European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 02, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday. May 2, 1991 the stars and stripes today s tip the typical american family a ability to buy an existing Home slipped slightly in March As falling mortgage rates and rising incomes failed to offset higher prices a real estate Trade group said. Still the National association of realtors said its housing affordability Index remains at a healthy level of 115.3 percent. That Means a family earning the National median income of $35,938 a 115.3 percent of the income needed to qualify for conventional financing on an average priced Home. Conversion rates London up no information was available on wednesday on rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures for the previous Day Are expressed in Dol ars to the British Pound other ocal currencies in dollars information on old and Silver was not available. April 30 May 1 British Pound 1.7115 a German Mark a .r,.,.1.7170. French franc .5.8520 dutch Guilder. 1.9540 belgian franc.,35.62. Italian lira. .1,280.15 Swiss franc. .1.4480 it greek drachma188.15 turkish lira. 3,903.10 saudi arabian Royal .3.75 Spanish peseta 106.98 portuguese escudo.149.35 Canadian Dollar,.,1.1510 austrian Schilling .12.2050 norwegian Krone. 6.7760. Danish Krone. .6.6250 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 1.69 through thursday based on tuesdays noontime Price fixing. Markets in Frankfurt Zurich Paris Brussels and Milan were closed for National May Day celebrations on wednesday. Trading was scheduled to resume thursday. A a a a a a a a a new York Exchange new York up a York Stock Exchange Stock Saatchi Saatchi Pepsico inc ism Cora Masco corp general motors  Philip Morris Boeing co Wal Mart stores. Compaq computer coca cola co Amer express Gen electric Upjohn co the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on tuesday. Sales 4.795.400 3.475.100 3.277.500 3.240.400 2.891.000 2.655.200 2.344.000 2,241,600 2,061,900 1.879.100 1.761.200 1,704,700 1,666,800 1.556.500 1.458.100 last 1 �31% 103 22 35 a a 45 i 66 % 45% 40 i 49 i 37% 52% 25 70% 42 i Natch. Off i up % off 1 % off i up 1 % up % off off i unch off 1 % up i up % off up % off 1 vib american Exchange new York american Stock Stock Bergen Brunswig Amdahl corp Hii Haven corp Bat industries. Pall corp Echo Bay mines Western digital Conti air Hodgs Americus t us banknote pm a the 10 most Active stocks in change composite trading tuesday. Sales last. Nelcha. 665.400 625,000 541200 489,300. 486,600 a 336,300 317,700 301.400 2 so 293,100 279,800 25% 15% 2% 1113-16 30% 8% 5% 2% 9% 5 i unch off % up i up i off % unch off up i unch unch Dow Jones is a of ones cosln3 Ranby averages High Low Cote Chang 2929.21 2859.41 2887.87 up 10.89 1163.08 1132.23 1142.81 off 5.99 211.14 207.81 210.01 up 1.70 1047.95 1023.42 1033.52 up 1.78 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities. 65 stocks a to. Shopping around can pay off when converting currencies by Mary Neth staff writer it can pay to Check around before changing dollars into other currencies. Readers have reported that military Community Banks done to always offer the Chest rates. They re right. A since rates fluctuate almost daily and sell and buy prices Are set independently by in county Banks it makes sense to shop for the Best buy. It might riot mean a much on a Dollar  two but it can translate into sizeable savings when Large amounts Are involved. A bit of Telephone sleuthing this week showed tha in some cases Banks in Germany at least offered More Marks for the Greenback than those on military in Stal Latoris. Merchants Bank did however beat the rates offered in the Netherlands and the United kingdom. Exchange rates at five Banks in Germany a banking capital of Frankfurt All with branches in cities throughout the country were compared. Three a Commer Bank Dresdner and Deutsche Bank a had rates lower than merchants. Two a Deutsche Verk ehrs Kredit Bank which specializes in outlets at airports and train stations and  a topped merchants Exchange rate. Yvonne Wise of merchants said daily rates can vary from Bank to Bank depending on the time of their Exchange rate  a a a a a a a your rates Are set by the Federal Reserve system and Are based on the value of the Dollar at a set time noon daily a shown below Are the results of a stars and stripes Survey april 29-30 comparing Dollar Exchange rates at merchants National Bank and competing institutions in Germany England and the Netherlands. Merchants rates were beaten by two Banks in Germany. Rates vary daily but it pays to Check around. It Germany rate for $1 q h England rate for a i i  1.72 Marks merchants National $1.72 Deutsche Verk ehrs 1.72 Marks Bank Kredit Bank Midland Bank $1,755 merchants National 1.71 Marks Barclays Bank $1.76 Bank National Westminster $1.7825 Commer Bank Deutsche Bank 1.695 Marks 1.685 Marks a. A Bank v a a a a a a. A up to c1.000 Dresdner Bank 1.68 Marks h the Netherlands rate for $1 Survey conducted 4/29/91 in Germany and the Netherlands and 4/30/91 in England. In some cases merchants National