European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 20, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday. May 20, 1991 the Quot stars and stripes a Pago 17money matters today s tip so lies of cars and Light trucks made in the United states and Canada fell 18.3 percent in Early May and remain stuck at rec Casio Narv Levels. A nine manufacturers with North american plants sold 151,099 cars Down 18.8 percent from the comparable period of 1990, when sales were already moderately weak. Many Auto executives Are resigned to a Long slow recovery. Harold a. Poling chairman of Ford motor co., said a your own belief is that car and truck sales will improve but Only  conversion rates London up a fridays 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 $355.50 an ounce Silver at $4.04. May 16 .1.7490 .1.6925 5.7505 1.9102 34 78 .,1,261.45 1,4305 185 53 .3,949.80 3.7501 105 21 .148 35 ,.1.1489 11.928 .6 604 ,6.485 May 17 1.7195 f 1,7280 5.7800. 19t88 3510 1,269.50 1.4605 186.48 3,965.80 3.7501 105.52 149.03 i.1499 ii.983 6.635 6.510 British Pound. German Mark 1.french trans dutch Guilder a belgian trans italian Tira. Swiss franc. Greek drachma.,.turkish lira. Saudi arabian Riya. A Spanish peseta. Portuguese escudo., Canadian Dollar. Austrian Schilling. Norwegian Krone. Danish Krone.,.,.,. 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 1.66 through tuesday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. 1 appliance makers prices probed by Etc Washington a a fed Oral investigation is under Way into possible Price fixing among the nations biggest Home appliance manufacturers according to the Federal Trade commission and Industry officials. A the probe was prompted by remarks made by the chairman of a leading appliance manufacturer. The Etc said Friday it is focusing on whether there have been a invitations to collude in setting prices. During a 1989 meeting of securities analysts in new York Thomas. Phillips then chairman of Raythelon co., called on major manufacturers to raise prices by 6 percent to 7 percent. Raythelon makes Speed Queen and Amana appliances. Spokesman Larry Mccracken said Phillips a was responding to some questions that were directed toward  Mccracken said Raythelon supplied information to the Etc in 1989 and 1990 and had its last Contact with the Etc More than six months ago. Whirlpool spokesman . Reid said his company responded to a request from the Etc for information shortly after Phillips remark and again last september. General electric has supplied information to the Etc a on an ongoing basis a spokesman Jack Batty said. New guide lists 20,000 jobs of interest to service members. Ily the stars and stripes a new monthly guide offering service members help in finding a Job in the civilian world has been released and its winning High Praise from various organizations that serve the military. The april Issue of the Booklet known As the Milit an guide to career opportunities listed 20,000 jobs that persons with a variety of military skills might fill. April was the premiere Issue. Walter Krueger president of the non commissioned officers association said the publication of the guide  be More timely. A in order to comply with military staff reductions which were imposed by the 101st Congress As Many As 100,000 service members will bout looking for a Job before the end of september a he said. Krueger called the Milit an guide a the Best and most comprehensive tool a serv ice member can use to land a civilian . Milit an a publishing company based in Wayne puts the monthly guide together by scanning the classified sections of 100 newspapers in the United states and collecting information from the Federal office of personnel management applicable Job openings Are then classified by military skill codes. The Booklet also includes information on initiating a Job search and writing a  addition to the Coa. The Milit an guide has been endorsed by the association of the . Army and the air Force association. The air Force Library system is making the guide available in each of its locations around the  guide which will be published 12 times a year can also be ordered from Milit an 1255 drummers Lane suite 306, Wayne. A. 19087. A three month subscription Sells for $30, plus $6 for shipping and handling. Single copies sell for $10, plus $2 for shipping and handling. A americans increasingly worried Banks could collapse likes amp is Washington a government fax machines whine into action every Friday churning out releases on the latest Bank and savings institution failures. What once was a relatively rare event is now  seizing insolvent institutions on Friday Federal regulators have the weekend to put books in order. That Way it will be business As usual when the doors reopen monday morning. No depositor with $100,000 or less has lost Money because of the failure of a federally insured financial institution. Still there is a growing uneasiness Tinong americans As the drumbeat of failures continues. On average nine institutions fail each week. Most Are not As costly As the $2.5 billion bailout of the Bank of new England corp. But the cumulative Price tag has put an overwhelming Burden on the Federal Deposit insurance corp. A third of the nations savings and Loans have toppled of an eventual Cost to taxpayers estimated at $500 billion. Treasury Secretary Nicholas