European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 9, 1991the stars and stripes Page 17money matters today s tip arc you a civilian interested in hanging onto your Job amid the streamlining of the . Military changing times Magazine recently suggested several strategies employees can follow to make themselves too valuable to let go. Among the ideas were 1 think and act positively. Say you like the new phone system instead of grumbling about it for instance 2� learn to speak and write better and 3 enrol in Short intense seminars or College level courses to increase knowledge and master new skills. $30 billion of d Washington up the Senate approved thursday an additional $30 billion to pay off depositors in failed savings and Loans Banks. Conversion rates London up fridays closing rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $369.25 an ounce Silver at $4,13. March 7 March 8 British Pound. 1.8870 a 1.0735 German Mark. 1.5455 1.5620 French franc. .5.2570 5 2990 dutch Guilder .1.7330 1.75 belgian franc. 31.81 31.06 italian lira.,.1,153.45 a 1,162.45 Swiss franc ,.1.3490 1.3605 greek drachma. .166 16760 turkish lira. .3,383.703,408.90 saudi arabian Riyal. .3.7503 3.7503 Spanish peseta. U.95.76 96.55 portuguese escudo. 133.92 135.04 Canadian Dollar a 1.1590 1.1615 austrian Schilling. 10.815 10.93 norwegian Krone. 6.0090 6.0640 danish Krone. 5.91 5.9665 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 1.52 monday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York up a York Stock Exchange Stock Rwjr Nabisco i first Chicago Avistar inti Uniss corp Pepsico inc Amer express Johnson amp Johnsn Upjohn co. Mcdonalds corp Chrysler corp Philip Morris Fedl Natl Mage pub Sec ent prs non corp Rwjr Nabisco it the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on thursday. Sales 5,827,100 3.749.500 3.495.700 3.252.700 2.046,900 2.032.400 2.004.200 1.864.500 1.810.700 1.806.400 1.787.000 1.723.200 1,498,800 1.483.000 1.434.000 last 10 % 23% 4% 5 % 32% 26 v4 90 % 43 Quot 34 % 14 % 67% 45 % 26 a 30 % 10% net chg. Up % off % up %. Up 1 % up % off %. Up 2% up 1 % up .1 % up %. Up up % up % off 1 % up % american Exchange new York up american Stock exc Stock Hill Haven corp Conti air Hodgs Bat industries Americus Jwj so Amdahl corp Western digital Lionel corp Forest labs inc carnival cruise Energy service a the 10 most Active stocks in Ange composite trading thursday. Sales 1,209,800 864,900 613,500 451.700 429.400 362,800 346.100 344.700 318.100 299.400 last 2%. 4% 13 3-16 36% 16 5% 2% 34% 19% 2% net chg. Up % off off % up 3 % up % up % up is off 1 is up a off % Dow ones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages thursday 30 industrials 2998 51 2948 51 20 transport 1155 85 1130 99 15 utilities 65 stocks 212 59 1060 55 210 32 1042 32 .2963 37 Down 9 90 1141 57down 1076 211.14down0 50 1048.72down 5.24 buying directly from Printer can save Check users Money by Janet Howells Tierney Washington Bureau Washington a Bank customers can save plenty by avoiding the middleman and buying Blank checks direct from the Printer. For years Banks have happily accepted Check orders from account holders primarily because of the estimated 25 percent to 40 percent profit margin they pocket Over the Cost of having checks printed. Now Independent printers Are offering checks directly to Consumers eliminating the need to buy from the Bank that holds a persons account. Some companies charge first time Cus Tomars As Little As $4.95 for 200 Plain Vanilla checks a bargain compared with the $8.56 charge levied by the average com Mercial Bank in the United states. Mar chants National Bank in Germany charges overseas customers $ 10.50 for 200 checks. The independents lower prices Are linked to More modern but less expensive printing equipment and the companies desire to Cash in on americans Check writing fever. A officials with the american Bankers association said americans used 55 billion checks last year and that number is growing by about 4.5 percent each year. The banking Industry has set standards for Check sizes the minimum weight of the paper the shape of numbers and the location of key information on till checks. The printers Are Well aware of the standards however since they have provided the Banks with customers checks for years anyway. A your checks Are 100 percent guaranteed to meet Industry standards a said Anne Holmberg of current inc. In Colorado Springs Colo., one firm that markets directly to individuals. Only a handful of printing companies have taken the plunge into the mail order business so far said the editor of a monthly Industry newsletter on the subject. A a at the most there Are Only three companies that take Check printing orders a said Patti Murphy of the checks and checking newsletter in Glen Echo my. Two companies current inc. Of Colo ratio Springs and checks in the mail of Irwindale Calif., solicit personal Check checking out checks buying checks can be a Money saving venture if the buyer scrutinizes All his options. Checks in the mail . Box 7802, Irwindale Calif. 