European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february 22, 1991 lode stars and stripes Page 17money interest rates for 30-Ycar hit rate mortgages in the United states averaged 9.25 percent last week their lowest level in nearly four years according to a Survey by the Federal Home loan mortgage corp. A a a. A a a a. A. A. A t the last time the rates for such mortgages were lower was during Ohe week ended March 27, 1987, when they were 9.07 percent. On one year adjustable rate mortgages lenders were asking an average initial rate of 7.59 percent. The rates do not include add on fees known As Points. Conversion rates London up thursdays closing rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars a a a a Agold was quoted at $363 25 an ounce Silver at $3.67. A a a a a a Quot a a. V a a a a -. A a a. Feb. 20 feb.21 a British Pound a t.9570 a German Mark _________1.4962 1,4910 French franc. 5.0745. 5.0720 dutch guilder.,. I1.6765 1.6785 belgian franc. -.30.70&Quot a 30.68 italian lira .,.-. 1,118.65 1,116.25 Swiss franc 1 2705 1.2725. Greek drachma 159.43 a a 159.83 turkish lira., 3,191.20 3,217,10 saudi arabian Riyal. .3,75 73 a 3.7503 Spanish peseta., ,.-.,. 9272 a 92.68 portuguese escudo., 130.52. 130.55 Canadian Dollar. .1.1535 1,1530 austrian Schilling,.-.10.47 a .10,48-. Norwegian Krone. .,.5.81 / 5.63 danish Krone., .5j22 a a -. 5.726 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency flu to at ions. A the Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be l45 Friday based on thursdays noontime Price new York Exchange new York up the 15 most Active stocks in new York Stock Exchange composite trading on wednesday. Stock. Salet last net chg. It United inc 7,272,600 23% Oil % Square 0 co. 3.701.ddo 72�?T/ up 20% Hewlett Packard 3,461,100 46% a up % Philip Morris 3,026,800 64 i off Boeing co 1,878,800 48 off 1% Upjohn co. 1,855,500 44% up3vi ism corp 1,854,200 137% a off 1% Natl  1,674,400 7 up Pepsico inc 1,606,90031%off% genl electric. 1,503,900 68% off 1 % get corp 1,458,000 31% Oft % Glaxo holdings. 1,403,800 37 a Oft Conner perish re. 1,393,000 24% a off 2 Texas utilities a 1,363,200 37% of % Wal Mart stores 1,350,600 35% of % american Exchange new York up a the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading wednesday. Stock Dow chemical it Rhone poulenc Salomon it exsport Finan it Echo Bay mines. Energy service. Nabors Industry Hasbro inc Cal Energy inc. Salomon Phi Bro Salet 439,400 410,600. 93apr 352,000 a a 342,000 a 305,200 258.700 255,300 240.600 236.000 Lai. M 4% 4 5% 7% 2% or 23 11% 3 /4 net chg. Off % off % a off. Up %. Off it a. Off a a up or up 1 up % Dow Jones new York up a Daw Jones dosing Range of averages wednesday a a 30 industrials a 20 transports 15 utilities. 65 stocks High 2923.76 1125.18 21718 1041.17 Law 2879.46 1105 08 214.29 1024.87 clot 2099 01 1113 89 215 73 1032 1 8 Chang Oil 33 17 0 14 94 Oil 0.38 off b.08 insurance by Ross Hetrick the Baltimore evening Sun government sponsored life insurance for military personnel provides coverage far below the american Standard and there is a movement in Congress to remedy the situation because of the persian Gulf War. The Senate veterans affairs commit tee recently approved legislation a that would increase the coverage from $50,000 to $100,000. In pushing for the change sen. John Warner Tuva. Has pointed out that the average american carries $116,000 in life insurance. A simple fairness dictates that americans serving their country in uniform have comparable Protection a Warner said. A. A. Nearly All 3.4 million members of the armed forces obtain the $50,000 Worth of life insurance through the servicemen a group life insurance program. The coverage costs $4 a month. ���. Run by Prudential insurance co., the group life program replaced various government insurance programs that had provided life insurance to services cab ers since world War i. In 1965, the government decided to turn the Job Over to a private company and awarded the contract to Prudential the giant insurance and financial services company based in Newark . Military personnel have the option of not taking the insurance but less than i percent reject it according to Charles s. Strang the programs manager. The servicemen a group life insurance program is a self supporting opera tips during peacetime but if deaths Rise Bey on d their Normal level the do part ment of defense will pay the difference. From 1965 to 1975, the government paid military life insurance r my the average american carries Over twice the amount of life insurance than what is offered to the  the.  government. $100,000 $116,000 $50,000 current Senate military proposal average american. A amps Susan Harris about $500 million in death benefits according to Pau f. Koons assistant director for the department of veterans affairs insurance programs. Because military personnel Are physically screened when they enter the service and Are assured of three meals a Day and medical care they arc in Good health Koons said and in peacetime members of the armed forces a Nave a relatively stable  Ini 1989, the death rate for the military population which had an average age of 27, was 0.7.3 per 1,000. For 27-year-old civilian males the rate was 1.74 per 1,000, Koons said. Since the Start of the War there have been 17 americans killed in combat and another 30 americans listed As non combat deaths. An additional 105 americans died during operation desert shield before the Start of the War . Quot military officials said. Quot sonic military