European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 23, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 17money matters i a  s tip mouse majority Leader Richard a. Gephardt a Mon a said tuesday that providing a tax Cut to Middle income americans while increasing taxes paid by the wealthy will receive a highest priority in the House. A the proposal is aimed at spurring economic recovery and increasing fairness. He endorsed a. Bill by fellow democrats that would provide an $800 tax credit for children and raise taxes sharply on incomes above $100,000. A that Agenda is not Only important for the country but its going to be important for the presidency in 1992, said  rates London up wednesdays 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 $356,75 an ounce Silver at 54.09. May 17 May 21 a British Pound 7365 h 1.7335. German 1.715 v a a French franc ._.5.825--. A 5.819 dutch Guilder 1.94551.932 belgian . A a a .35i27 a a a a a 35.32 italian 274,20, 1,272.50 Swiss franc a a .1.4465 a 1.4525- greek drachma 188.30 187,98 a a Turid Sti ,. A a a a �?z4012.40 4,003.60 saudi arabian ,3.75. V a 3.7501 Spanish peseta 108,28 it. Portuguese escudo i.l-.i.150,06 149,58 Canadian dollar.1.1486 1.1486 austrian Schilling 12.107 1 2.064. Norwegian ,v .m,.�,.iv6,6946.6735 danish Krona 6.5o 6.56 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service  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 thursday based on wednesdays noontime  York Exchange. New York up York Stock Exchange the 15 most Active stocks in new 1 composite trading on tuesday. V. Slock _ Sale last net chg. Us Maral fion 12,258,600 25 vie off Vuk a Carv aluminium. 6,222,700 19 % a up a limited inc. 4,689,100 28 up Vuk Philip Morris. 2,829,300 65 ?/6 up 1 a  a a 2,534,800 27 Oft w Vigoro corp 2,208.200 14- unch. Rwjr. Nabisco hid 2,183,200 10vj. Unch. Blockbuster ent a a 1,971,900 8 i off i Amer express 1,883,600 23 w a up i Compaq computer 1,787.200 36 a up a. Ism corp a a. 1,689,200 101 a off 1% Pepsico inc 1,477,100 32 a up. Texas utilities v 1,442,000 36% unch adv Micro docs. 1,403,000. 12 up % Saatchi Saatchi a 1.314,600 1 % up a american Exchange. New York up a the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange  tuesday a a Stock a a a fruit of loom a Pali com a a Telesphere comm Amdahl corp a americas by so first Aust  Imperial Oil a Conti air Hodgs  swat mtg inv americas disc a sates last net chg Quot 461,000 14 i. Up a432.800 34 % up a 346,300 1 off % 278,500 16 unch 277.000 a 29% a a up 1 % 2441q0 10 off a 231,900 46%. Off 205.900 it 2  off % 173,600 8 % a up is 162,300 9% a up a Dow Jones. New v0rk up. A a Dew Jows doing Range of averages tuesday a Quot Quot 1 a. A a High. Low 30 industrials. 2931.80 2875.00 20 transport a 1138.93 1119.53 15utilities. 212.09 209.38 65 stocks a 1043.29 1024.78 close change 2906.08 up 13.86 1129.06 off 0 17 21089 up 0.44 1034.65 up 3,09 Stock Mutual fund ownership jumped 70 percent in 10 years new York a  51 million americans owned shares in a company or Stock Mutual fund last year ,70 percent More than a decade earlier the new York Stock Exchange said tues Daya but growth slowed toward the end of the turbulent 1980s the nation s biggest Stock Exchange said that about one in five individuals were involved in the Stock Market As of mid-1-99.0, five times More than in 1952, but the bulk of the Rise in share ownership in the late 1980s came from investments in Mutual funds suggesting that Market volatility and the 1987 crash a dampened e enthusiasm for individual i stocks. The nose sought to portray a sustained Tise in Stock ownership in the 1980s, but it did not conduct a Survey Between 1985 and >1990, when Many incs tors reduced their individual Stock holdings in response to the crash. N oct Hele is n use gha Irma n Willi  h. Donaldson said the study,.indicated that despite concerns about Mark volatility a investors continue to find stocks an important part of their Long term financial . The Survey was the 12th conducted periodically by the nose since 1952 the Exchange said it based the findings on interviews with 5,096 households i lion wide in late july and Early August 1990. The nose used the data to conclude that a total of 51.4 million americans we re invested either Ini n d vivid Ual stocks or Mutual funds 21.1 percent of the total population. That was Duponty slightly from 47, million or 20.1 percent in the last Survey in 1985. A much larger jump occurred in the previous five years from 30.2 million share owners or 13.5 percent of the population in 1980 i n 1952, 6.49 million americans were shareholders or 4 2 percent of the population share  the recession and Market slump of 197075.spokeswoman Sharon gum sin said the. Exchange did not intentionally bypass the it Post crash period in deciding when to conduct the Survey but was involved in other matters including studying the Market dive. Investor Confidence in the. Market is believed to have rebounded Only in the last year. The most dramatic change in shareholder behaviour from 1985 to 1990 was a 130 percent increase in the number of americans investing in Stock Mutual funds to 25.3 million from i l million. The number of 1 individuals owning shares of nose listed stocks increased /17 percent in the period the smallest Rise of any Type of holding to 29.6 million. Ownership jumped 107 percent to 6.67 million people for stocks 1 Isle on other exchanges and 32 percent to 11.05 million of Rove r-1 he Cou n t e r issues. Mrs in  me Usan. A Muu.  