European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 02, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday july 2 1991 the stars and stripes Page 17today�?Ts tip june 28 july 1 .1.6185 1.6160 1.8115 1.8135 6.1445 6.1275 2.0365 2.0378 .37.25 37.2825 1,347.70 1,343.15 .1.557 1.5563 197.88 198.18 4,316.90 4,326.60 3.7503 3.7505 113.30 113.37 157.65 157.28 .1.142 1.141 .12.72 12.726 7.0525 a 7.05 6.9845 6.981 hidden and unnecessary charges can increase the Cost of renting a car by an average of 45 percent according to a recent study by the Florida Public interest research group. The most frequent hidden addition comes in the form of collision damage waivers that add an average of $10 per Day to rental charges. Collision damage waivers Are an option offered by car rental companies As Protection against liability for damage done to a rental car. Consumers Are usually already covered by personal Auto insurance policies but they buy the extra coverage out of confusion or fear the study  rates London up mondays 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 s368.75 an ounce Silver at $4,445. British Pound. German Mark. French franc. Dutch Guilder. Belgian franc. Italian lira. Swiss franc greek drachma turkish lira. Saudi arabian Nyal 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 1.76 through tuesday based on mondays noontime  Crews 43reak strike Over prices Anchorage Alaska a a Boycott by Alaska fishermen to protest Low Salmon prices was broken sunday when some Crews ventured out to sea. Alaska state troopers used two helicopters and two seaplanes to Monitor parts of Bristol Bay a huge Salmon fishing ground witnesses said. There were no reports of strike related violence. Striking fishermen have kept their ships in port since june 25 to protest wholesale prices that tumbled from More than $1 per Pound last year to As Low As 50 cents this year. They Hope the strike will drive prices Back upon wednesday gov. Walter j. Hickel ordered the department of fish and game to close Bristol Bay to Salmon fishing to prevent violence. But a state court on Friday ordered the fishing grounds to be opened. Strike supporters in Egegik on Bristol Bay said 37 fishing boats were at sea out of More than 460 registered in the District. In the nearby Naknek Kvichak District from 20 to 100 fishing boats out of 771 were fishing supporters said. Most of Dillingham a Fleet of 240 vessels remained in port. As Refuge in times of trouble by Jonathan Fuerbringer the new York times some of the worlds most influential Money managers have been recasting their views about Gold a ancient role As a Haven for wealth in times of uncertainty or crisis. In commodities markets Coin shops Swiss investment houses and the minds of Many disappointed investors Gold is no longer the hedge investment of Choice or lately even a very profitable one. Gold a fading glow is a result of the globalization of world markets the Advent of 24-hour trading and the simple fact that Gold prices have been in decline for years thanks partly to a 75 percent Rise in production in the 1980s. Also with capital moving More freely investors have far More options today for hedging against inflation and world crises. They can buy futures contracts and options that allow them to hedge against financial risk. They can move their Money out of their countries. And with computers they can respond More quickly to crises. A nothing persuades me that Gold is a Good investment a said Ted Arnold a once bullish metals specialist for Merrill Lynch amp co. In London. A the performance Over the years no matter How Long you have tracked it has been pretty terrible except for some Brief periods of  Gold was once the worlds monetary Standard backing the value of currencies in the United states and elsewhere. The Metal was an easily obtainable asset that was tradable anywhere. And it was portable. Today Gold is used More in jewelry which accounts for 71 percent of production up from 45 percent 10 years ago. That makes Gold behave More like a commodity whose prices fluctuate based on Supply and demand. The persian Gulf crisis would have seemed to be the kind of International disruption needed to give Gold a Price a Jolt. But when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on aug. 2, Gold rallied Only briefly from $373.25 an ounce to $413.80 on aug. 21, the highest Price of the Gulf crisis. Prices then fell quickly. Gold edged up to More than $400 an ounce twice More including just before the Allied bombing began Jan. 17, but wound up at $359.45 �?�7 lower than when the Gulf crisis began by the time a cease fire took effect feb. 28. Gold was trading at $366.35 an ounce last week in new York. A Gold is competing with so Many other products we can go to in a crisis a said Ian c. Macdonald manager of precious metals at credit suisse in new York. This month the Swiss Bank corp., a leading investment adviser to institutions and wealthy individuals concluded in a report that a Gold is no longer the Only port in the  and in Many cases the Bank is not investing client funds in Gold. Also a recently published review of the worlds Gold Market by Gold Fields Mineral services Ltd. Of London which publishes a statistical Bible on world Gold markets noted a worrying downturn in investment demand for Gold last year in the far East where Gold has Long been popular even when prices Are weak As they Are now. Now Many investment managers who recommend Gold suggest it Only As a contrarian investment which moves in the opposite direction of other assets to diversify a portfolio. In fact an investment in