European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday August 26. 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters today s tip Ford motor co. Is expanding its warranty for More than 600,000 . Owners of 1988 and 1989 Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz cars that May have defective fuel pumps. Earlier Ford agreed to replace the defective pumps on any of the 132,000 Tempo and Topaz cars in Canada under a five year 50,000-mile warranty Extension. Owners of these cars May have difficulty restarting the vehicles while the engine is hot because of defective seals inside the fuel pumps. Ford said that there is no danger of fuel leakage or fires. Conversion rates 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 $353.75 an ounce. Silver was quoted at s3.b9 an ounce. Aug. 22 aug. 23 British pound.1.694 1.6753 German mark.1.7275 1.7535 French franc5.9225 5 8905 dutch guilder.1.9615 1.9575 belgian tranc35.63 36.015 italian lira1,303,50 1,296.65 Swiss franc.1.5125 1.5325 greek drachma192.14 192.05 turkish lira4.552.60 4.549.60 saudi arabian riyal.3.75 3.75 Spanish peseta108.71 108.45 portuguese escudo149.13 148.85 Canadian dollar.1.1438 1.1431 austrian schilling.12.2525 12.2330 norwegian Krone.6.8045 6.7890 danish Krone. 6.7275 6.7080 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 1.69 through monday based on fridays noontime , truck sales in August fall by 10.3 percent Detroit a a drop of 10.3 percent in mid August sales of North american cars and trucks could indicate that the two month surge of stronger sales has run its course an economist says. Sales dropped 14.5 percent for general motors and 15.3 percent for Ford figures indicated Friday. They were estimated to have dropped 2.6 percent for Chrysler. Estimated sales by Chrysler which reports sales Only monthly Are based on the company a average monthly Market share Over the past 12 months. Collectively big three sales fell 12.9 percent at a time when japanese automakers enjoyed a 7 percent increase in the sales of their North american made cars and trucks. The Auto Industry has been in a recession for More than a year and the sales rate began strengthening in june and july. But in Early August the modest recovery ran out of Gas and that continued in mid August. A i expected that recovery to continue a said Tom Webb senior economist of the National automobile dealers association in Mclean a. A a it a a  a year ago the nation was reeling from the iraqi invasion of Kuwait but an expected dramatic drop in the car and truck sales rates did no to materialize. American businesses of pending soviet by David Conn the Baltimore Sun the mix of euphoria and caution that has swept the soviet Union since last weeks failed coup is mirrored among americans trying to do business there. They Are at once optimistic about the business climate and wary about the turbulence of coming reforms. Most experts foresee a shift in Power away from the Kremlin and toward the governments of the nation s 15 republics. That Means decision making authority will be closer to the people with whom americans want to Cut business deals. Yet wrenching economic reforms a stabilization of prices convertibility of the Ruble and privatization of state holdings a Likely will make the shores Rocky for Small companies trying to establish a beachhead in the soviet Union. A a the papers Are saying now that All the hard liners Are expelled and they re free of this history and i think that s an oversimplification a said Thomas Anaya project manager with Argus trading Ltd. Of Rockville md., which Sells about $15 million Worth of computer boards and commodities in the soviet Union annually. A a there a still a lot of resentment toward democratization and dissatisfaction with the Market  still he said a this is a great Opportunity. There Are a lot of big projects going  today the value of private sector . Joint ventures in the soviet Union is $360 million a out of a total of $3.15 billion of such Western investment there according to plan econ inc., a Washington consulting firm. Finland had $357 million in joint ventures Germany $346 million and Italy $290 million. Argus which also has a joint venture to production studio in Moscow is negotiating to be middleman to a company that wants to sell baby food in the soviet Union. Another big project is a far reaching food production venture that Riggs National Bank of Washington a Georgia company and a University of Maryland Institute have negotiated with Russia. Russia is the largest Republic with 76 percent of the soviet unions land mass and perhaps the most prominent beneficiary of the failed coup because of the leadership of its president