European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday june 10, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 17 Money matters today a tip Many of the nations major retailers have reported a Long awaited improvement in sales for May suggesting that consumer spending May be on the Rise and the Industry a recession has bottomed out. The Best performers were once again the discount stores such As Wal Mart and Kmart while luxury goods retailers and department stores that depend on sales of big ticket items fared less Well. A we Are not out of the Woods yet a said Rick Nelson a retailing analyst with Duff amp Phelps inc. In Chicago a but the trend in May is a big  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 $366.75 an ounce Silver at $4.56.a. June 6 june 7 British Pound .1.6875 a 1.6725 German Mark. .1.7515. 1,7668 French franc .5.9275. 5.9545 dutch Guilder. .1.97251.9780 belgian franc. 36.005 36.155 italian lira. .,1,296.90 .1,304,00 Swiss franc 1,4995 1.5170 greek drachma.191.72 192.00 turkish lira.,.4,138.40. 4,154.60 saudi arabian rival .3.7502 a 3.7502 Spanish peseta. .108.25 108.58 portuguese escudo .152.28. 152.69 Canadian dollar.r.,.1.1465 1.1462 austrian Schilling. .,.,.12.319 12.357 norwegian Krone .6.822 6.844 danish Krone .6.7255 6.7410 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 1.71 through monday based on fridays noontime  shows Mutual funds Are consistent by the new York times do winners repeat in a classic 1968 study Michael Jensen a Harvard University professor concluded that the past performance of Mutual funds did not predict future performance. In fact regulators require funds that advertise performance to include disclaimers stating this in their advertisements. Nevertheless most investors rely heavily on track records to select funds. A recent study by Roger la Botson a professor at Yale University and William Goetzmann of Columbia University found support for investors behaviour. Looking at 728 funds for a dozen years they found a Strong evidence that a both winners and losers Are Likely to repeat their performances in subsequent years. Over four different three year periods 41 percent of the funds in the top quartile in the first period stayed in the top bracket when funds cumulative average performance was calculated for the subsequent periods. And 72 percent of the previous winners performed in the top half. Consumers seek Protection from credit reporting errors by Robert a. Rosenblatt los Angeles times Washington James Russell Wiggins was fired from a Good Job As a Salesman for a Cable television company after a credit reporting company confused him with James Ray Wiggins a Man who had pleaded guilty to cocaine Possession. A. A. When the error was pointed out a it did no to do me any Good a. They did t offer me my Job Back a Wiggins told a congressional hearing last week. A Wiggins joined other aggrieved Consumers and several members of Congress who were making unusual personal appearances As committee witnesses. All called for strengthening of protections in the credit reporting Laws to keep Consumers from becoming victims of credit Bureau  major credit bureaus pouring out 450 million reports a year May have errors in As Many As 40 percent of their files rep. Richard Len Mari a Calif told the consumer affairs subcommittee of the House banking committee. A the tragedy is that Consumers done to know what information is contained in their report until its too late after they have been denied credit for a Home or car or after they have been denied a Job a Lehman said Lehman has drafted a Bill giving Consumers the right to inspect All information in their files and get a free copy of the report once a year. Current Law allows individuals Access Only to a the nature and substance of credit information about them. And credit reporting companies have made a profitable business of charging As much As $35 for copies of an individuals report. There Are nearly 1,000 credit reporting companies but the business is dominated by three Equi fax inc. Of Atlanta trans Union corp. Of Chicago and the try credit data division in Orange calif., a subsidiary of try inc. Of Cleveland. They defended their handling of information about Consumers. A the objective facts prove that we have done and continue to do our Job very Well a Walter r. Kurth president of that associated credit bureaus ihc., said in prepared testimony. A few would disagree that our Quality of life and Standard of living to a Large extent come from a Strong consumer and. Mortgage credit system.�?�. The errors emphasized in last weeks testimony most frequently occur when credit reports mistakenly mix information about individuals with similar names As happened with James Russell Wiggins. Wiggins a Washington resident had worked for a Cable television company for two months in 1990 when his employer sent for a credit Bureau report the company was following an increasingly common business practice of relying on credit information to help screen the reliability of new workers. He was fired when the report combined his address and social Security number with the arrest record of the other Wiggins. Another witness Mark of Guimond said he has spent two fruitless years try ing to Correct errors in the file compiled on him by a credit Bureau. Gregory n. Evans of Englewood colo., said he had been plagued by Bill collectors trying to recover Money owed by another Gregory n. Evans for overdue Bills on a credit