European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday. April 1, 1991 the stars and stripes a. Page 17money matters today s tip if there a any Comfort to be had in filing 1990 income tax returns. Its that taxpayers do not face any dramatic changes or big surprises lurking in the tax Laws. But the bad news is that 1990 is the last year under the 1986 tax Reform act that consumer interest costs can be deducted on obligations such As car Loans and credit card purchases. A a ,. Under the Laws phase out Rule Only 10 percent of the interest can be deducted in 1990, Down from 20 percent last year. Next year no deduction will be  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 s355. An ounce Silver at $3.84. A March 28. March 29 British Pound. .1.7340 a German Mark. 1.7070 a French franc a. 5.8160  dutch Guilder. 1.9345. A a a belgian franc 35.3025 35.0500 italian lira .�?��?�1,279.20a a Swiss franc1.4555 1. A. A a a greek drachma. 185.50 a turkish lira a. ,.3,695.40. Saudi arabian Nyat 3.7502 a Spanish peseta 106.35. A a portuguese escudo150.30 a Canadian,. -v.1.1592 Quot a a austrian Schilling .,12.074. Norwegian krone.6.666. _. Of Ash Krone 6.5670 a 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 1.67 through tuesday based on thursdays noontime Price fixing. Japan s . Real estate take could reach $80 billion in 91 by Richard l. Vernaci the associated press Washington a japanese investors Are still acquiring . Real estate Al though at a decelerating Pace. Their total investment however could reach More. Than $80 billion this year according to a major accounting firms study. California Hawaii Guam and Florida were the hottest areas for japanese real estate investment in 1990. Among cities los Angeles passed new York As the metropolitan area with the highest amount of japanese investment a a the biggest loser in relative terms was the state of new York. New japanese investment statewide has All but dried up dropping from $2.3 billion in 1989 to $418 million last year the study said. Overall japanese investors put some $13.06 billion into american real estate last year. That a Down from $ 14.7 billion from the year before said the study by Kenneth Leventhal amp co., an accounting firm that specializes in real estate and foreign investment. Quot i done to believe its the Selling of. America a said Stephen g. Finch managing partner of the accounting firms Washington office. A a from my perspective and the firms perspective japanese investment has been Good for real estate a he said. Investment activity ground to a Complete standstill late last year but is beginning to pick up again now that the Gulf War is Over and. The . Economy is showing signs of improvement he said. The study based on Public transactions and information the firm has gathered privately forecasts japanese investors will put from $6 billion to $10 i lion into . Commercial real estate this .year.-. A a a a. Their focus will Likely be on hotels Golf courses apartment buildings and other income producing properties. That would bring total cumulative investment to As much As $81 billion up from $70.7 billion at the end of last year $57.8 billion the year before and $42.8 billion at the end of 1988. Though substantial Japan a real estate investment is in fourth place among foreign owners. Ranks behind great Britain the Netherlands and Canada Finch said he did not provide figures for the other countries. In past years the japanese have made Well publicized purchases of a a trophy properties such As a Large share in Rockefeller Center in new York and the Sears Tower in Chicago. But that has slowed considerably in part because the Cream of that kind of property has now been bought and in part because the japanese Are Gushy about All the publicity Finch said. A a they re a very closed society a Finch said. A they like their privacy and part of the difficulty in dealing in the . Is How Public we Are about most of what we do. The Pace of japanese investment in . Real estate has slowed but not stopped. The bar graph below shows the cumulative value of american properties owned by japanese investors since 1988. 1989 1990 1991. A amps Sharon Kildany a and there a been a lot of notoriety and a lot of concern about the property that they acquire. Sometimes it Pul them in an embarrassing position to7 justify their options a he said. Minimum wage jumps to $4.25south Korea drops f/a-18 for Al 6s by Ralph Vartabedian los Angeles times South Korea has cancelled its order to buy 120 Mcdonnell Douglas f/a-18 Hornet Jet fighters selecting instead the less costly general dynamics f-16 in a deah potentially Worth $5.2 billion. The reversal which came As a Surprise not Only to Industry observers but even to Mcdonnell Douglas could help general dynamics sustain employment at its fort Worth Texas Plant which has been hit hard by layoffs Over the past year. Under its agreement Korea will produce most of the f-16s with Pirts imported from the United