European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 20, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday april 20, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 17_money matters today a tip an insurance Industry research group has judged the mid size Volvo 240 station Wagon the safest car in America. At the other end of the spectrum the Chevrolet Corvette had the highest death rate per 10,000 registered cars the insurance Institute for Highway safety said. The report affirmed the Long standing conclusion of Many researchers that larger cars Are safer than smaller ones the Institute checked the reported death rates for the 134 most popular 1984-1988 Model cars on . Roads during the years 1985 through 1989. Conversion rates London up a 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 s356.75 an ounce Silver at $3.90. A april 18 Panl 19 British pound.,., ,.1.7730 1.7245 German shark. .1.6880 1.7340 French franc. .5.6850 5.7980 dutch guilder.1.8902 1,9337 belgian franc .34.6650. 35.4025 Ita Ian lira-.1,246.45 Quot 1,270.20 Swiss franc .,1.4375 .1.4670 greek drachma,182.00 .186.02 turkish lira Quot. 3,825.40saudi  .,3.7504. 3.7504 Spanish peseta. .103.63 105.90 portuguese escudo 145.63 148.40 a Canadian dollar.1,1519 1. 1.1532. Austrian Schilling. .11.814 .12.075. Norwegian Krone., .�?z6.527 a ,6.682 danish Krone. 6.4210 6.5625 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 monday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York up York Stock Exchange Stock tandem computer  am corp digital equip it. Philip Morris Saatchi Saatch blockbuster ent. Amer express Tonka corp. Ford motor co Conner perish re Sears Roebuck. Boeing co a Glaxo holdings a global Marine. Citicorp. The 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on thursday. Sales 3.231.600 2.701.900 2.318.600 2.153.300 2.099.400 2.061.600 1.977.200 1.901.200 1.874.500 1.873.300 1.786.500 1,741,700 1.721.400 1.697.400 1.684.900 last 16 1 /4 a 70 % 70 1 % 1174 29 a 4% 33% 27 a 39 vie �?�47 a 38 % 4% 16% net chg. Up 1 % up. Up 4 off % unch up % Oft unch up 1 % up % up 2 % up % off 1 a up up % american Exchange new York up a the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading thursday Slerk. Stock Conti air Hodgs fruit of loom Western digital Amdahl corp amen Cus disc carnival cruise amen Cus t. Dow chemical it Eriq Gay mines Hasbro inc sales 723.900 682,200 647.700 575,000 528,400 492.500 2 so 481,400 430.500 412.900 394.700 last 1v4 14% 5% 17% 7% 25 9% 6 8% 29 % net chg. Off 1 % unch off % up 1 up v4 up % off % up % off/4 up 2 Dow Jones up a Dow Jones closing Range of averages 30 mistrial adj sport a-1  Vosnos High 3027.72 1189.17 219 69 1080.75 Low 297624 1157.26 215.54 1058.87 close 299926 1178 07 216 30 1069.59 charge Oft 5 20 up 11.81 0 13.46 of 0.44 fantasy baseball catches on creating big league business by Michael lev the new York times fantasizing about baseball has become a big business. Publications computer firms newspaper games even 900 Telephone services have sprung up to address the growing Market for fantasy baseball a pastime believed to have several million fanatical adherents. �?o1 would say $20 million to $50 million is generated by this Hobby now a said Greg Ambrosius managing editor of fantasy baseball Magazine. A most people have Only been playing about three years. I  put a number on it but 1 think it will double double and  and Glen Waggoner one of the games creators and co editor of a rotis scribe league baseball a a baseball guide Book said a a it a the biggest mom and pop business since the heyday of the fam try  in fantasy baseball each participant owns and manages an imaginary team whose players Are drawn from major league rosters. The players Are picked in a league draft and each fantasy team is ranked weekly by the cumulative statistical performance of the players on its roster a. A a a a a a a a. A a a Quot a a a. A a a a a a. The game was invented by a group of new yorkers about 10 years ago who called their creation rotisserie league baseball after the French restaurant where the game was conceived. Rotisserie has become an obsession for Many fans who agonize Over personnel moves and abandon lifelong loyalties to real teams to Root for the players on their fantasy teams. A when i was a kid i traded baseball cards and had a relationship with the players through the cards a said Scott Byron a new York record company Talent scout who plays in a league with other music Industry executives. A now trading players is a lot More interesting than trading  As in real baseball Money quickly becomes part of the equation in fantasy baseball. Many leagues use real Money in their drafts with participants putting up As much As several Hundred dollars As Well As various transaction fees. The leagues often hire a computerized statistical service typically costing about $600 a season to keep track of each teams performance. Seeking a competitive Edge fans like Byron have turned to a growing number of $15 fantasy baseball books $3.50 magazines and $25 tip sheets that have appeared in the last few years to provide statistical information and analysis. Trading players is a lot More interesting than. Trading cards a Scott Byron rotisserie league player even such mainstream publications As the sporting news and Usa today have published special editions and introduced new statistical categories coverage and columnists to address the fans. For example Usa today baseball weekly contains a fantasy league report. Fantasy baseball kicked off Over the weekend with the annual draft. Ambrosius estimated i million people gathered in Homes restaurants and bars to pick players. Most fantasy leagues began their season last monday. The fans enthusiasm has attracted numerous baseball entrepreneurs As Well As established companies like Bantam books which published about 50,000 copies of Waggoner a Book this year and Krause publications the Hobby Magazine publisher of the bimonthly fantasy baseball which says it has a circulation of about 170,000. A a Here a the pitch reads one Magazine advertisement for fantasy league trends newsletter a insightful articles. Plaver ratings. Expert analysis. 