European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 6, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday july 6, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 17 today a tip Consumers Faith in the present and future health of the Economy jumped sharply in june the University of Michigan a widely followed Survey on consumer sentiment shows. Richard Curtin who oversees the Survey said the latest soundings showed that the a slow but steady improvement in consumer Confidence that began Early this year continued strongly in june. He said the weakest element of the Survey was Consumers expectations about their personal finances a category in which most people think income gains will be slow. Conversion rates London up 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 s370.00 an ounce Silver at $4.54. A july 3t july 5 British pound.1.6055 1.6165 German mark.1.828 1.829 French franc.6.208 6.2285 dutch Guilder .2.0625 2.0715 belgian franc.37.6875 37.7420 italian lira.1,363.50 1,366.40 Swiss franc.1.5805 1.5745 greek drachma.200.07 200.98 turkish lira.4,365.90 4,391.50 saudi arabian riyal.3.7504 3.7504 Spanish peseta.114.80 1t5.40 portuguese escudo.159.76 160.40 Canadian dollar.1.1424 1.1430 austrian schilling.12.888 12.9840 norwegian krone.7.14 7,18 danish krone.7.077 7.1115 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking a 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 1.79 through monday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York up a York Stock Exchange the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on wednesday. Slock sales last net chg. Ban America 2,501,000 33% off 2 Tenn eco inc 1,854,800 34% off 1% Rwjr Nabisco hid 1,794,700 10% a off % Pepsico inc 1,655,500 29% off Security pacify 1,436,300 21% off 1 % Amer express 1,377,000 22% off % Philip Morris 1,370,500 65% off % St incl mgt 1,366,500 34% up i blockbuster ent 1,359,900 8% up % at amp to company 1,287,900 39% unch Placer dome inc 1,240,000 14% up % Westinghouse Al 1,198,300 27% off 1% Kansas Gas amp Al 1,103,000 28% up % Battle Man Gold 1,067,900 10% up a Upjohn co 1.060,000 43i up 1 american Exchange new York up a the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading wednesday. Slock sales last net chg. Echo Bay mines 1.382,900 10 up % exsport Finan it 387,400 9% up 1 % pm group web 304,800 9% up 1 % Viacom inc b 295,300 26% off % metro Mobile b 280,600 16% up % on % Bat industries 275,100 11% Baldwin tech co 267,400 6% off a hovnanian enter 262,300 7% off Salomon it 93jan 227,200 19% up 1% Denmark King it 213,600 20 up 1% Dow Jones new York up a Dow Jones closing Range of averages wednesday 30 industrials 20 transports 15 utilities 65 stocks High 2957.07 1193.23 198.63 1052.70 Low 2915.03 1168.37 196.62 1036.29 Coso Chang 2934.70 off 38.02 1187.06 up 7.41 197.37 off 1.70 1045.65 off 7.05 Gold oriented Mutual funds in roller coaster Market the new York times when it came to Stock Mutual fund performance in the second Quarter of this year it turned out that what glittered really was Gold. Gold oriented Mutual funds greatly outpaced the Stock Market from april to june making them one of the few Bright spots among Mutual funds investing primarily in common stocks. Stock funds in general fell a bit More than the Stock Market did. Lipper analytical services reported that on average general equity funds a those that invest in a Broad array of stocks a fell in value by 0.86 percent in the second Quarter. That was a slightly greater decline than the 0.23�?o percent drop in Standard amp poor a 500-Stock Index. When specialized funds Are included the average of All equity funds fell by 0.79 percent. By contrast funds with Large holdings in Gold mining companies Rose an average 8.04 percent in value. The biggest gainer strategic investments a Dallas based fund that invests in South african Gold mining stocks Rose 34.4 percent. That was the largest Rise among All of the 1,264 equity funds that Lipper tracks. The biggest losers this time around were funds that invested in technology and environmental companies and those that invested in Small businesses. These funds were Hurt by poor earnings in High technology companies like ism As Well As by a shift by investors toward larger better capitalized companies that Are expected to fare better As the recession moves toward a recovery. Gold shares Are among the most volatile stocks traded and it is not unusual for them to temporarily pop up to the top of hot Stock lists. A their Strong recent showing followed a year in which they were big Money losers. Gold Mutual funds which had slumped in value at the end of 1990, began to Rise slowly in the first half of 1991 and accelerated that Pace this Quarter. Leroy s. Brenna founder and president of strategic investments which has $38 million invested said More favourable investor perception helped lift South african Gold mining stocks particularly As Many european and asian countries ended their economic sanctions against that country. The United states is expected to do the same. Nearly 97 percent of strategic investments holdings Are in South african Gold companies. American economic sanctions now prohibit americans from investing in South african stocks issued after 1986. Strategic investments buys Only shares issued before that Date. Many other Gold funds invest primarily in Gold mines in North America and their shares did not Rise As much. Brenna said that the lifting of sanctions a has prompted asians and europeans to become big buyers of South african Gold funds and the stocks Are rising in anticipation of our being Able to own South african Gold  a another Texas based Gold fund . Gold shares a $300 million fund based in san Antonio