Boris Yeltsin. The project could be Worth $6 billion to the . Partners Russia and the other republics that join a soviet Georgia and the Ukraine so far. It is de pc signed to help make the nation self sufficient in food production and distribution. Today 30 percent to 40 percent of All the food produced in the soviet Union is wasted within the nation s inefficient distribution system according to economists. Under the joint venture. Protein foods inc., based in Gainesville. Ga., will provide equipment to build food processing lants and wholesale and retail food out cts throughout the nation. The soviet american venture initiative a research and consulting group in College Park  a will advise Riggs and protein foods. �?o1 just got confirmation today by Telephone from our contacts in the russian Republic that the project is moving Forward even faster than we had anticipated a protein foods president Robert Yarem said thursday. The first shipments of food to be traded with Russia Lor fuel lumber and other goods should be shipped by the end of october. At the beginning of last week Stephen Hayes thought his timing  have been worse. His american Center for International leadership based in Baltimore had been planning a two week Long conference in Moscow. The conference which is to Start sept. 10, will bring 200 americans to discuss everything from Trade and Legal issues to environmental concerns. Originally scheduled for january the forum was cancelled when the persian Gulf War started two Days earlier Hayes said. If the right Wing coup had succeeded it would have wiped out the Center which has sent Money a in the six figures to Moscow in Advance of the conference Hayes said. By thursday though the centers Fate was Clear. A a we re Back on a Hayes said. A a we re going to Disneyland a bigger companies May be cautious but they Are not panicking said Arnie Sherman president of global development services in Alexandria va., and soviet adviser to Edison  Sealand service inc., a division of Cox corp. A those companies that Are in the Market and Are International in perspective were surprisingly Calm during the week a Sherman said. The ones that were panicking he said were the Small companies that Are still trying to make overtures. Although a shakeout should be expected that s not reason enough to stay away he said. After an adjustment private business will begin to  reforms . Trade with the soviet Union $5 in billions of dollars h . Imports 4 -jfhu.s. Exports 85 86 87 88 89 90 1990 Trade breakdown . Imports from  s r uranium and related ores 3% a alcoholic beverages 3% inorganic. _ chemicals 5% radioactive materials 12% . Exports to  s r. Computers r meat 4% 3% fertilizers 9% source Commerce department a big companies retirement plans rated As the Best Survey shows Cleveland up As far As american workers Are concerned bigger is better when it comes to retirement plans according to a Survey by a business research group. The annual top 50 Survey of Wyatt co. Said that for employees retiring at 65 with 35 years of service initial benefits from a company pension plan plus social Security exceed 60 percent of final pay. A for employees concerned about their retirement income it pays to work for the largest companies in the .,�?� said John Steinbrunner chairman of Wyatt a actuarial practice. In the past 10 years 39 companies raised benefits to help retirees with higher living costs and 25 of them did it More than once. Increases came More often during the High inflation of the Early 1980s, then dropped off. But in 1990, 16 companies raised Retiree benefits a Sharp increase Over the recent past. These top companies provide multiple vehicles for retirement income and capital accumulation. In addition to a pension plan Wyatt found that All 50 companies provide a 401 k plan under which employees can save on a tax deferred basis. About 45 companies offer Thrift Sav Ings or profit sharing plans and 23 have an employee Stock ownership plan. Employers often match employee savings with employers contributing an average of 70 cents for each $1 contributed by employees in the Thrift savings plans. A today businesses Are even helping employees wild a Job Hope save Tor retirement by setting lip and contributing to portable savings plans. But As employees re finding out you can to put allot your eggs in one Basket a Steinbrunner said. A now a secure nest egg is a combination of private pension benefits from both defined Benefit and defined contribution plans plus social Security plus individual savings whether in a 401 k plan or some other  Wyatt is an International consulting firm specializing in human resources financial management and systems