European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 17, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday August 17, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 17monciy matters today a tip transfers of service members within Europe Are playing havoc with Community Bank a ability to keep track of its customers. Yvonne Wise spokeswoman for merchants National Bank which holds the . Government banking contract in Germany the United kingdom and the Netherlands said Many service members Are moving to new duty stations without notifying the Bank of their change of Apo address. As a result hundreds of monthly Bank statements Are being returned As undeliverable. Wise suggests that service members inform the Bank directly once they know their new address. Conversion rates London up fridays closing 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 s358 an ounce. Silver was quoted at $3.96 an ounce. Aug. 15 aug. 16 British pound.1.6870 1.6620 German Mark.1.7320 1.7615 French franc.5.8905 a dutch guilder.1.9520 1.9520 belgian  36.22 italian lira.1,297.50 1,309.75 Swiss franc.1 5225 1.5375 greek drachma. 191.92 192.95 turkish lira. 4,495.40 4,514.00 saudi arabian riyal.3.7501 3.7501 Spanish peseta.108.87 109.30 portuguese escudo.149.35 149.90 Canadian Dollar.1.1434 -1.1440 austrian schilling.12.225 12.30 norwegian krone.6.805 6.8330 danish krone.6.7375 6.7535 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 1.71 through monday based on fridays noontime Pripas fixing. New York Exchange new York up a the 15 most Active stocks in new Erk Stock sex Shanne composite trading on thursday. Net chg. Off 4% up % up is Oft i off 1 % up vie up off 1 i off % off % off % unch up % up 34 up % american Exchange Stock solos last Salomon inc 7,828,400 26% Alcan aluminium. 4,923,000 20% Rwjr Nabisco hid 4,465,600 12 Security pact 2,778,800 35 % ban America 2,590,500 42% Tel Fonos de my 2,569,900 32% at amp to company 2,185,300 39% Wal Mart stores 2,171,000 49% Philip Morris 2,016,000 72% Westinghouse Al 1,868,000 23% blockbuster ent 1,631,500 11 % St inst Bop a 1,411,000 1 % us Marathon 1,408,000 28% Black amp Decker 1,366,600 16% Citicorp 1,343,400 15 % new York up american Stock exch a the 10 most Active stocks in me composite trading thursday. Stock sales Lait net chg. Am medical hide 2,195,900 9% off % Western digital metro Mobile b 528,900 4 up % 467,300 19% Oft pref hath care 465,400 13% 0 1% Amdahl Corn Wang labs inc b 326,900 13% off % 290,800. 2% unch foundation hath 263,700 24 % up % fruit of loom 248,400 17 up % Dow chemical it 248,000 7% up % carnival cruise 225,200 21 % up % i Dow Jones i new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages thursday High Low Clou 3029.96 2985.24 2998.43 1207.51 1190.41 1198.70 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks 205.18 1075.84 203.30 1060.98 203.99 1066.29 change Oft 694 up 2.30 Oft 0.38 of 1.09 housing starts up Washington a housing starts Rose 3.7 percent in july the fourth consecutive monthly Advance the government said Friday in a report suggesting a slow but steady recovery from the recessionary slump of German Mark brightens future of . Dollar Washington a the . Dollar will remain Strong in coming months due in Large part to the weakness of the German Mark the . Congressional budget office predicted thursday. According to the International monetary fund the Price of the Dollar Rose by 4.86 percent against the Mark in june a Large increase for. A single month. German Marks were Selling thursday for less than 58 cents each. The Dollar has been weak since 1989, but it started rising again Early this year except in terms of the japanese yen. A Strong Dollar encourages people in other countries to buy . Stocks Bonds and real estate and american travellers to spend Money abroad. It makes american goods harder to sell abroad and encourages imports of foreign goods. The congressional budget office which advises Congress Oit the Economy made its prediction on a semiannual report on the . Economy. According to the report other conditions that May improve the dollars Outlook a . Interest rates on Long term investments have been going up compared with rates elsewhere in the world. Further increases May come As the . Economy recovers from the recession. A Confidence in the . Economy is rising because of the Quick end to the Dollar Mark Selling rate 1.801 1.70 1.60 1.50 1.40 military Exchange rate feb. March april May june july aug. Persian Gulf War and signs of recovery from the recession. A the recovery in the United states will bolster Confidence in the Economy and further increase Long term interest rates in the United states relative to those abroad a the report said. A both will increase demand for dollars. Prospects in