European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday july 29, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters today s tip the army and air Force Exchange service has rescinded its recent warning that 12-Inch and 16-Inch dual voltage Raks oscillation fans May be a fire Hazard. Extensive testing by the cafes Europe Quality Assurance office has indicated that the fans Are electronically Safe and that no defects Are present an Exchange service spokesman said. Cafes advises customers that the Raks fans As Well As any electrical products can be used in accordance with the manufacturers  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 $364.75 an ounce Silver at $4.11. A. A july25 july26 British pound.1.676 1.6895 German mark.1.752 1.7385 French franc.5.939 5.9425 dutch guilder.1.9675 1.9682 belgian franc.35.96 35.955 italian lira.1,302.80 1,303.00 Swiss franc.1.5275 1.5125 greekdrachma.191.60 191.69 turkish lira .4,365.00 4,374.30 saudi arabian nyal.3.7502 3 7502 Spanish peseta.108.80 109 44 portuguese escudo.149 50 149 86 Canadian dollar.1.1523 1 1493 austrian Schilling. 12 285 12 ?q1 norwegian krone.6.8015 6 812 danish krone.6.741 6.751 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 1.70 through monday based on fridays noontime  seeking to land More overseas jobs Beijing up China is looking to the soviet Union Hong Kong and several persian Gulf nations As sources of work and hard currency for growing numbers of chinese overseas labourers a government newspaper said sunday. About 70,000 chinese labourers Are working abroad on contracts that will produce $2.25 billion in earnings this year the English language China daily reported. The government Hopes to raise that to 80,000 workers by years end and has signed labor and project contracts in the first half of 1991 Worth $1.28 billion 6.7 percent higher than the same period last year. Chen Rongcai director of foreign economic cooperation for China a ministry of foreign economic relations and Trade told the newspaper that the government is considering Hong Kong the soviet Union and the Gulf As places for expanded labor services. More than 10,000 chinese workers were forced to leave Iraq and Kuwait during the Gulf conflict with most unable to return. The China daily said a 53-member chinese team will leave for Kuwait next month to fight Oil fires still burning in the Gulf emirate. A pan am jetliner Heads skyward in Washington while officials on the ground try to work out the airline s future. Delta makes $310 million bid for pan am s routes shuttle from wire reports new York a Delta air lines announced sunday that it has agreed to buy pan am a routes to Europe and its Northeast shuttle for $310 million $50 million More than their initial agreement. The Deal requires approval of bankruptcy court where pan am sought Protection from its creditors in january. It also presents a new obstacle to a buyout proposal for key pan am assets by trans world airways with backing from american airlines. Twa spokesman Jim Faulkner said the airline had no immediate response to the announcement. Besides the Boston new York Washington shuttle and routes Between London and new York Miami and Detroit the Deal also includes pan am a Frankfurt Germany operation and 45 planes. Delta will offer jobs to 6,000 pan am employees and Honor pan am tickets on the affected routes for travel through feb. 1, 1992. Also Delta agreed to pro vide pan am with $60 million of debtor in Possession financing meaning Delta is first in line to collect the Money in bankruptcy court. The Deal would be filed with bankruptcy court today and the two carriers Are seeking an Early hearing Date. The two sides Are still talking about a Delta investment in a reorganized pan am that would include coordinating pan am a latin american and Caribbean routes with Delta a schedule. That Deal depends on an expedited approval of the definitive agreement to buy the european routes and Northeast shuttle. Twa chairman Carl Icahn has said Twa would pay $280 million for pan am a european routes Northeast shuttle and other assets would assume $30 million in ticket liabilities and would arrange an infusion of $140 million into what is left of pan am a operations. Icahn has said american airlines would provide $250 million in financing for the first part of that Deal in Exchange for getting the rights to some european routes and the Northeast shuttle. Although americans participation made analysts pay More attention to the offer than they otherwise would have Robert Decker an analyst for Duff amp Phelps Mcm in Chicago said he still had misgivings about it because of twas fragile financial condition. A it Isnit far fetched to envision Twa Selling its own assets like pan am a he said. Twa narrowly survived bankruptcy thursday when it reached a last minute agreement with bondholders by granting them new concessions. But a new hearing on Bondholder complaints has been scheduled for tuesday. Delta and United airlines had been talking about a joint bid for most of pan am a assets but the talks collapsed last week. United had made a separate offer for pan am a latin american and Carri bean routes but talks have broken off. Twa and United were expected to make proposals to pan am a creditors today. Investors beware of the experts7 by John Cunniff the associated press new York a a lesson Ordinary folks might learn from recent economic events is to be a bit More demanding of those who proclaim themselves experts in How personal funds should be spent. It Isnit that there Arentt experts in personal financial matters. There May be but not Many a certainly fewer than the number who claim to be and but a tiny fraction of those referred to As experts by the Media. In recent years the term has come to be used loosely to indicate someone who specializes in a certain area or who knows a great Deal about a subject or even someone who simply sounds off a lot about something. Unfortunately the term has become so common that it now connotes As Little intellectual substance As the word a celebrity a which seems to define someone always in the news without displaying any specific expertise. But excluding from the definition Mere authorities self promoters and celebrities and limiting it to Bankers financiers brokers insurers accountants and investment advisers the need for wariness persists. Bankers Are the people who made a collectible Loans to third world nations and real estate developers with a Story and Little else. Thousands of brokers who Are really salespeople but who have been known to pose As experts on stocks have lost their analysis jobs to say nothing of their customers funds. And Many an insurer is fighting for its corporate life. Accountants Are often perceived of As Mere counters but they also offer opinions and several prestigious accounting firms Are in trouble because they declared a company sound that really was not. And advisers there Are True experts among them and they have Long term track records to document their claim. How can you argue with an expert like John Templeton who turned $100,000 into $12 million in three decades but there Are also investment advisers who pose As experts merely because they have registered with the securities and Exchange commission. There Are 17,000 of them and the commission is Able to inspect them Only once a decade. The record of a a experts often is not Good and the cataclysmic events of the past few years a the Stock Market collapse of 1987, the credit Pinch the recession a have demonstrated the vulnerability of those who depend on them. That would mean Many millions of americans because it is a Well known peculiarity of people that while they will travel Miles to find a lower priced can of Beans they will invest thousands of do Lars on the advice of others. True experts have been known to agree with the Contention that America is an expert Ridden nation a nation of people trained to listen to the advice of others. No fiduciary they say no matter How prudent he or she might be could possibly have the same sense of responsibility to your financial welfare As you should have for yourself