European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday july 24, 1991 the stars and stripes c Page 17_. A Money matters today s tip while american express. Visa and others grapple for control other new forces Are at work in the credit card Field. More and More non Bank entrants Are seeking a piece of the action and that could mean lower interest rates and cuts in annual fees charged to customers. The Pioneer in this area was at amp to which now has 10 million of its Universal cards in circulation. Ford last month joined the fray with no fee visa and Mastercard. / the Competition is All Good news for Consumers said Spencer nil son publisher of the Nilson report a los Angeles based credit card newsletter. New card issuers Are More Likely to Cut consumer charges he  rates London up tuesdays 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 $367.50 an ounce Silver at $4.35. July 22 juy 23 British pound.1.6825 1.682 German mark.1.755 1,7565 French franc.5.9685 5.998 dutch guilder.1.9775 1.992 belgian  36.37 italian lira.1,309.50 1,316.30 Swiss franc.1.5175 1.5285 greek drachma.192.45 194.66 turkish lira.4,356.70 4,379.50 saudi arabian riyal.3.7502 3.7502 Spanish peseta.109.72 110.17 portuguese escudo.150.60 151.20 Canadian Dollar.1.158 1.1551 austrian schilling.12.3785 12.444 norwegian krone.6.855 6.89 danish krone.6.801 6.836 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 belgian Market was closed monday fora Hank Holiday. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.72 through wednesday based on tuesdays noontime  Exchange new York up a the ten most Active stocks in Stock sales last net chg. Rhone poulenc 518,700 3 i up i fruit of loom 343,900 15% up it Echo Bay mine 302,600 9 Yoff i Kirby corp 251,900 12 a up % Dow chem it 243,700 6% off % Conti air hid 201,800 1 % off % found Atn hath 197,900 28% unch Ivan corp 194,300 32 v4 up 1 i carnival cars 186,800 22 on a a Elijiah corp 161,400 8% unch 1 Dow Jones j new York up a Dow Jones dosing Range of averages tuesday High Low close thongs 30 industrials 3038.24 2972.94 2983.23 Down 29.74 20 transports 1221.09 1197.64 1202.40 Down 9.87 15 utilities202.09 199.32 200.26 Down 0.38 65 stocks 1078.89 1057.57 1061.57 Down 8.86american express says profits Down new York a american express co. On monday reported a 20 percent profit drop in the second Quarter As its Shearson Lehman Brothers subsidiary wrote off a $144 million investment in seized insurer first capital holdings corp. Shearson also was charged $27 million for scaling Down International banking operations at its Boston co. Subsidiary. Cafes Europe main office moving to area by Effie Bathen Niernberg Bureau Furth Germany a the army and air Force Exchange service is moving its european division Headquarters from Munich to the Niernberg area Early next year Exchange officials announced tuesday. A we Are relocating to Niernberg because the recent deactivation of units in that area made the administrative space and housing available for the Large number of cafes employees a said col. Richard Dillenbeck cafes european vice commander in a written release. A this also moves us closer to major troop concentrations a he said. The Headquarters will have 375 employees at the new location Down from its current strength of 574, in anticipation of a a downsized european  officials on tuesday said they could not provide a breakdown Between . And local National slots in their current staffing. Most employees will be transferred Between january and april. However some local hiring May be necessary depending upon the number of employees willing to relocate said cafes spokeswoman Barbara Kirsch. The Exchange offices new Home will be at Pinder Barracks in Birndorf where the 1st army dives Field artillery Headquarters is scheduled to deactivate by the end of december. Another unit at the Barracks Vii corps 156th Maint co is being sent to fort Knox ky., under a military restructuring plan announced july 12. Pinder Barracks located in a Rural area about five Miles from the Niernberg Community a main shopping area was on a Pentagon base closure list released last september. A the cafes move from Mcgraw Cavern is part of the closure of the Munich military Community directed by the Pentagon last year. Officials had considered moving the offices to Giessen about 40 Miles North of Frankfurt said cafes employees who asked not to be identified. The Giessen depot is a fest largest and it processes 85 percent of the Exchange merchandise for Europe there. Six Giessen units including a brigade from the 3rd army div were on the Pentagon a most recent deactivation list. The Birndorf location a was better suited to meet Mission requirements a said Millie Waters a spokeswoman for . Army Europe a Headquarters in Heidelberg. Dillenbeck said a customers will not be affected by the  this will be the second time that a fest european Headquarters has been located in the Niernberg area. In 1949, the then european Exchange system moved into the Palace of Justice location of the Niernberg War crimes trials. It left in 1969. A Birndorf City spokesman said his town welcomed the move. A a it a the Best thing that could have happened to Pinder Barracks a said vice mayor Fritz Eberlein through an interpreter. However he said that it was too soon to Tell what the Overall Impact would be on the local Community. Some