European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday june 16, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 15money matters Dollar watch shown below Are the highest Dollar Exchange rates Tor the week of june 9 june 15 compared with Dollar rates for the same period one year and five years  Pound one Pound would Cost you $1.63 $1.68 i $1.50 1991 1990 1986 i German Mark one Dollar would buy you 2.21 1.76 1 1.66 a 1991 i 1990 i a military Exchange rate. Italian lire one Dollar would buy you a Csc 1341 i 1243 1991 1990 1986 Spanish peseta one Dollar would buy you 111 104 19911990 142 1986, a amp Dollar hits 1 i Yea r High against Mark the Dollar hit a new High for 1991 last week climbing to its highest level since november 1989. Quot the Dollar Rose sharply thursday surpassing 1.80 Marks but fell off slightly with profit taking. A the dollars been strengthening All week a said Tim Fox Treasury economist for Midland Bank in London. He attributed the gains to . Retail sales and employment data released thursday. Also pushing the Dollar higher is the unlikelihood of further declines in . Interest rates. A the feeling is the. Recession has bottomed out a. Fox said. A the next trend developing is one of re cover i we be Only seen a bit of evidence of that so  the indicators though Are enough to make financial experts optimistic he said. Fox said the Dollar could Peak at 1.90 Marks before years end. A the markets Are perhaps More optimistic than Many americans a he added. A a there a a lot of people out of work  a Gunter Teich of the Bank of America in Frankfurt said he expects the Dollar will get stronger this week. The Mark he said is holding Strong against other currencies. Teich said he too sees the . Emerging from a recession. A a lot of people Are saying the Dollar could go to 2 Marks a Teich said. A at the moment i can to see it but who knows a the stars and stripes congressmen still accepting gifts from a amp is report says by the los Angeles times Washington a key lawmakers dealing with the savings and loan and banking crises which Are expected to Cost . Taxpayers billions of dollars Are still accepting Money and free trips from those industries according to congressional financial disclosure forms released Friday. Despite the controversy surrounding the a Keating five scandal in which five senators were investigated for accepting Campaign contributions from Lincoln savings and loan owner Charles Keating and then intervening on his1 behalf with Federal regulators congressional leaders dealing with the banking and Thrift industries continue to accept such contributions. A. A Many senior re embers of the House banking committee collected thousands of dollars in speaking fees and free trips from dozens of thrifts banking groups and other Industry lobbyists according to the reports which cover Honor aria and other personal fees received in 1990. The committee must vote this year on banking Reform and on refinancing the Federal Agency that is dealing with the a amp a cleanup. A Quot a rep. Bruce f. Vento d-miiin., a key banking committee member and Quot the chairman of a special task Force to oversee the Resolution Trust corp. That is in charge of Selling properties seized by the government from failed a amp is accepted trips and speaking fees from savings and loan and banking groups the records show. Vento. A vocal critic of the r pc and the Bush administration s handling of the Thrift crisis accepted $2,000 in speaking fees and free travel expenses from the Texas savings and loan league and another $2,000 from the . League of savings institutions. He accepted thousands of dollars More in fees and Honor aria from other financial Industry lobbying . Paul e. Kanjorski d-pa., another key member of the committee and its financial institutions subcommittee that just voted on Bank Reform legislation accepted speaking fees and extended free trips from thrifts in California Kanjorski accepted a $2,000 speaking fee from countrywide Thrift and loan in Pasadena  along with free air fare from Washington to los Angeles and three Days Worth of food and lodging for him and his wife. A rep. John j. Lafalce d-n.y., another senior banking committee member accepted $93,350 in Honor aria from a Range of Trade groups including Many financial a services lobbying a organizations. In one instance he accepted $2,000 from the . League of savings institutions an site Trade association. He also accepted $2,000 in fees from inc financial corp., the Parent company of a Tro Bleil Bank in Maryland. Rep. Gerald d. , d-wis., a critic of Congress and the Bush administration for not successfully handling the a amp a and banking crises accepted $2,000 in fees from first Republic Thrift and loan and free air fare from Washington to san Francisco and three Days of lodging from the California Thrift and loan  Many committee members j in the Blouse said that they gave at least a portion of their fees to Charity. They also defended their willingness to accept Eon. Tribu Tonji from a amp is. A we