Jiuu  i Iau i nonetheless nose chairman William in 1952, 6.49 million americans were for Over the counter issues. Shareholders gain evidence supporting suit against Sears by the new York times a Denny wrote. A the sweeping corporate overhaul ii. Iff z1 Quot Quot a 1. I x 4-,� t j. Ii 1 a Quot a a. No i  t i a a a l t Zolt. A. I Quot i h of i i a 1 i a a a \. A a. T 9 1 111 i f i i a. A a a r a. A. Chicago a documents released tuesday by Sears Roebuck amp co. Support shareholders contentions that Sears an pounced i to i arge scale restructuring i n a october 1988 to thwart hostile bidders. R the documents were released As part of a shareholder lawsuit against Sears directors of a Public company can legitimately defend it against a hostile bidder but the defense becomes illegal if t he com Pany Ca n no t of be r s Hare holders a better alternative than the bidder and if the directors primary purpose is to on Trench themselves. Quot a a a a the shareholders lawsuit contends that Sears management acted to entrench itself Sears disputes that Contention. The documents released arc a mostly shareholder accusations and scars  released Only snippets of the depositions that its executives have Given and of the internal scars memorandums that have been offered into evidence. In one memorandum James. Denny scars chief financial officer wrote to other Sears executives in Advance of a secret meeting they held in. Chicago on aug. 30, 1988, to discuss the  the purpose of the analysis is to assist in the formulation of a strategy to Deal with a hostile approach to the company a Denny wrote. The documents also referred to a memo written in March 1988 by John Sayre a Sears financial analyst to Stanley Wright head of Sears corporate financial analytical group. A Sayre wrote that the restructuring would be an a essential weapon against unfriendly  in another t memo a an unidentified Sears executive encouraged scars to play Down the anti takeover effects of an employee Stock ownership Pian. Which Sears formed in 1989w&iid to develop instead a a a legitimate Public reason for establishing an employee Stock plan. The documents also showed that Goldman Sachs amp co., Sears longtime Wall Street adviser concluded in november 1987 that a Raider might be Able to rest rust u re scars and achieve a 37 percent to 68 percent Premium for investors compared with the 23 percent to 38 per be n t pc Iii that Sears could achieve if it restructured itself. The documents said Goldman then recommended anti takeover measures that Sears subsequently adopted. A Goldman Sachs spokesman declined to comment and referred reporters to Sears. Sears has said All along a and it repeated tuesday a that the overriding purpose of the restructuring was to Benefit investors. A. _ the sweeping corporate overhaul included a buying Back $1.7 billion in Stock. A planning to sell the Sears Tower in Chicago the world s tallest building at i Losi ories to �,.divcsttng the Canmer Virrl Divisi of cars to go 1 d we 11 b a n k e r r e a 1 e state u nil. A refocusing Sears Dean Witter Reynolds and Allstate insurance groups. A a overhauling the troubled Sears Mur Claudise group by. Cutting prices and introducing More Brand names despite the breadth of the Lesti Uchur ing the court documents made Public indicated that scars directors took two hours and 20 minutes to approve the plan. A the plaintiffs Are attempting to show that the Sears Board acted hastily Ruh Ber stamping a restructuring plan favored by top executives who wanted to keep management intact. Quot. Sears disputes that  a the Sears Board was Well informed with the information it needed on these issues both before the meeting and at the meeting Quot a spokesman said. David Shute Sears top in House Legal counsel acknowledged that the rest Rue Turing was accelerated because of takeover rumours but he insisted that its purpose was to generate More earnings for Sears shareholders. Bankruptcies show recession lingering new York apr . Business failures Rose 58 percent in april compared to a year ago evidence that the recession is continuing Dun. And brads treet corp. Reported tuesday. The business information company a monthly analysis of business bankruptcies tallied 7,459 business failures in april 1991, compared with 4,709 in april 1990. All but six states and every major Industry group reported increases. =. A a everyone a getting hit pretty hard in this particular downturn a said Reid Gearhart a Dun and Bradstreet analyst. Failures totalled 28,340 for the first four months of 1991, a 55 percent  the 18,286 recorded in the same non recessionary period in 1990. The finance insurance and real estate sector posted the sharpest percentage increase up 70 percent the company said a it s confirmation that the recession has continued through april a Dun and Bradstreet economist Doug handler said. A the recession is continuing but its not getting deeper. We re forecasting the recession to end soon with slow growth to follow.�?�. A Btl be Curreia trend in business in dilutes is similar to the pattern established in the previous recession year of 1982, when bankruptcies increased 48 percent a said Joseph w. Duncan Dun and Brud Street a chief economist. Bankruptcies in the services Industry increased nearly 65 percent in april from the previous year with 60 percent of the increase attributed to failures in the Pacific and mid Atlantic regions Duncan said