City officials were concerned that if the army closed Pinder Barracks and returned it to the German Federal government the site would be used As an Extension of the City a refugee Center said Albrecht Leupold of the Niernberg military Community a Public affairs office. The City welcomes the cafes move one town official said because Birndorf a will not have tracked vehicles on the roads  he was referring to heavy duty military vehicles. Cafes Europe serves approximately 700,000 customers in american military communities in 10 countries from Oslo Norway to Riyadh saudi Arabia. It employs about 22,0 h people. In addition to retail stores cafes goods and services include Heaters food outlets garages Gas stations and vending machines. They also provide Barber and Beauty shops laundry and dry cleaning photo processing and merchandise repair. A fest earnings supplement congressional appropriations to support army and air Force morale welfare and recreation programs. High interest european plans uninteresting . Advisers say by Randy Mcclain financial writer the advertisement seems like a can to miss proposition. A Are you looking for an account where you can save for something special where you will earn a Good rate of interest and where your Money will be readily accessible if you should happen to need it at Short notice a the and in an overseas English language newspaper says. A a Lombard one month notice account is just what you Are looking  the account which is denominated in British pounds is currently paying 8 percent for an investment of 1,000 pounds or More. That a roughly 2 percentage Points More than comparable certificates of deposits Are paying at american Banks these Days. Financial advisers in Europe though said investors should be wary of deals from the British based Lombard North Central pc which Bills itself As the a Complete finance service a or other similar High interest savings vehicles offered by various Banks in Germany Denmark and other european countries. Don Womack a financial planner who caters to american clients in Frankfurt Germany said he would never become involved in such deals. Womack and other investment advisers said that making Short term deposits in a foreign currency can prove costly for several reasons. Americans May find it difficult to investigate the financial stability of an overseas Bank the advisers warned and fluctuating Exchange rates can eat into investment profits when a customer tries to change his or her Money Back into dollars. The customers take Home pay May prove to be Zero or even a loss depending on How the Dollar performs during the life of the foreign investment. Safety is another Factor to be considered. Bank deposits in the United states Are covered by the Federal Deposit insurance corp., which protects individual accounts up to $100,000, Womack said. A but a he added a you might not have the same coverage in a foreign  checking out the financial stability of foreign institutions also can be a problem in Womacks View. A a in a very leery of that a he said. A How do you know about the Bank a management what a really happening with these people there Are too Many unknowns  american service members and government civilians have Long been on the mailing lists of foreign Banks and some institutions seem to be picking up the marketing Pace As european interest rates continue to outpace american ones this summer. Investment advisers Are suggesting though that service members in Europe not give in to the lure of higher overseas rates just yet. That trend May be about to reverse itself. Charles Fronstin a financial planner in Frankfurt said investors who sit tight a few More weeks or months May see . Rates begin to close the Gap As the american Economy recovers from recession. A by contrast in Europe there is a Sharp slowdown in economic activity taking place. France is in recession Spain is slowing sharply the . Is several months into recession and there Are signs that even the German Economy is beginning to slow Quot Fronstin said. His prediction is that european interest rates will tend to slip lower in the coming months while american rates stay firm or even Edge higher. Investors capital will Start flowing to the United states in larger volumes he said. A fall things being equal you re better off in dollars Quot added Barry Swanson an investment adviser in Heidelberg Germany. Swansong a viewpoint is that the risk of Exchange rate losses makes overseas Short term Bank deposits a risky business. A whenever your income earnings and expenditures Are in one currency and you invest in a different currency you re not playing on a level playing Field Quot he said. Swanson for one said he thinks the Dollar is Likely to get stronger in the next few months and that would work against any investments made in a foreign currency. Investors who want to put a portion of their Money to work in Europe would be better served by buying shares in global Mutual funds those which own Stock in european based companies As Well As american ones Swanson said. There Are even some attractive Mutual funds sold in German Marks and British pounds Swanson said. But the catch there is that an investors gains would have to be particularly Strong to make up for currency shifts. A you May be Able to live with a currency hit though if your gains Are High enough a Swanson said