91707 single checks duplicate checks 200 for $4.95 200 for $6.95 400 for $9.90 400 for $13.50 150 for $5.95 150 for $9.95 300 for$t1.90 300 for $19.50 current inc. Check printing dept. . Box 19000, Colorado Springs Colo. 80935-9000 single checks duplicate checks desk sets 3 checks on a Page 300 singles for $18.95 300 duplicates for $20.95 merchants National Bank Frankfurt Germany single checks duplicate checks. 200 for $10.50 150 for $11.05 starter kit with 25 checks provided free to customers. Fir to time buyer sources individual companies orders from Consumers. A third firm message checks corp. Of Washington state also dabbles in the Field working primarily As a third party Printer for private and charitable organizations. A these companies generate Only a Small percentage of the checks that Are written each year a Murphy said. Their share of the Market May be Small at this Point but the companies Are working to change that. A we offer a wider variety of colors and styles than the Banks have and at cheaper prices a said Holmberg of current inc. A Box of 200 single checks costs $4.95 and a Box of 150 checks with Carbon copies is priced at $5.95 for firs time customers she said. Subsequent orders Cost More. Another company checks in the mail of Irwindale Calif., offers similar prices for new and repeat customers. Both firms can easily fill orders for americans  a a a a a Quot. A a according to the Aba commercial Banks charge customers an average of $8.56 for 200 single checks. Customers can save Between 18 percent and 42 per 200 for $4.95 200 for $6.95 400 for $13.75 800 for $27.50 150 for $5.95 150 for $9.95 300 for $19 75 600 for $39.50 introductory offer includes a free Vinyl Check Book cover. Companies include a Check Register Deposit slips and reorder forms with each order. S8>s Susan Harris cent by buying directly from the Printer. Current inc. Offers 22 separate Check designs ranging from Teddy bears to desert landscapes. Checks in the mail features 18 different designs. Despite the Sweet deals offered by these firms though officials with merchants National Bank in Germany said most of their military customers simply order checks through the Bank when opening an account. A customers Are provided with a starter kit of 25 checks free of charge and the rest of their checks Are delivered by mail generally within three weeks said Yvonne Wise the Bank a spokeswoman. The Fieck Svirac printed by a firm in Indianapolis ind. One order of 150 checks with Carbon duplicates Sells for $11.05 at merchants while 200 single checks without duplicates go for $10.50 per order. There Are additional charges if a customer wants a special design. Wise said the Bank is willing to process other printers checks As Long As they meet Industry standards. A we done to care which checks clients use. We just Hope they keep Good records a she said. Tackling mortgage refinancing by Chet Currier the associated press new York a thanks to falling inv Terest rates Many homeowners Are entertaining visions of writing smaller monthly mortgage checks. _ a for those who have adjustable rate mortgages the break should arrive automatically. For traditional fixed rate mortgages holders face the question of whether to refinance. A fixed rates have plunged to their lowest Levels in five years a says the newsletter 100 highest yields based in North Palm Beach fla., which reports that mortgages Are available for not much More than 9 percent or lower in several areas. A homeowners saddled with mortgage rates of 10.5 percent or higher should now think about turning in that financial Albatross for something cheaper a it says. A few calculations can give candidates for refinancing a rough idea of whether it is Worth refinancing. _ for $100,000 borrowed with a 30-year term for example 100 highest yields notes that a Quarter Point difference in interest rates translates into $18.50 per monthly payment. So if you could replace a 10.5 percent mortgage with one for 9 percent your monthly payment could be lowered by about $110. Armed with that figure you can compute whether the amount saved justifies refinancing costs which include application and appraisal charges and a a Points a up front fees usually charged by lenders when they make Loans. A Point is 1 percent of the total amount of a loan. So 2vi Points on a $100,000 mortgage would be $2,500, for example. Once you know these numbers you can compute your a payback time a How Long it will fake for the difference in monthly payments to recover the initial costs of obtaining a new mortgage. If those costs were $4,400, for example a $110 reduction in the monthly payment would cover them in 40 months or a Little More than three years. However the equation comes out it can be unbalanced by tax considerations since mortgage interest is a prime deduction taken by Many taxpayers. If you lower your outlays for mortgage interest the after tax savings thus May be smaller than they might appear at first since the tax deduction will also be smaller