Germany Are expected to remain clouded in the near term and will continue to put downward pressure on is amps Susan Harris the Mark a. The report also noted that the Germany Economy has been affected by a a a collapse in Confidence about the economic prospects for Eastern  a the worsening Outlook for the soviet Union an important trading partner in the East bloc. A a decline in Long term interest rates and economic growth. Salomon officials stepping Down after firm admits illegal actions new York up Salomon Brothers chairman John Gutfreund and president Thomas Strauss announced their resignations Friday in the midst of the worst scandal in the history of the prestigious 81-year-old investment firm. The resignations come after the investment firm admitted it made illegal bids in Treasury note auctions and that the executives did not report the wrongdoing to the government for months. Gutfreund and Strauss said in a company statement they would tender their resignations at a special Board meeting called for sunday a in order to give the Salomon inc. Board of directors maximum flexibility in dealing with the company crisis. Warren Buffett who owns 13 percent of Salomon is prepared to become chair Man and chief executive officer on an interim basis the statement said. The investment firm also said its Board a will consider the status of John w. Meriwether vice chairman at that time As Well As the Steps that have been and will be taken to address the management control failures that have  Gutfreund and Strauss said a we Are not aware of any problems other than those already disclosed. A we cannot allow our unfortunate mistake of not taking prompt action when in april we Learned of one unauthorized bid at a february Treasury action to Harry the firm. We Are taking this action to protect the firm its 9,000 people and its clients. We Are confident that Salomon will continue its pre eminent position As one of the worlds leading investment Hanks Quot the statement from the two exec a tics added. The Federal Reserve Bank of new York said Friday it a has been closely reviewing developments of Salomon  Buffett is chairman of the Omaha based Berkshire Hathaway inc. And widely regarded As a financial Genius. Gutfreund Learned in april the investment firm had made an illegal bid in a Treasury note auction but the executives did no to report the wrongdoing to the government for months. Salomon said it could face criminal fines and civil damages for the violations which took place during four Treasury department sales. The firm used customers names to make bids without authorization. Air fare War gives travellers a break by the associated press two More airlines pan am and Virgin Atlantic have announced fare sales that will make some International travel cheaper. The latest cuts on thursday follow a fare initiative unveiled last weekend by British airways and quickly matched by rivals that include american airlines United airlines Continental airlines and Northwest airlines. Virgin Atlantic airways said thursday from London that it plans to Cut trans Atlantic Economy fares by about 12 percent in response to the British airways Sale that offered 15 percent off on some tickets. The pan am ticket Sale offers 25 percent off on flights to most of its destinations around the world this fall. Tickets must be bought by aug. 31 for travel be tween sept. 1 and oct. 26. Pan am said the travel must originate in the United states and Europe to destinations in the United states Europe the Caribbean Mexico and South America. Flights on the pan am shuttle which Oscr ates Between new York Boston and Washington Are not included pan am said. The impending Sale of Many pan am routes to Delta air lines wont affect the Sale prices because Delta will Honor pan am tickets the airline said. United airlines was Likely to match virgins new fares said spokesman Andy Plews. American airlines will a remain competitive a said spokeswoman Lizann Peppard. Northwest spokesman Douglas Miller said it was studying the latest discounts to determine whether to match them. Virgin will be. Offering a fare of $525 for a round trip ticket Between London and new York starting sept. 16, dropping to $474 after nov. I said airline spokeswoman Debra Aspen. The fares were previously listed As $593 and $542, she said. The British airline also said it was cutting fares for travellers leaving from the United states. The round trip will Cost $449 rather than the previously listed $539 Asol sept. 15, and $359 instead of $459 Asol oct. 15. British airways said it has no plans to further reduce fares. It started the Tare skirmish earlier this week when it announced 15 percent fare cuts Lor round trip tickets to London purchased in the United states from oct. 15 to dec. 13