European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday september 11, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters americans clothing budgets May be pinched by recession these Days but the stocks of Many apparel manufacturers Are having a prosperous year on Wall Street. Through the first eight months of 1991, the Dow Jones Index of textile and apparel stocks Rose 54.22 percent ranking 11th among the 81 Industry groups tracked by the financial publishing firm. Shares of Liz Claiborne inc., a leading Force in women a sportswear dresses and accessories jumped from the Low 20s last Winter to a Peak above 50 before a recent pullback. Of corp., whose stable of clothing brands includes Jantzen wrangler and vanity fair nearly tripled from a late-1990 Low of 1 a to 33. Oshkosh by gosh known for its children swear climbed from 17 to above 40 in the Over the counter Market Over about the same  rates London up tuesday s 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 s351 00 an ounce Silver at $4 065 sept 9 sept 10 British pound.1 7260 1 7285 German mark.17035 1 6910 French franc.5 8095 5.7625 dutch guilder.1 9275 1 9060 belgian franc.35.08 34 8825 italian lira.1.276 45 1,269.00 Swiss franc.1.4985 1.4825 greek drachma.188.92 187.46 turkish lira.4,600.50 4,592.00 saudi arabian riyal.3.7501 3.7501 Spanish peseta.106.65 105.95 portuguese escudo.146.25 145.40 Canadian dollar.1.1385 1.1390 austrian schilling.12.0100 11 9000 norwegian krone.6.6740 6.6170 danish krone.6.5955 6.5335 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.65 through wednesday based on tuesdays noontime  York Exchange new York up the 15 most Active stocks in new York Stock Exchange composite trading on monday. Stock sates last net Cliff. Salomon inc 2.129,400 24v< up % limited inc 2,059,800 24% Oft % Pepsico inc 2.001,600 29% up % at amp to co 1,630,500 38 is 0 1 vib mrs int inc 1,600,900 7 is unch Philip to 1,401,600 73vb up % Baxter inti 1,332,700 3 3 i off 1 % ism corp 1,182,900 101 up 1% Telen of mex 1,153,200 37% up % we stings Al 1,150,500 22% off % genl elec 1,074,600 70% off % Boeing co 1,071,100 51% off vol Rwjr Nab bldg 999,600 12 off % get corp 972,400 29 a off is blockbuster e 948,500 11% up is american Exchange new York up a the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading monday. Stock sates last net chg. Dow chem it 624.800 9% up is resorts inti 521,900 m unch us bios i 339,800 33% off % cab Len sys 293,900 25% off is Abi Omed inc 279,400 11% up is Kirby corp 209,700 14% up % Echo Bay min 208,600 8 is unch Foundton hath 186,400 21 off 1 Marcus t 2 so 182,400 9% off % giant food a 180,300 22% off % Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages monday 30 Indus nals 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks Hick 3025.49 1181.59 207.25 1069 75 Low 2987.70 1165.90 205.37 1056.66 close 3007.16 1172.60 206.69 1063 30 change off 4 47 off 2 12 up 0.44 off 1 13 san Francisco ranks As worst in . For affordable housing by John d. Mcclain the associated press Washington looking for affordable housing then stay away from san Francisco in the West new York in the Northeast Chicago in the Midwest and Elpaso Texas in the South. Shop around instead in the Saginaw mich., area. Or Greeley colo., or Amarillo Texas or Nashua . The National association of Home builders housing Opportunity Index released monday showed san Francisco to be the least affordable City in the United states during the second Quarter. It joined new York Chicago and Elpaso As the least affordable areas in their regions. At the same time Homes in Saginaw Greeley Amarillo and Nashua most often were found to be within reach of the typical household in their regions. Mark Tipton the associations president said housing tends to be most affordable in smaller markets throughout the Midwest and South and least affordable in the larger highly urbanized markets in the Northeast and California. A even though incomes in the Northeast and California Are among the highest in the country the costs of land land development and construction have outstripped income increases and created a serious affordability problem in those areas a a he explained. In fact the 13 least affordable cities were found in California. Metropolitan areas in both California and the Northeast rounded out the Bottom 25. A in san Francisco where the median income was $49,900 and the median Price was $279,000, the typical family could afford a Home costing $139,720,�?