European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday july 11, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17moneymatters today a tip last week with Little fanfare or Advance notice Continental airlines said that on july 24, it would raise All its Domestic fares by 5 percent. The Industry a response has been even More modest than Continentals announcement. Continental is operating under chapter 11 bankruptcy Protection. So far Only pan american world airways which is in even worse financial shape than Continental has said it will match the increase. United american Northwest and most others have said Only that they were a studying the situation a common business parlance for not moving until they see whether the limb Breaks after a competitor ventures onto it. Conversion 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 $370.25 an ounce Silver at $4.49. July 9 july 10 British pound.1.6235 1.6225 German mark.1.8130 1.8160 French franc.6.1590 6.1770 dutch guilder.2.0398 2.0510 belgian franc.37.3325 37.4900 italian lira.1,350.9 1,355.25 Swiss franc.1.5685 1.5755 greek drachma.198.14. 198.60 turkish lira.4366.10 4382.10 saudi arabian riyal.3.70503 3.7503 Spanish peseta.113.86 114.46 portuguese escudo.158.02 158.25 Canadian dollar.1.1470 1.1479 austrian schilling.12.7460 12.8125 norwegian krone.7.0750 7.1090 danish krone.7.0750 7.0435 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 1.78 on thursday based on wednesdays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York up a York Stock Exchange the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on tuesday. Stock Satoo lad Natchel. Rwjr Nabisco hid 2,395,900 10% up Tel Fonos de my 2,108,800 27% up Pepsico inc 1,673,500 29% up general motors 1,572,800 431/< unch Wal Mart stores 1,388,200 44% off % us Marathon 1,367,500 24 up adv Micro docs 1,271,200 11 % up Fedl Natl Mage 1,262,100 51 unch ism corp 1,261,700 99 % off 1 Citicorp 1,240,500 14% unch waste mgt inc 1,221,300 37% up % Philip Morris 1,186,200 65% off l % Compaq computer at amp to co 1,151,300 1,080,400 33% 39 off % off % tandem computer 1,044,800 14 off % american Exchange new York up american Stock exam the 10 most Active stocks in Inge composite trading tuesday. Stock sales last Netcha. Graham fid hath 487,300 7% up tubes de Acero 421,600 10% off Hill Haven corp 388,300 2% unch fruit of loom 385,800 14% off Echo Bay mines 278,600 9% off % Dow chemical it 270,100 8 up % Western digital 260,300 3% of Ivan corp 243,700 28 up 1 Amdahl corp 237,300 14% off % Americus do or 159,700 35% unch Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages tuesday. 30 industrials 20 transports 15 utilities 65 stocks 29bo1s 1220.38 198.63 1064.39 2934.03 1200.46 195.93 1047.93 Cote 2947.23 1207.51 196.62 1052.93 change off 14.76 off 4.23 off 1.38 off 5.09 to equip All new cars with dual front air bags by 94 the Washington Post general motors corp., the worlds largest automaker said tuesday that it plans to install air bags for Drivers and front seat passengers on All of the new cars it Sells in North America by september 1994. The announcement by pm which produced the first air bag equipped car in 1973 but then abandoned the safety device assures widespread availability of air bags within the next three years. Ford motor co. Has said it plans to make Drivers Side air bags Standard equipment in 1994 and add front seat passenger air bags in 1995. Chrysler corp. Officials have said they expect to have air bags for Drivers and front seat passengers in . Cars by the mid-1990s. The announcement by pm which sold 3.3 million cars in the United states in 1990 a a 35.6 percent share of the Domestic Market a was applauded by consumer advocates but some criticized the automaker for not acting sooner. A a it a been 20 years since pm first offered full frontal air bags a said Michael e. Johnson vehicle safety researcher for the Center for Auto safety a group founded by consumer advocate Ralph Nader. A what its doing now is responding to Market pressure from Chrysler and Ford and from the japanese who say that they will have air bags in their cars in 1994.�?� air bags Are pouches designed to inflate within milliseconds of a frontal crash and Are intended for use with seat belts. Their purpose is to reduce Chest head and facial injuries a cushioning front seat occupants from Contact with the cards steering wheel and dashboard. Tests and actual accidents demonstrate that air bags can protect passengers from serious injury and death in the most violent crashes according to Charles a. Hurley spokesman for the insurance Institute for Highway safety which monitors Auto safety developments for . Property and casualty insurers. One such Accident occurred March 12, 1990, when two Chrysler Lebaron cars equipped with Driver Side air bags crashed head on in Culpepper county a. Both Drivers walked away from the Accident which was the first in which both cars deployed air bags. Without the bags the crash could have been fatal according to reports by Virginia state troopers. Chrysler the nations third largest automaker got the jump on its Detroit competitors when it began offering Driver Side air bags As Standard equipment in its 1990 domestically produced cars and its 1991 minivans. Ford now offers Driver and passenger air bags in its higher Price models. Pm now offers Driver Side air bags in some Cadillac and sports models such As the Corvette and Camaro and said tuesday it would have