states., the f/a-18 or f-16 would have Cost far less had Korea simply bought Standard aircraft produced in the United states. But it is seeking through the Purchase to enhance the technical capabilities of its aerospace Industry . Experts said. C a Samsung aerospace industries which builds parts for Boeing and engine maker Pratt and Whitney has been designated the main contractor for the korean work. Political controversy Over the potential loss of  technology has delayed congressional approval of the 1989 Sale of the f/a-18s. In the meantime the Cost increased prompting the koreans to reconsider the Deal. Washington a the minimum wage increases by 45 cents an hour monday to $4.25, but labor advocates Are already talking about More. About 3 million. Americans earn the minimum , and millions of higher paid workers May also Benefit As the minimum increases from $3.80 an hour. But workers advocates contend the increase still is far too paltry to lift Low wage workers out of poverty. A they can to support a family on this and in Many cases can to support themselves a said Rudy Oswald chief economist of the Al  a a the 14.2 million member labor federation has called for boosting the minimum wage to $5.75 an hour by april 1994. And sen. Edward m. Kennedy d-mass., has promised that his Senate Laboi and human resources committee will take up minimum wage legislation during the current Congress either this year or in 1992. Business executives dismiss the need for another increase in the minimum wage. The White House has indicated it would Likely oppose it. A i done to know what kind of dream world they re in a John Meritt a senior vice president of Hardeep a restaurants said of those Catling for increase. A when your labor component goes up it ultimately gets passed on to the consumer he said. Kennedy called the 45-cent raise an a april fools increase Well below what Low wage workers deserve.�?�. A just to restore the ground lost in the Reagan years the minimum should be by Alison Leigh Cowan the new York times new York since the persian Gulf War ended Mutual fund investors have been shifting their Money out of Cor Serva Tive investments like government securities funds and into riskier investments like Stock funds specializing in growth Zompa Nies and High yield Bond  shift which intensified in March signals that investor Confidence is on the mend fund managers said. A investors Are just hungry to get into the Market a said Chrissy Snyder a spokeswoman for the Janus group of Mutual funds in Denver. The group saw a net $211 million in Cash come into the group in february up from $137 million in january. A this month we be had $189 million and we re still not finished with the month a she said Snyder said the Strong inflows suggested that investors were less afraid of this recession than prior ones when they sought out Only the most conservative investments. Steven Norwitz a Quot spokesman for t. Rowe Price associates in Baltimore agreed that March was looking Bright. A we continue to see very Strong investor interest  funds a he said. A not quite at tub level that we saw in february but february was a record High so we  expect to match  even sponsors of Mutual funds that Are sold through brokers whose investors tend to be slower to react to investment trends reported a change in investor sentiment. A people Are much More confident than they were two months ago or certainly during the outbreak of the War a said Jon Fossel chairman of the Oppenheimer group of funds which Are sold through $5.15 an hour today a Kennedy said. Congress should close the Gap and end a this continuing exploitation of the working poor a he said White House spokesman Stephen Hal t said the administration could not take a stand on legislation that had not been introduced. The increase in the minimum wage is the second step of a two part increase Congress enacted in 1989 after a Long and fierce Battle with the White House. President Bush had vetoed an earlier version he considered too hard on businesses. A a a a. A the first step of the increase took effect a year ago when the minimum wage went from $3.35 an hour to $3.80. It was the first increase in nearly a decade. A a wars Over brokers. Those observations came As the investment co. Institute issued a report late last Welcon Mutual fund activity in february. A a a 7�?o according to the Institute a net total of $3.1 billion poured into Stock funds on the month the strongest showing since $4.4 billion was invested last May. That includes All new purchases of Stock Mutual funds All redemption and All transfers among funds 7 of that $3.1 billion $1.2 billion flowed into growth funds that specialize in Small or High risk companies and $806 million went into aggressive growth Stock funds. Bond funds also benefited but to a lesser extent than the Stock funds. One of the biggest magnets for those dollars were the High yield Bond funds also known As a junk Bonds funds which surged $330 million. -