Jar sonnet particularly officers buy additional life insurance from private companies. One Large supplier of this coverage is monumental de insurance co. A Baltimore firm. Monumental has $1,4 billion in coverage on Active military personnel and their families according to Janies . Penury general counsel for monumental. A despite its Large exposure monumental is satisfied that claims will remain manageable according to Henry g. Hagan senior vice president and chief marketing officer. J a we Are fairly coid ident of the Cap Abil ily of the military to be successful in  casualties a he said. A monumental keeps its Active military exposure to less Ilian 1.0 percent  company s total life insurance in to Dacej Hagan said. While Monument ii has paid no claims because of desert storm one of its policyholders has been reported missing in action a company official said. One insurer that has More than 10 percent of its coverage with military person Riel is us a a the san Antonio Texas based insurance cooperative that caters to officers. An estimated 35 percent of usaa a $41 billion Worth of life insure Nee is sold to Active duty and Reserve officers. A / Usa a has received some death claims recently but declined to say How Many company officials said the firm has Ade Quale reserves to cover its exposure. Bob Flannery assistant vice president and life products actuary for the usaa life in Surnce co said usaa bad no financial difficulties during the Vietnam War and has adequate reserves to cover any Cas unities from the persian Gulf War. By de Reavis staff writer the German rail system is benefiting from travellers fear of flying but it s too soon to Tell whether last years Mammoth movement of . Materiel to the persian Gulf will help the financially troubled system bund Spahn officials say. German a newspapers have ref that the rail system has been a making Money hand Over fist moving . Military cargo but the reports Are a Way off base at least for the moment a said Wolfgang Gehrke a rail service spokesman. A we really have no idea How much Money Well make because we done to have an overview of the situation. We Are also not sure who is footing the Bill and at what rates. We do expect the German defense department will eventually get the  it will. A military spokesman said the government has set aside 400 million Marks . $275 million for . Military transportation costs to the Gueft Quot a this includes All kinds of transportation rail land air and  he said All costs Over 400 million Marks will be picked up by the american government. A at the moment we have no idea what the costs will be Quot Gehrke said. He said a massive amount of War Materiel has been shipped although the Effort was not always Well organized. A the first two weeks of the buildup the american organization was so chaotic we  operate to cover our costs. It was not like the big lifts the Annua reformer exercise which Are very Well organized. But after two weeks the military brought Over some experts from the United states with their computers and the operation started clicking Gehrke said. As Many As 25 trains loaded with  military freight rolled through Germany each night destined for North sea ports and shipment he said. A we ran 668 freight trains to Antwerp Rotterdam Linden Bremerhaven and no Denham for the americans from november to mid december. Up to that Point operation desert shield had the freight volume of 23 ref pager exercises a another spokesperson for the rail service said. Since dec. 17, the German rail service has been moving two to five military trains a Day. A the trains vary in length a 20 cars for a Short one 60 cars Tor a Longjr Gehrke said. Although . Military cargo business has Wane pass Engin or act to nor passenger Raver Lias in a a creased because of fears oif iraqi terrorism. The number of rail passengers went up by 4 percent in january compared with the same period a year ago Gehrke said. A a we be calculated that some 20,000 people a Day choose not to Fly. Five thousand of them use the train the others drive or done to travel at All a he said. The German rail system has been running in the red for years despite a variety of Cost cutting measures and As Many As 3 million passengers a Day. Last year pais Senger traffic fell almost 2 percent and freight traffic was 3 percent off project lions.,. A a a a a when we fall Blu in our projections we re losing Money Quot said Erika Weiss a spokeswoman for the rail system. Quot As a government Agency we must serve All customers we can to Cut service on lines that Are uneconomical and we must Lay and service our own tracks. We earn 80 percent of our Revenue on Only 4f percent of the entire system Quot she said. Before world War ii the rail system made Money she said. It began losing Money in 1967 and by 1970 had an annual deficit million Marks. Last year the Raib system lost 6 billion Marks and this years shortfall is expected to total 8 billion Marks. O investments decline new York up japanese firms reported 148 investments in . -Manu-�?�i7mitrttu-4ast�?vf-ar falling from 192 in 1989, a new York based private business research company said wednesday. It said the trend is Likely to continue this year citing two major reasons a Many japanese firms have completed their investments in key sectors including autos trucks and transportation parts. A while the acquisition prices of . Companies is Likely to drop this year in a poor Economy rising borrowing costs in Japan will deter companies from making new investments in the United states