� Tipton said. A Only 9.2 percent of the Homes sold in san Francisco during the second Quarter were priced at or below $139,720, making housing Opportunity Index a amps Peter Jaeger san Francisco the least affordable Market in the country Quot he added. The Index listed Elpaso a affordability at 51.4 percent primarily because of Low incomes and not Home prices new York at 21.9 percent and Chicago at 61.0 percent. On the other hand 90.1 percent of the Homes sold in Saginaw Bay City Midland mich., could have been purchased at prevailing interest rates by a household earning the area s median income. The median income was $39,700, meaning a typical household in the Saginaw area could afford a Home costing $111,160. More than 90 percent of the Homes sold there during the second Quarter were priced at or below that figure the Home builders said. The median income Means half of the households earned More and half earned less. Amarillo which had been at the top of the Home builders first Quarter Index dropped to fourth place in the latest Overall listing. Still it remained the most affordable area in the South with its Homes within reach of 87.8 percent of its households. Greeley a housing topped the West Region affordable for 77.1 percent of those living there. Nashua led the East Region with an 82.2 percent Reading but that was because of relatively High incomes since the median Price of a Home was $111,000, Well above those at the head of other regional lists. The median Price was $61,000 in the Saginaw area $69,000 in Amarillo and $65,000 in Greeley. The housing Opportunity Index was drawn from an analysis of 350,000 sales of new and existing Homes in 173 metropolitan areas from april through june. It was calculated using a general under writ ing Standard that says a household can afford a Home equal to 2.8 times its annual income at the 9.25 percent mortgage interest rate that prevailed at the time. Chinese protest customs raids on clothing importing companies by the Washington Post Washington a customs agents in los Angeles and new York City last week raided 23 companies suspected of illegally bringing chinese made clothing into the United states prompting stiff diplomatic protests by the chinese government which owns most of the companies administration officials revealed monday. The raids in which More than $3 billion in goods and Money were seized followed allegations that chinese factories were evading . Textile quota limits by shipping the clothing through other countries and Misla Beling it to make it appear that the shipments came from such places As Lebanon Honduras Panama Macao or Hong Kong. The customs service actions represent a new get Tough policy by the administration that responds to rising congressional pressure for action against questionable chinese Trade tactics. The administration by demonstrating its seriousness is trying to win support Lor continuing most favored nation Trade status for China. Trade relations Between the two countries have been worsening As a result of a growing chinese surplus in its Trade with the United states. The administration has threatened sanctions against chinese imports. High level negotiations on a list of american complaints ended i conclusively last month. President Bush ordered a crackdown on textile fraud by China when it was brought to his attention during a White House meeting with textile Industry executives this Spring. The executives supported his stance in favor of continuing China a Trade status but complained about quota and Tariff cheating. Thursdays raids were an All Day operation but the customs service announcement about them Friday contained Little More than a listing of the companies whose premises had been searched. Most of the companies were clustered in the garment District of new York. Practical joke backfires on investment firm new York up a Pacific investment management co., the victim of a $1 billion unauthorized bid practical joke by Salomon Brothers has suspended All dealings in Treasury securities with Salomon indefinitely. Last month Salomon Brothers once the dominant Force in the $2.2 trillion government securities Market admitted it had violated Treasury auction rules. John h. Gutfreund its chairman and three other top executives resigned. Last week Warren e. Buffett Salomons interim chairman testified before Congress about Salomons improprieties. During the testimony he mentioned How Salomon played a practical joke on Timco. In the feb. 7, 1991, $11 billion 30-year Bond auction Salomons trading desk submitted an unauthorized $1 billion bid for Timco. T his was submitted As a practical joke on the Salomon salesperson covering the Timco account who was scheduled to retire following the auction. The bid was supposed to he withdrawn. But the plan backfired and the bid went through