them in its All purpose vehicles by the fall of 1993. Japanese automakers which generally have lagged behind . Manufacturers in air bag installation also have announced plans to abandon their Reliance on controversial a a automatic safety belts in favor of air bag and manual Belt combinations. Nobuhiko Kawamoto president of Honda motor co., said in a Detroit speech last year that his company intends to Lead japanese automakers in installing full front air bags in cars sold in the United states by the 1994 Model year which begins in october 1993. Porsche now is the Only company offering dual Side front seat air bags in All of the cars it Sells in America. But the cheapest porsche a 944 s2 Coupe starts at $43,350, according to prices provided by automobile invoice service in san Jose Calif. The Auto Industry a growing support of air bags comes amid rising concern Over the effectiveness of a a automatic a safety belts. In automatic systems the shoulder harness is deployed when the ignition is turned on. The safety Agency is investigating an alleged sub arising Accident that occurred on a four Lane divided Highway in lil Burn ga., on june 21. A 1988 Ford escort moving through Light rain in the Early afternoon Slid across the Highway and was hit on the right rear Side by another automobile. A 25-Ycar-old woman in the right front seat of the escort was decapitated. The Georgia coroners report filed with the Agency said the woman slap Belt was unattached and her shoulder harness Cut through her neck. Federal safety officials said however that even a shoulder harness is better than no harness at All. Safety Agency administrator Jerry Ralph Curry reiterated that Point tuesday in praising pm for deciding to make dual front air bags Standard. A a Gmo a announcement today is Good news because it Means air bags will bet available sooner for All americans a Curry said. . Living standards continue downward slide Council reports Washington a the United states was the Only country among the seven richest industrialized nations to suffer lowered living standards last year and lost ground or remained stagnant also in such key areas As productivity and investment the Council on competitiveness announced. The Council in its fourth annual competitiveness Index said tuesday that for the third consecutive year America ranked dead last among the worlds richest nations in terms of the share of its Economy invested in new factories and equipment. A the american dream May not be what most americans expect if current trends continue a said George Fisher the head of Motorola inc. And the chairman of the Council. The group composed of leaders from Industry labor and the academic world compares the performance of the worlds seven richest Industrial countries. Per capita living standards Are defined As total economic output divided by the population. Americans still enjoy the highest living Standard of any nation when comparisons Are made that take purchasing Power into consideration. The United states was followed by Canada Japan Germany France Britain and Italy in that order. But the 0.1 percent drop in the per capita living Standard marked the first decline since a 3.4 percent setback in living standards during the severe 1982 recession. The . Living Standard has risen by 33 percent from 1972 through 1990 compared to a gain of 80 percent in Japan and 57 percent on average for other Summit nations. Among the other Points in the councils report a Trade a Germany was the worlds no. 1 exporter of manufactured goods in 1990 with sales of $368 billion followed by the United states at $287 billion and Japan at $282 billion. A investment a . Spending for new factories machines Ami equipment in 1990 remained Flat at 12.6 percent of its total Economy the lowest of any Summit country. Japan remained the Leader at 23.4 percent. A productivity a output per number of hours worked declined slightly. A we face a growing Challenge to our future technology base a said Kent Hughes president of the competitiveness Council. A in 10 years we have lost the Lead in one third of the technologies that Are critical for tomorrows  Safeway posts big earnings increase Oakland Calif. Up supermarket giant Safeway inc. Reported tuesday a 50.8 percent increase in earnings for the second Quarter ended june 15. Safeway which operates More than 1,100 stores in the United states and Canada posted earnings of $35.6 million or 31 cents a share compared with $23.6 million or 25 cents a share in the 1990 second Quarter. Sales were $3.52 billion in the second Quarter of 1991, up 2.5 percent from $3.44 billion in the same period in 1990. Same store sales increased 0.8 percent in the second Quarter. Safeway so other income increased to $13.6 million in the second Quarter up from $7.9 million in the second Quarter of 1990 due to interest income earned on the proceeds of the Stock offering completed in april and increased income from Safeway a 35 percent equity investment in the first Quarter earnings of Vonus cos. Inc., which operates 320 supermarkets in Southern California. Safeway Stock gained 62.5 cents to $18,625 a share tuesday on the new York Stock Exchange. Safeway officials attributed their higher earnings to increased private Label sales ongoing investments in information systems and Nighor sales in specially departments such As bakeries delicatessens and pharmacies. The company expects to open 35 new stores and Complete 90 major renovations in 1991