European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday August 19 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters today a tip Chevron Stock of Walt Disney co. Has fallen after three entertainment analysts Cut their earnings estimates for the company because of problems with its theme Parks and films. Disney Stock declined $2,875 to close at $116,875 a share Friday on the new York Stock Exchange. The analysts a Harold Vogel of Merrill Lynch Christopher Dixon of Kidder Peabody and Mark Man son of Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette indicated that Disney a earnings will be affected by declining theme Park attendance and poor prospects for its movie division. Disney has posted three consecutive quarters of earnings declines and its nine month profits for the period ended june 30 were off 22 percent to $462.6 million from the same period last year. Disney has hot released a major hit film in More than a  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 $358 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 franc a 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  plans to produce luxury cars from wire reports Detroit a Mazda motor corp. Is expected to announce details this week of a new luxury car division  begin operating in the United states in 1994, company employees said. Mazda Hopes to Challenge the highly acclaimed infiniti q-45 and lexus is 400 luxury sedans with a similar class of High performance vehicle. A second smaller vehicle would be designed to compete with by we a 535 series. But Mazda the fourth largest japanese automaker in this country will be trying for a piece of an already crowded segment of the . Vehicle Market. Only last week Peugeot and Sterling two european luxury brands ended United states operations because of dwindling sales. Among japanese automakers Mazda is following the trend toward higher priced luxury vehicles started in the mid-1980s by Honda motor Toyota motor and Nissan motor. Oil venture line resistance Moscow a a Chevron corp. Venture with Kazakhstan to tap the Oil Fields of that soviet Republic is being heralded As a test Case for East West business initiatives. But the project is encountering Tough resistance. Communist hard liner holdovers from the soviets Central government and critics in the press have stridently attacked the proposed multimillion Dollar Deal As an exploitative venture that heavily favors the san Francisco based Oil giant. Supporters reject those assertions however vowing to see the Deal concluded. Former foreign minister Eduard a. Shevardnadze writing in its defense said that the outcome of the proposed 25-year venture the largest soviet american initiative Ever could determine the future of such joint enterprises. A it is no secret that the . Will judge our readiness to cooperate by the Success or failure of this  said Shevardnadze writing last week in the Moscow news one of the newspapers that had attacked the Deal. The initiative is seen As a test for. Others who Are testing the Waters for launching deals. Among others British airways is taking Steps to build an air terminal in Moscow and the soviets Are seeking a partner for a giant Auto Plant. The Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan and numerous other soviet Oil Fields Are among the richest in the world. But the soviet Union docs not have the technology to extract the Oil one Western expert said. Without the help of Western Oil companies such As Chevron soviet Oil production will continue to plummet disastrously. The country could wind up importing Oil said the expert speaking on condition of anonymity. The controversy illustrates the problems that Western companies May face. One of the soviets negotiating the Deal with Chevron claims the controversy has been created largely by officials at Goslan the Central economic planning Agency. The soviet Agency is locked in a Power struggle involving the Kremlin and the republics. A it turns out we forgot about the former Goslan and its  one official said last month. A in a week it managed to halt everything that had been done in three  the republics can now negotiate deals As part of decentralization reforms but Goslan is still trying to assert control As it has in the past. Salomon s new chairman earned Money respect old fashioned Way by Albert b. Crenshaw the Washington Post Warren Buffett who agreed on Friday to take Over As interim chairman and chief executive of troubled Salomon Brothers inc., brings with him an air of reassurance that few others in american finance a or any aspect of american life a can claim today. During the 1980s, the Plain speaking Low key midwesterner achieved riches beyond the dreams of the Carl Icahn and Ivan Boesky and other symbols of that a a greedy decade a and he did so without the Benefit of the insider trading hostile takeovers and junk Bonds that made so much of the wealth of that time seem ill gotten. Instead Buffett has built his Omaha based Berkshire Hathaway inc. From a $28 million company in 1965 to a $10 billion firm today the old fashioned Way by making Long term investments in sound companies that Are either undervalued by the Stock Market or Are depressed by temporary troubles. Along the Way he earned a reputation As one of the nations most astute investors and All purpose business advisers to top executives of corporations in which he has a stake. For example when Greico corp., the big insurance company based in Chevy Chase md., got into trouble and nearly a folded during the 1970s, Buffett concluded that the firm had a solid franchise and made a major investment in it. Today Berkshire Hathaway owns 48 percent of Greico and its stake which Cost it $45.7 million is Worth More than $1.1 billion. Others of what Buffett Calls his a permanent four investments Are the Washington Post co. Capital cities Abc inc. And coca cola co. In each Case Moffett has at Warren Buffett least doubled his Money and in the Case of the Washington Post he More than tripled it. As a result of this Success Buffetti a own stake in Berkshire Hathaway is Worth More than $4 billion with in additional $300 million stake held by his wife Susan. Last year Buffett purchased 10 percent of Wells Fargo amp co., Parent of Wells Fargo Bank and earlier this month obtained permission to double his stake. While that has yet to pay the kinds of dividends of earlier investments Buffett told Berkshire stockholders this Spring that he views the stake As a bargain and that Strong management at the Bank will eventually yield a handsome return. In recent years Buffett also has become an investor to whom companies have turned in search of a patient capital Quot Money to stave off unwanted takeovers As in the Case of Salomon Brothers or  the balance Sheet in troubled times. L in has thus acquired Large blocks of special issues of convertible preferred Stock in Salomon Brothers us air group inc., Champion International and american express co. The terms of his investments have been attractive and not available to other investors he receives High yield dividend payments on the preferred Stock plus the Chance to participate in any increase in Price in the common Stock. Buffett 60, began his lifelong fascination with Money by buying coca Colas and Selling them for a profit As a child on the streets of Omalia during the depression. In the 1960s, he managed to acquire Berkshire Hathaway a which has major insurance operations today a and eventually converted it into a vehicle for his invest mints. He continues to emphasize ids role As a passive investor spending hours studying company financial statements picking Well managed companies to invest in and then letting the managers manage. Buffett has said repeatedly that he has no plans to build a dynasty and his estate plan is a aimed at preserving the character of Berkshire and returning the Fortune to  new japanese device zeros in on location Tokyo a if you re lost a new hand held device from Japan a Sony corp. Will help you determine exactly where you Are at least in relation to latitude and Longitude. Sony a new portable location finder uses satellite signals to determine its location velocity Altitude and direction. The data appear on a calculator style display. The pyxis ips-360 system named after a Constellation weighs 11a pounds including batteries. It is Small enough to hold in ones hand. It includes a Small dish Antenna that can be detached and placed on the roof of a boat or car. A memory allows the device to display the distance Between its current location and the starting Point or destination and a record of the route travelled. It also can compare the current direction with the proper bearing to the destination. Sony says the device can work anywhere in the world and automatically selects at least three satellites to calculate its location by triangulation. The location finder Sells in Japan for $1,160. The company is considering marketing the unit in the United states and Europe