pentagon official said the recent stationing of additional . Aircraft in that nation to support of cration desert storm has raised that total a probably by several Hundred if not  the statistics show that just before Iraq s invasion of Kuwait on aug 2, there were 163 . Personnel in Israel. But since the War Star cd Jan. 17, the army has sent a classified number of Patriot missile batteries to Israel to help defend against scud missile attacks by Iraq. A typical Patriot Battery has 91 people assigned to it. There were More than , person incl in Egypt 72 in Jordan and 10 in Syria before the iraqi invasion. A Pentagon of finial said there has been a no appreciable a increase in those numbers As a result of desert storm. Personnel affected by Cheney latest order Are not eligible for the tax benefits or free mailing privileges granted to thousands of other service members involved in other aspects of operation desert storm. A. / a. A a a a a a a a a a we Are reviewing that situation now a the Pentagon official said. A a. A. A a. A. ,. A. A a a i a a a Quot a. A a a a. A. A a a a a irs advises War zone personnel who wish to file returns Early Washington although military personnel and civilians serving in the operation desert storm combat zone have been Given More time to file 1990 tax returns the internal Revenue service has some advice for those who wait to file now. A a a a. A a a a a a a a the words a desert storm should be written at the top of All tax returns and on the envelope they re mailed in. By taking that simple step the irs will be alerted to those taxpayers who Are entitled to special tax Relief including the suspension of All collection and examination actions and the suspension of interest charges that might be owed on Back taxes. People who have a Power of attorney that allows them to file the tax return of someone else who is serving in the persian Gulf should also Mark a desert storm on tax returns. A the irs is relaxing the standards it usually applies to Powers of attorney. Normally the Agency requires a taxpayer to use a special irs form 2848 in order to have a Power of attorney recognized. In Light of the present situation though the a essays it will now accept a general Power of attorney or a signed Quot statement that authorizes another person to act on a taxpayers behalf. The statement need not specify that the Power of attorney applies to Federal tax matters the irs said. If it Isnit possible for the spouse of a taxpayer serving in operation desert storm to obtain a signed authorization from his or her spouse the irs will accept a written statement explaining the situation. This statement need Only be signed by the spouse left behind and attached to the family a tax return. Last month president Bush said scr ice members civilian employees and government contractors in the Middle East will be Given at least six months after their return from the persian Gulf combat zone to file taxes the measure applies to spouses too whether they arc filing jointly or separately v Quot. Congress has directed that the irs must suspend any enforcement or collection actions against deployed personnel. At this stage Bush a order granting an Extension of time to file Federal taxes applies to personnel in the Middle East since Jan. 17, when operation desert storm was launched. Legislation pending in Congress could extend that privilege and other tax Relief to personnel who served in and left operation desert shield before the Start of combat. Irs officials have advised those taxpayers to write the words a desert storm at the top of their tax returns too and on any other correspondence sent to the irs. Overseas toll free Telephone line proves Boon for Catalon shoppers by Randy Mcclain financial writer t a in months after unveiling an overseas phone line that allows Catalon shoppers in Germany and Japan to place merchandise orders toll free the . Penney co. Is singing the services praises. A a we re getting three times a Many Calls per month from Germany Atud Japan than we were getting last year from All our Apo and Fpo customers combined a said Louis a. Forte . Pen neyts Catalon circulation manager. A there has been overwhelming use of  . Penney charges a $5 handling fee for processing phone orders. In return the company promises to mail merchandise within 24 hours. Quot Penney a toll free line the phone number in Germany is 0130-81-1917 went into service aug. 1 and calling volumes from overseas went up immediately Forte said. Today Penney a receives As Many As 20,000 overseas Calls a month with a the vast majority of those coming on toll free circuits from service members in Germany and Japan he said. The company a Overall business from Germany and Japan is running about the same As a year ago Forte said. The difference is that fewer service members Are mailing in orders for merchandise while Many More Are phoning in. A it seems to be a service that a very helpful to the military overseas a he said. A weve gotten several letters from people a wham ave indicated this makes ordering much More convenient for  toll free International dealing is 7 years old in Germany but the service has really taken off in the past two years. Michael Behr a spokesman for the German Bun Desposto a telecommunications division said the number of German and foreign companies participating in the program has More than doubled since 1988. . Penney is the Only stateside Catalon company with a toll free number at this Point. Other Catalon companies such As . Bean Eddie Bauer and lands end require customers to mail in orders or pay for overseas Telephone Calls. A a \ Behr said dealing toll free is the same As making a local Call in Germany. All International toll free numbers begin with the 0130 prefix followed by a company a individual phone number. Customers Are charged Only for a local Call even when they re Halfway around the world. Forte said . Penney requests that customers use the toll free service Only for ordering merchandise. If too Many people use it to make inquiries the service wont be profitable and could be discontinued he said