still have an a amp a Industry anti there Are a amp is in the congressman s District a said a spokesman for rep. Chalmers p. Wylie a Ohio the ranking Republican on the House banking committee who accepted thousands of dollars in fees from lobbying groups representing both the banking and a amp a industries. A so i think it is appropriate that they contribute As Long As they done to try to specify what their contributions Are  new York a Lionel corp., former maker of Model trains and owner of the kiddie City Fostore Chain sought Protection from creditors Friday in bankruptcy court. The nations third largest toy retailer cited a the current distressed retail environment and extremely tight credit conditions for its second dive under the chapter 11 umbrella in a decade. Lionel a move underscores the dominance of toys a re us which has managed to snare a Quarter of the . Toy Market in less than a decade. In court papers Lionel attributed its problems primarily to a competitive pressures from among others a toy super markets some of which Are larger and have greater financial  the company a 97 stores in 15 states Are outnumbered by 700 toys a re us outlets and about 200 child world stores Lionel said in a statement from its offices in Edison n.j., that an unidentified financial institution agreed to provide $50 million in financing. Under chapter 11, a company gets a reprieve from creditors while devising a Way to pay Bills and survive. / a ,. A. According to court documents Lionel and its principal operating subsidiary Lionel Leisure inc., have combined assets totalling $351.5 million and liabilities of $255 million. Lionel which once flirted with the notion of acquiring Chick world lost $5.9 million on revenues of $4ab Mil it lion last fiscal year. By comparison. Toys a re us reported Domestic sales in. The $4 billion Range last year. Founded in i9l8, Lionel is synonymous with the line of Model trains that were once a Staple of the american toy Industry. Some observers  s image went ouf of focus once it lost its Assoc a lion with the famous trains. They Are still made by an unrelated company Lionel trains inc., headquartered in mount Clemens Mich. Lionel operated under chapter ii Protection from creditors for three years before emerging in 1985 As a smaller  by the new York times the National labor relations Board announced a decision. Friday that could make it harder for companies to relocate factories to Low wage areas. The decision was the latest twist in a protracted Battle Between Dubuque packing co. Of Omaha and the United food and commercial workers Union in 1981, the company refused to negotiate with the Union when it closed a hog slaughtering operation that employed about 500 workers in Dubuque Iowa and opened a new Plant in Rochelle 111., where w Ages were lower. Fridays decision which the Board handed Down in Washington would require Dubuque packing to pay those w orders one year of Back pay less any earnings they received in that period. Back pay was limited to one year because Dubuque closed the Illinois Plant in 1982. Of broader significance the Norb As part of the decision issued guidelines to determine when companies must negotiate with unions before relocating. Labor Union officials said the decision would help unions that have lost members and Power in recent years As companies have relocated factories to lower wage areas or hired subcontractors Tot provide products or services once provided by their unionized workers. The Norb said companies would be required to negotiate about relocation if there was a no Basic change in the nature of the employers operations at the new factory. Negotiations would not be mandatory it said if work at a new Plant a varies significantly from the old Plant if the work at the old Plant is a discontinued entirely and not moved to the new Plant a or if the decision involves a a change in the scope and direction of the  nose May Start trading earlier in the morning by the new York times new York the new York Stock Exchange is exploring beginning trading before the traditional opening at 9 30 ., although  Uncertain what time it would Start an Exchange executive said Friday. Such an exploration was expected. The big Board on thursday began its first after hours trading Iri what was described As a first step toward 24-hour trading by Early in the next Century. In an interview Richard a. Grasso the executive vice chairman of the Exchange said the big Board was seeking the views of its members about when would be the Best time to Start. But he added the Exchange was not focusing on any particular time yet for an opening. Published reports said the Exchange was looking at opening at 9  A obviously if we have made changes at the Back end we Are looking at the front end a Grasso said. A but we Haven fixed our sights on 9  What we will do Over the next few weeks to months is ask what is the appropriate time  Grasso said the Exchange could continue to open at 9 30, As Well As open at 9, or even earlier depending on its members response