f. Brady seeks to Calm fears about a similar collapse in the banking Industry saying repeatedly that Banks and a amp is Are As different As Chalk and cheese. But at the same time he is sending a seemingly contradictory message to Congress enact the most sweeping overhaul of the banking system in the past five decades a right now a or risk banking a further decline. Analysts increasingly Are worried that it is americans largest Banks that Are under the most stress. In the Early and mid-1980s, a typical troubled Bank Likely was either a Small agricultural Lender in the Midwest or a Bank dependent on the Oil Industry in the Southwest. Now the real estate slump in the East has hit big Banks already Hurt by sour Loans to third world countries and corporate buyouts. The number of problem Banks a in danger of but not sure to fail a fell by More than a third from a mid-1987 Peak of 1,624 to 1,036 at the end of april. But the average problem Bank is now 80 percent bigger than three years ago. Weak Banks now hold $426 billion in assets a an eighth of the Industry. Still Banks Overall Are in a much better financial position than a amp is when the debacle hit the Thrift Industry. The country a 12,264 surviving commercial Banks earned $16.6 billion last year even though the Economy slumped into recession. The Thrift Industry by comparison Hasni to turned a profit since 1986. Bank owners also have $220 billion in capital invested in their institutions a substantial Cushion to absorb losses before tapping into the government s insurance fund. And the banking Industry a $34 trillion asset portfolio touching nearly every american consumer and business is almost As diverse As the National Economy itself. A amp is despite the tinkering of the 1980s,. Still Are largely confined to investing in fickle real estate markets. Quot the fundamental problem with the savings and Loans is they were economically obsolete. Banks by and Large Are performing services customers Are still buying a said Thomas Theobald chairman of Continental Illinois corp. In Chicago. But even though Banks still Are earning Money the size of the profit has declined. Over the past year the Federal Reserve system has taken a number of Steps to Stem the drop. Most importantly since Early last summer it has Cut the Federal funds rate the interest rate Banks pay for Short term Loans by 2 / percentage Points. Banks however Haven to passed All the savings on to their customers. The prime rate has fallen Only a i percentage Points. Some analysts believe the wider interest rate spread along with a predicted end of the recession this summer May mean the w Orst of the so called banking crisis is Over. In recognition of the improved prospects Bank stocks which once underperformed the Market Are rebounding. The Dow Jones average of eight Money Center Bank stocks jumped 64 percent he tween october and the end of april. That is nearly triple the gain of the broader Dow Jones Industrial average. Quot the Stock Market is saying it thinks Banks Are in better shape than it thought just a Lew months ago Quot said l. William Seidman chairman of the fdic.,-��lie-added. Quot i we see a recovery in the Economy by midyear it will be very bullish   a still a substantial body of opinion believes optimism in banking is misplaced. Nearly All of the 1.102 Bank failures from 1985 through april of this year occurred not during hard times but during the Long est peacetime economic expansion in .�?T history. Logically then the end of the recession will not cure Banks ills. Also Bank failures in the vernacular of economists Are lagging indicators. They follow rather than Lead developments in the Economy. Most of the factors that produce loan losses and subset Quentlyn Bank failures a unemployment personal and business bankruptcies Etc. A tend to Rise for some months after a recessions end. Sagging commercial real estate markets a the chief cause of banking a current weakness and of the Bank of new England failure a Are unlikely to recover for years commercial vacancy rates in major cities Are approaching a 20 percent National average and have topped 30 percent in some new England and southwestern cities. Major Florida Miami a citing recessionary pressures a prominent Florida Developer who was Worth $50 million on paper last year has filed for bankruptcy Protection. David Blumberg s planned development co. Ltd. Sought Protection from creditors Friday under chapter 11 of the . Bankruptcy code. The petition cited Cash flow shortages at projects stretching from Amelia Island the nor the in Florida coastline to Cutler Ridge in suburban Miami. Blumberg estimated he owes $56.3 million to his 20 biggest creditors and planned development listed debts of $26.7 million. Assets were not included a the general downturn in the Market has slowed leasing activity and made it impossible for some of our properties to generate enough Cash to meet debt payments a said Blumberg a former chairman of the greater Miami chamber of Commerce. In april Barnett Bank filed a $16.7 million foreclosure lawsuit charging that planned development had failed to make some loan payments since late 1990. Southeast Bank is the largest of the unsecured creditors with $3.4 million at stake. Southeast also is a secured creditor along with Barnett Bank chemical Bank of new York a amps Bank in Atlanta and a cab of Charlotte