Gold has been pretty much a loser racking up a tepid average compounded annual return of 4.7 percent since 175, when americans were first allowed to own Gold through the end of last year. That record lags just about everything from stocks of Small companies which Rose an average of 19.9 percent a year in the period to Treasury Bills which registered an 8.1 percent average annual return. In fact the Only investment Gold beat was Silver which fell three tenths of 1 percent. Last year Gold prices averaged $383.59 an ounce after adjusting for inflation. It was the lowest average annual Price in 13 years and less than half the $835 record Price Gold touched briefly in january 1980, when double digit interest rates and inflation reigned. More significant investment buying of Gold fell by More than 50 percent in the Western world last year according to the Gold Fields report. One investor who fell prey to Gold a allure is or. Jeffrey a. Fisher a new Jersey physician turned author. In 1989, with the Price rising Fisher bought $10,000 Worth of Gold for about $410 an ounce. A when i bought it everyone was predicting it would go up to $1,000,�?� Arnold said. A i thought i was making a Safe  Fisher bought Gold when the Price was rising a mistake Many american investors make. Except for a rally to $423 an ounce in february 1990, Gold has settled around $360 to $370 an ounce and Fisher has lost about 12 percent on his investment. He is still holding on however hoping that another rally will give him an opening to sell. Investors drop Money Market funds for other higher yielding options by Alison Leigh Cowan the new York times frustrated with Money Market funds investors continued last month to seek out slightly riskier higher yielding Bond funds and More conservative Stock funds. Two big winners appear to be those funds that specialize in either Federal Agency obligations or Long term Treasury securities. Those funds Are considered Good values because they Are Only slightly riskier than Money Market funds yet offer yields of two to three percentage Points higher. A especially As interest rates have come Down people have focused on getting the highest income they can income that Short term instruments like certificates of Deposit Are not providing anymore a said Richard Barone the chairman of the Maxis investment group in Cleveland. Baroness company Sells its products directly to the Public. But even Mutual fund sponsors that sell their products through brokers and therefore Are slower to be affected by some trends have noticed How sensitive to yield investors have suddenly become. A a there a been some opportunities in the Bond Market to capture higher returns than people Are seeing from Money Market funds a said Steve Radis a spokesman for Kemper financial services inc. In Chicago whose products Are sold through brokers. He noted that Kempers Money Market fund was yielding 5.68 percent slightly higher than conventional savings accounts while its United states government fund which invests in Agency obligations and Treasury securities yields 9.01 percent. Although investors Are accepting a slight increase in risk on the Bond Side managers say there has been a noticeable shift away from the highly speculative Stock funds that proved so popular in the Heady Days after the persian Gulf War. They say investors Are remaining cautious about the sputtering Economy. A the theme you re seeing is while the Small investor is still committed to the Stock Market he a taking a slightly More conservative approach to it a said Neal Litvack a vice president of marketing for Fidelity investments in Boston. A the growth and income funds and the larger Brand name funds like Magellan Are definitely the major recipients of the new equity sales dollars this month. And that contrasts with the three months prior when Small capitalization funds and sector funds were the most  even before last weeks reports the year was shaping up As one of the Best Ever for Bond funds. A report released thursday by the investment company Institute confirmed that. According to the Institute $5 billion poured into Bond funds in May when All new purchases redemption and transfers among funds Are counted. That net Cash flow figure was Down slightly from the $6 billion that came in april. Nonetheless it Means that a total of $21 billion has poured into Bond funds so far this year Well Over twice the $8.5 billion those funds attracted in All of 1990. Equity funds surged by $3.5 billion in May compared with the $2.9 billion increase reported in april the Institute said. Of that $1.3 billion flowed into growth Stock funds and Only $762 million into aggressive Stock funds a a shift in preference that seems to have intensified in the recent weeks. Interestingly the tax exempt municipal area is one area where investors generally seem unwilling to expose themselves to higher credit risk even in Exchange for higher yields. Although municipal Bond funds Are Selling Well because of growing concerns about higher taxes investors have favored the nationally diversified funds a tax exempt Only at the Federal level a Over the state specific funds which typically offer additional tax savings to residents of the state that issued the municipal Bonds. Fund managers attribute that preference to the Well publicized problems of Bridgeport Conn. Philadelphia new York and other cities and states. A a what a interesting is people who have High state tax rates have chosen to forgo the additional tax savings at the state level to ensure credit Quality or Lack of credit risk a said Litvack of Fidelity investments