card and a Bank loan. Rep. Esteban e. Torres d-calif., the subcommittee chairman expressed sym path for the witnesses. / a you add a human face to the tragedy going on around the country Quot Torres said. A a system that. Produces errors in almost half its reports while requiring More than six months to remove those errors must not be allowed to  Torres said  will work to strengthen the fair credit reporting act legislation passed in 1970, at a time when Many credit reporting companies still relied on Handwritten cards in tiles. Today massive computer systems enable the reporting companies to amass and manipulate huge amounts of data. The companies can Combine detailed reports  lists of names of potential Consumers to a wide variety of businesses offering credit cards Home. Loans and other services. The concern about mistakes in credit Bureau files crossed party lines at last weeks hearing with both democratic and Republican members of Congress asking for new legislation. A the credit reporting Industry is out of control a said rep. Charles e. 8chumer,  appeared As a witness. A lots of names do get mixed  Schumer called for legislation that would require companies to Supply Consumers with a free copy of the credit reports about them. Rep. A Clay Shaw jr., r-fla., said the Law should be amended to give Consumers automatic notice whenever a creditor reports negative information to a credit Bureau. Rep. Matthew j. Rinaldo r-n.j., said one of his constituents was rejected for a mortgage because his credit report had 16 errors including �?o13 listed accounts that were not  new commissary Leader to stress Quality service by Mike Genalo new York Bureau new York a the number of commissaries that will remain open in the future is still undecided but army maj. Gen. John p. Dreska is confident that customers will see Overall improvement in service and Quality. Effective oct. 1, Dreska will assume command As director of the defense commissary Agency and will oversee the management of the military a entire commissary program. Until now the various military branches have run their own stores. The system currently consists of More than 400 military stores with annual sales of $6.5 billion making it the 6th largest supermarket Chain in America. In a recent speech Dreska put representatives of most of the major suppliers to the commissary system on notice that he expects to secure better deals for his Agency and to pass along savings to the consumer. A a we re coming at you a Dreska alerted the audience. A we want to be treated just like any commercial  concerning the future of european commissaries Dreska acknowledged that he is still Uncertain How troop cutbacks and base closings decisions will affect the system. I done to know what the Bot torn line in Europe is going to be a he said. A i Don t know where or when someone a going to Tell me which store will be closed. Until we can sort that out in a behind the eight  Dreska did outline How he plans to improve the Overall operation. A the main decisions have been made a he said a now its a matter of putting them  the plans include a adjusting store hours and adding operating hours at individual stores where necessary. A hiring More Cashiers to cover unexpected absenteeism a increasing the emphasis on manufacturers coupons to Cut costs for Consumers. A improving communication betwee store managers and shoppers. Dreska said he plans to strike a balance Between offering shoppers a variety of products and reducing inventory to Cut costs. A if its going to sell its going to be in the store a he said. A but Why do i need 17 kinds of Ketchup a for fiscal 1992, Dreska said commissary officials Are. Projecting a net savings of $35 million for the commissary system worldwide with $15 million targeted for reinvestment in the system and construction of new stores. Any new commissaries built will have an identical floor plan Dreska said with emphasis on a smoother How of consumer traffic and convenient positioning of product sections. The Agency also wants to open More wee serve stores smaller versions of the main outlet about 2,500 Square feet. These stores equipped with two checkout counters would offer Between 700 and 1,200 items. Average purchases at the stores Are $9.airlines report traffic increase by the new York times the nations two largest airlines american and United posted big increases in traffic for May. It was the first significant Advance since the beginning of the year when the persian Gulf War discouraged Many people from air travel. American airlines said last week that its traffic had risen 6.6 percent in May Over May 1990. United showed a surge of 14.9 percent. The gains in May contrasted with results in april when the Industry a traffic was Down 4.2 percent from the same period last year. Overall traffic was Down 6.9 percent for the first four months of 1991. To stimulate demand airlines resorted to offering special Low fares that had to be bought by a certain time. Analysts and travel agents said some of the recovery was attributable to the earlier ticket sales which Are now being used by travellers. Thus the upturn in May could be followed by a decline of traffic in june and possibly by a Small recovery in july. The Industry lost $1.24 billion in the first Quarter because of the decline in traffic and High fuel costs caused by the  was More than double the loss of $539.7 million in the first Quarter of 1990. For All of 1990, the Industry lost $5 billion