took the no. 2 position rising 21.3 percent in the Quarter. This fund is also fully invested in South african stocks. A South african Gold shares have traditionally had a certain amount of political discounting a said Edmund Serfaty . Gold shares portfolio manager. A once the sanctions Are lifted it Means that More people can invest in South Africa. We seem to be first out of the Chute on this  the third highest performer was another of bran Nav a precious Metal funds called strategic Silver which Rose 18.95 percent. Brenna said its Strong performance came from the increasing demand for Silver from electronic Anco photographic users at a time when Many american mines have been closed. Silver prices have risen recently As a result of heavy buying by japanese investors he added. After precious metals financial serv ices stocks Rose the most up an average of 3.51 percent. Michael Lipper president of Lipper analytical services said stocks of regional Banks helped lift these Mutual funds. A financial services stocks Are benefiting from the recovery a he said a and the regional Banks have been in pretty Good  at the Bottom end of performance were environmental funds which fell in value by 7.13 percent and science and technology funds which fell by 6.49 percent. Auto soles climb for second month by the los Angeles times Detroit a Richard Wonser was tired of waiting. With his 1982 Cadillac increasingly in need of service Wonser 62, had been thinking about buying a new car for More than a year. But he kept postponing his Purchase As he watched the Economy nose dive. A it came Down to the situation where i had put it off and put it off and i could either keep waiting for the Economy to improve or i could go out and buy the car i wanted a the Glendale calif., Man said. Last Friday Wonser took the plunge. He bought a new Honda Accord. A i knew now was probably a Good time to wheel and Deal a he said. Quot i just decided to finally go ahead and do  the latest sales figures indicate that Consumers such As Wonser have been trickling Back into dealerships helping fuel a grudging recovery in the Long moribund Auto Industry. For the second consecutive month Auto sales improved in june with the annual Selling rate climbing to 12.9 million cars and trucks from May a rate of 12.5 million. Edward Sullivan an economist with the wefa group in Pennsylvania said that sales to fleets Are minimal this time of year so consumer purchases Are almost wholly responsible for boosting the sales rate. On wednesday automakers Selling cars and trucks in the United states posted a combined year to year decline in sales of 6.2 percent for the month of june. Analysts discounted the signify Tance of the percentage drop though because june was one of last year s strongest sales periods. Chrysler corp. Reported a 2.2 percent dip in sales compared outlast year while general motors corp. Said that sales slipped 4.5 percent and Ford motor co. Posted a 12.7 percent decline. Yet each of the big three offered an Outlook that was downright cheery for an Industry that has been steeped in gloom for almost a year. A higher consumer Confidence and improved economic activity in the month of june brought with it encouraging signs that we Are coming out of the recession and the sales Outlook for the rest of the year is promising in said . Fitzpatrick Gmys vice president for marketing. Sullivan said that the big three a optimism was reflected in the companies decisions last week to beef up third and fourth Quarter production schedules. Quot they re not going to do that unless they think sales Are going to continue to gain some strength a Sullivan said. Public doubts recession s Over poll finds the los Angeles times despite the widespread View among professional economists that a . Recovery is emerging More than eight in 10 americans say that the recession persists a with one out of three describing the slump As serious according to the los Angeles times poll. A deep vein of doubt about the Economy runs through various segments of the Public and the recent flurry of positive economic news appears not to have eased it. The number who describe the . Economy As shaky actually has risen since april. A i done to know who will turn out to be right a the professional forecasters or the Humble consumer a said Fabian Linden executive director of the conference boards consumer research Center. But consumer surveys have a an impressive history of predicting the nations economic performance he said. In a faintly positive note optimists continue to outnumber pessimists by slight margins when it comes to expectations for the National Economy and their own finances in the near future the times poll found. In addition half continued to characterize the recession As mild or moderate and almost two thirds described their own personal finances As secure. Consumer Confidence is considered a key weather vane of the Economy because personal spending represents two thirds of the nations Overall economic activity. A we just Don t see evidence of a re bound in these numbers. If anything there a a hint that the Public is viewing things a Little More negatively a said John Brennan director of the times poll. Indeed More than eight an 10 now describe the . Economy As shaky in april just seven out of 10 believed that it was shaky. Similarly the three in 10 who said that the United states was in a serious slump adds up to a gloomier View than april when just two in 10 said that the slump was serious. A the pattern was similar among men and women As Well As people of different income Levels and racial groups. The times poll interviewed 1,439 adults nationwide from june 28-30. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage Points