European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 17, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15money matters Idolla watch shown below Are the highest Dollar Exchange rates for the week of March 3-9 compared with Dollar rates for the same period one year and five years  Pound one Pound would Cost you $1-84 $1.60 1991 1990 $1.44 1986 German Mark one Dollar would buy you 1.54 1991 i 1.68 19902.26 1986 Quot military Exchange rate turkish lira 3492 one Dollar would buy you 2458 1991 1990609 1986 the dollars rally continued on world markets last week despite efforts by european Central Banks to keep it in Check. Late Friday afternoon in Europe the Dollar soared above the 1.59-Mark level and one Pound was Selling for just Over $1.84. Both rates Are better than a week earlier. V Bill Simpson economist with Barclays Bank in London said the currency Market seems committed to a Dollar buying Binge no matter what other factors pop up. The spree is being fuelled by Many observers belief that the recent military Victory in the Middle East will bring increased consumer Confidence and a Quick economic turnaround in the United states. Simpson said the Market  All signs to the contrary. He made the remark late Friday shortly before the release of Industrial production figures which showed a Sharp drop in . Manufacturing production in february the fifth month in a Row that there has been a decline. A it really  have mattered if the data had been from Albania the United states or the planet. Zong a Simpson said. A it just does no to make a lot of sense. The rally seems to have nothing to do with  he said Central Banks Are doing their Best to put a lid on the Dollar but so far their strategy Isnit working. Germany in particular is worried that a stronger Dollar will Lead to higher prices for the goods it imports and add to inflation. Unrest in the soviet Union is also helping the Dollar particularly against the German Mark Simpson said. Military Exchange rates for the weekend and monday Are stronger than a week earlier. In Germany one Dollar will buy 1.54 Marks a gain of two Pfenning. And in England one Pound will Cost service members $1.89, three cents less than last week. The stars and stripes erratic mail leaves customers with credit accounts in bind by Crystal Laureano staff writer Eloise do Amore was stunned when her Sears credit card account of More than 20 years was suddenly cancelled. The creditor claimed that two monthly payments had been received late. A i  Beliey it. I know i mailed the payments on time. I done to know what happened but i mailed the payments on time a said do Amore of the Grafe Wohr Germany military Community. Sears told her son in the states that she was late on two payments and therefore her credit card was cancelled. Capt. Fredrick w. Hildebrandt who is stationed in Frankfurt Germany estimates that he has spent about $10 in Stamps and $100 in phone Calls to the states to maintain his Good credit rating. Several months ago he started noticing that he was regularly receiving some Bills later than Normal. One arrived a week East the due Date. Fearing that payments e mailed on time were also arriving late to his creditors he wrote to try a nationwide credit reporting service in the United states to Check the status of his credit rating. A they said that in the last three months november december and january i was late on 75 percent of my payments a he said. In an attempt to counter a decline of his credit rating Hildebrandt started making phone Calls and writing letters to try and his creditors. A i said the mail Here had been very slow since the deployments to saudi a he said. A i requested they take into account the Day that i received the  Hildebrandt May have spent a lot of time and Money to Correct a problem that was not his fault but there Are Many Consumers in the same situation overseas who could learn from his approach. Slow mail delivery has been a problem since the Start of operation desert shield last year. A a. A a a a financial Counselor at military installations say Hildebrandt took exactly the right Steps to put his credit rating right again. A you definitely need to Contact the company a to explain Why a payment was mailed late and to ask that any late charges be removed said eve Romero a financial consultant at the army Community service office in Grafe Wohr Germany. Romero said correcting credit problems Isnit necessarily easy or inexpensive. A a phone Call costs Money too so you re kind of stuck Between a Rock and a hard place a she said. A of course we would like for them creditors to consider the postmark on the payment but with everything so automated now its not so easy a she said. Many Large companies Issue bar coded payment envelopes and use machines to open and sort incoming mail. A ninety nine percent of creditors arc great and will cooperate with us a said Edward Kelly an army financial coun Schlor in Mannheim Germany. Some companies though refuse to understand Why payments Are late he said. Kelly said companies that Deal with big ticket items such As cars arc the most reluctant to Overlook late payments a a it a not fair to get late charges because the mail is slow. But if it happens you have to Deal with it quickly a Kelly suggested. /. A a John s. Efford vice president of cres tar Bank in Richmond va., said that his Bank which handles visa and