Bank 1.92 guilders commercial Banks May charge a Small fee per credit Lyonnaise 1.91 guilders transaction in addition to rates shown. She said. A the movement of the Market within a couple of minutes can make a great  Albrecht Fahl of the Deutsche ver chrs Kredit Bank said the rate offered by his Bank is not pegged to a specific time. A a we could offer different rates throughout the Day a he said. A but that is Seldom  he was not sure Why the rate offered for the Day by his Bank was better than most other Banks in Frankfurt. A we Are. A amps Susan Harris close to the Market and set our rate on the actual course. Perhaps the other Banks calculate differently he said. When checking Exchange rates be sure to ask if a service fee is charged. The Deutsche Verk ehrs Kredit Bank for example charges a one Mark fee when changing Money. The fee applies to transactions valued Between 20 and 2,000 Marks the credit Lyonnaise Bank in Amsterdam Netherlands also has a service charge. It collects 2.50 guilders for each Dollar Guilder Exchange. Pm Ford report huge losses Detroit apr general motors and Ford two of the nations mightiest Industrial corporations reported a combined first Quarter loss exceeding $2 billion tuesday the most graphic evidence yet of How the spreading recession has devastated sales  new cars. R neither automaker forecast a Tuma round soon. The general motors corp. Lost $1.1 billion excluding two one time gains and Ford motor co. Lost $884.4 million during the three month period the worst quarterly performance in that automakers history. Industry executives said they believed any comeback is Likely to be slow throwing into question whether any of the automakers will show a profit for 1991. A for the full year with this sort of Start in the first Quarter it will be very difficult to achieve a profit a said David Occam Mon Ford vice president and treasurer. Pm chairman Robert Stempel said in assessing the results a this is a time of extraordinary demands on our business and general motors faces the toughest and most competitive North american automotive Market in the corporations  the . Automotive losses Stem from slow sales which translate into falling dealer orders Plant closures and layoffs. Along with the lost production and lost profits a company suffers when it shuts Down a Plant Are supplemental unemployment benefits paid to temporarily idled employees. Mccammon said that in the first Quarter Ford operated plants at 63 percent capacity. In the second Quarter he said the company planned 91 percent capacity utilization yet it did no to expect to make a profit. By contrast Ford operated at nearly 100 percent capacity during much of the 1980s, when it became one of the worlds most profitable automakers. Despite the results Wall Street evidently thinks the worst May be Over for Ford and pm. Ford Rose 62vi cents a share to $32.50 on the new York Stock Exchange. Pm Rose $1.75 a share to $35.75. Some analysts also were optimistic. It report errors found by Albert b. Crenshaw the Washington Post Washington a credit bureaus which provide merchants lenders and employers with information on millions of Job applicants and potential borrowers every year got something wrong in almost Naif the reports surveyed recently by a consumer group. While Many of the errors were minor almost one report in five contained a major mistake one that could cause a creditor to turn Down a loan application according to Consumers Union which looked at some 160 credit reports in four major cities. One Survey participant reported her file had been mixed up with that of her Mother. As a result it showed her with a Large unpaid mortgage which she would Havel Adco have taken out at the age of 11. A a another participant was denied credit while she was participating in the Survey because of inaccurate information in her file the consumer group said a credit report a Ca Itzake  break a consumer a application for a wide Range of services extending beyond credit to employment and rental housing said Michelle Meier of Consumers Union. A the number of inaccuracies we found in our reports indicate that too Many Consumers May be at risk because of inaccurate credit reporting a Meier said. Consumer complaints about credit reports have been growing in recent years. Three Bills Are pending in the House of representatives that would among other things give Consumers easier Access to their files tighten rules on correcting errors and increase privacy protections. In addition rep. Esteban e. Torres a Calif chairman of the House banking subcommittee on consumer affairs has scheduled a hearing in june on possible amendments to the fair credit reporting act a 1971 statute that is the main Federal Law covering consumer credit. The credit reporting Industry which is dominated by three giant firms a Equi fax inc., trans Union corp. And try inc. A prepares 450 million credit reports annually. They Are sold to department stores Banks landlords and employers who use them to evaluate potential customers. Industry officials were reluctant to comment directly on Consumers unions findings