22 weekly issues. Just $24.95.&Quot another advertisement reads Quot playing newspaper fantasy baseball last year 1 won Over $4,500 in Cash and prizes. $20 gets my system strategy stats in charts a t he largest Market in the fantasy baseball business involves computerized statistical services that provide game results and league standings. Once a league files its rosters with the service every week each team receives the calculated standings sent by computer facsimile machines or through the mail. Last year about 40 companies advertised such services. This year there Are at least 50. Fantasy baseball Magazine reviewed nine computer services in its special draft Issue last season this season it reviewed 35. The growing number of computerized statistical services has made the Market competitive perhaps even saturated. That has meant Cut rate prices. While Many companies charge about $60 a team for the season some Are offering their services for As Little As $20 or $30. A a Patton a 1991 Quot fantasy baseball Price guide Simon amp schuster $9,95 and a the scouting report 1991�?� Harper Collins $15.95 vie for space on Bookstore shelves with Waggoner a Book now in Fos fifth edition. Bill James a respected baseball author has even added his name to a new variation on fantasy baseball that can be played through the mail by Telephone and computer. A Bill Janies fantasy baseball costs $85 a season. Newspapers have also jumped into the fray. Three years ago Waksman amp de Forrest advertising Agency of Irvine calif., created a game called dugout Derby As a promotion for a regional edition of the los Angeles times t his year seven newspapers including the los Angeles times and new Day will feature the game. Public pessimistic about imports new York apr three of four americans questioned in an associated press poll said they think businesses in the United states lost ground to imports in the past year. Only 15 percent said . Businesses gained ground ninety percent said they see economic Competition from Japan As an important problem for the United states. \ Quot a a a this Stark pessimism on foreign Competition was gauged As americans returned their attention from the persian Gulf War to their personal economic status such As a the family Check Book balance. A joblessness among friends. A the odometer on the rusting car in the driveway. The Telephone poll of 1,006 adults was taken by ice Survey research group of Media pa., at the end of March. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus of minus 3 percentage Points. On the question about economic Competition from Japan 56 percent said it is a very important problem 34 percent rated it somewhat important and 8 percent not important. The . Deficit in Trade with Japan last year a the Gap Between exports and imports a amounted to $41 billion which was Down $8 billion from 1989. In contrast the Trade deficit with Germany was up from $7.95 billion in 1989 to $9.4 billion last year. Yet Only 14 percent in the poll said economic Competition from Germany is a very important problem 44 percent said somewhat important and 35 percent said not so important. Media coverage of the two economic powerhouses could account for the Dif Fere new a in Public perception said Jay Schmiedeskam an economist who is an analyst at the Gallup organization. A a there a Yeen an enormous amount of press about Competition from Japan Quot he said. At amp to plans rebates on 21,000 Calls Washington a amps about 21,000 at amp to customers were overcharged for Calls placed from saudi Arabia to Germany Between March 12 and april 12, Telephone officials said  Billing errors will be corrected and customers will be credited for the difference said spokeswoman Lynn Newman. A computer software glitch apparently caused the Price of Calls from saudi to Germany to return to their More expensive pre Jan. 10 rate. At that time at amp to lowered their Normal rate of $27.12 for a 10-minute  the two countries to $16.04, which was the same Price of an identical Call from saudi Arabia to the United states. A the reduced current rate includes $3.19 for the first minute $1.15 for each additional minute and a $2.50 service charge Newman said. A we know customers will see a difference in their Bills but we expect to be Able to catch 95 percent of the errors a she said. A anyone who receives an incorrect Bill should Contact us and a correction will be made.�?�. The saudi Arabia to Germany phone link which began dec. 24, is the result of some special negotiations by at amp to officials. A we arranged a unique agreement Between the saudi arid German Tel communicator systems to provide the service a Newman said. A fall other overseas Calls Are routed through the United