Mastercard accounts will consider wiping out late payments on an individual basis. A we do a huge volume of mail and As Many As 30,000 per month Are accounts with military members in the United states and overseas a Efford said. If Crestar can be convinced that a customers payment arrived late because a Bill arrived overseas late then late charges will be removed he said. W. Robert Flowers senior vice president for a amps sovran Bank in Norfolk va., said his Bank is also willing to help visa and Mastercard account handlers when its justified. A if an account Holder advised us that he or she had received a Bill late then we would not charge a late fee a Flowers said. He said sovran Bank deals with thousands of military postal addresses. Local military mail rooms can on re quest stamp the Date received on envelopes of Bills military postal officials say. And All army Post offices will have a form letter available this week to Send to creditors explaining mail delays and requesting earlier Billing cycles for overseas customers an army postal group Europe spokeswoman said. If your credit rating has gone bad already you May not learn about it until its too late warned Rose Fahrenkrug who teaches an army financial manage ment course in Mannheim. A consumer May not become aware of the problem until trying to get an important loan she a. Said. A a. A \ a a \. A that Means its Wise to make periodic checks of your credit rating with National credit reporting agencies while living overseas plus local credit bureaus if you return stateside. A your credit report is As important As your official military file a she said. Adverse actions which is the official term for negative information on delinquent accounts can stay on your credit record for seven years said Mary Beth Butler of bankcard holders of America a consumer Protection group in Herndon a. A a but you have to realize its not the credit bureaus fault a she said. A they done to collect data they just store what is reported to  Only the creditor can Correct information found in credit Bureau files Butler added so its up to the consumer to convince a creditor the information needs updating. The Long term effect of a series of late payments depends on what sort of Loans or other credit a person seeks in the future she said. While mortgage companies usually sit Down with applicants seeking Home Loans giving them a Chance to explain Black Marks on their credit reports Many other companies Arentt so kind Butler said. A credit card applications Are a Rock Essid by computer Tor example anti they done to take explanations a she said. Contributing to this report staff Waltar Janet Howells Tierney in Washington . After 51 years jury is still out on Best Way to buy Mutual funds by Chet Currier the associated press new York a like bargain conscious shoppers for any other kind of merchandise serious Mutual fund investors Pride themselves oni spending their. Money wisely., a a in a never buy a Load fund a proclaims an advocate of no Load funds which can be bought without an up front sales charge. A nonsense a Load fund partisans reply. A a it a not what you pay at the Start that counts a its How much you wind up with in the  this argument has been raging for decades at least since the investment company act of 1940 Laid out the operating framework for the modern fund Industry. And while the no Load Camp seems to have been scoring most of the Points lately the debate shows no signs of ending. In fact it has Only grown More complicated in the past decade with the introduction of new quirks like a flow Load funds redemption fees and deferred sales charges. One Long standing Point of Contention is whether any kind of sales charge is Worth the Price. A knowledgeable investors and the Media have so completely accepted the merits of no Load fund investing that the purveyors of Load funds arc getting desperate a contends Sheldon Jacobs an investment adviser in Hastings on Hudson n.y., who publishes the monthly newsletter the no Load fund investor and the annual handbook for no Load fund investors. Jacobs said he does no to condemn out of hand Load funds and their sales forces. A salesmen have a legitimate function helping investors who done to want to do it themselves a he concedes. A but its an expensive route to  in a Load fund up to 8.5 percent of the Money an investor puts up is diverted to commissions. The longer you hold the funds shares some analysts argue the less difference this makes if you View the charge As spread Over Many years. Of this Point of View Jacobs says a i done to care How Many people write it or How Many a experts say it it is simply not True. The Load never amortizes no matter what the holding period. A the longer the fund is held the greater is the difference since commission Money saved by the no Load fund buyer compounds each  but if confusion can surround the Cost of Load funds so can it create misleading impressions on the . Sponsors of both types in fact collect annual fees for their management services and to pay expenses of operating the funds. This Money comes out of the assets of the funds rather than directly from the shareholders pocket but it is still a Cost borne by fund investors As a group. So goes the quest by investors for a Good Deal through comparison shopping and close readings of the a expense inform Matin no sections of fund prospectuses