European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday september 13, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters today a tip the Agency conducting the governments cleanup of the savings and loan Industry has approved its biggest Sale of a package of sour Loans. The Resolution Trust corp. Is Selling a portfolio of Loans on California and Arizona real estate with a face value of $1.1 billion to general electric capital corp. And a company affiliated with the Robert Bass  rates London up thursday 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 $346.25 an ounce Silver at $3.96. Sept. 11 sept. 12 British Pound. 1 7260 1.7330 German mark.1 6980 1.6855 French franc.5.7750 5.7520 dutch guilder.1 9129 1.9035 belgian franc.34.970 34.815 italian lira.1,270.25 1,266 05 Swiss franc.1.4895 1 4795 greek drachma.188.10 187 29 turkish lira. 4,607.60 4,601.30 saudi arabian riyal.3.7501 3.7502 Spanish peseta.106 35 105.98 portuguese escudo.145.38 144 91 Canadian dollar.1 1382 1 1364 austrian schilling.11.9450 11 8800 norwegian krone.6.6400 6 6090 danish krone.6.5510 6.5205 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 Friday based on thursdays noontime  York Exchange new York up a York Stock Exchange Stock at amp to co Pepsico inc Boeing co Tenne conc Heinz he co Marion Meril syntax corp Kemper corp ism corp Salomon inc we stings Al Campbell up genl elec limited inc Telen de mex the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on wednesday. Salts last Nat Tig. 3,122.600 37% Ott 2,811,700 29% up % 2.708.800 50 0�1% 2.301.500 40% off 2% 1,912,600 37% of 1.832.000 36% up 3 1,659,300 42 off % 1.654,500 30 off 1% 1,587.900 101% up 1% 1,542,300 25 up % 1.495.300 22 a up % 1.449,400 76% up 1 1.442,900 70% up % 1,300.800 25% up 1,239,700 37% up % american Exchange new York a the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading wednesday. Stock Salas last Nat chg. Dow chem it 2,737,300 6% off 2% Hasbro inc 527,600 25% up % Plains rest 472,100 19% up 2% metro mob b 470,500 18% up % Viacom inc b 380.600 26% of Echo Bay min 344,100 7% unch inti movie g 284.000 2% unch Forest labs 255,900 34% off % Conti air 254,700 2% up % Marcus t 2 so 223,400 9% up % Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages wednesday High Low close change 300470 2964.67 2987.03 up 4.47 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks 1180.36 1156.91 1175.42 up 13.04 207.37 205 37 206.81 up 0.88 1065.29 1049.66 1060.02 up 4.90jobless Rote up London up a Britain said thursday unemployment Rose for the 17th straight month in August by nearly 60,000 to More than 2.4 million leaving 8.5 percent of the labor Force out of work. The department of employment said the jobless figure increased by 59,200 in August less than the 67,800 Rise in the previous month. Declining food prices in August offset Large Rise in Energy costs Washington a wholesale prices posted a modest 0.2 percent increase in August As the third straight decline in food prices helped counter the biggest jump in Energy costs in 10 months the government said thursday. The August increase in the labor departments producer Price Index was the first Price increase since a 0.4 percent Advance in May. Prices at the wholesale level had actually fallen 0.3 percent in june and 0.2 percent in july. The August inflationary pressures came from a 1.8 percent jump in Energy costs which was led by a Sharp Advance of 4.6 percent for gasoline. It was Only the second time this year that wholesale Energy prices have posted an increase and it was the biggest increase since a 9.1 percent surge ast october a period when world of prices were surging in the Wake of iraqis invasion of Kuwait. So far this year prices at the wholesale level have been declining at an annual rate of 1.1 percent providing the Best news on wholesale inflation since 1986. Despite the August jump in Energy prices economists see Little Chance that inflationary pressures will get out of control Given the extremely sluggish . Economy. The recession has dampened demand and kept a lid on prices. In another economic report thursday the labor department said that initial applications for unemployment benefits declined slightly to 420,000, for the week ending aug. 31. That represented a Small drop of 1.000 from the previous week and left the number of new jobless claims at a level that indicated to analysts an extremely sluggish economic recovery is under Way. The Bush administration has kept up pressure on the Federal Reserve to do More to ensure that the country does not topple Back into a recession. Many economists expected that the fed will move to Cut interest rates further perhaps after today a report on Price pressures at the consumer level. Analysts were expecting that report would show a similar Small inflationary increase at the retail level led by rising gasoline costs. In addition to a Rise in gasoline prices for Home heating Oil were also up at the wholesale level in August rising by 4.7 percent the biggest gain since october. However natural Gas prices were Down a Small 0.7 percent. Overall food costs dropped 0.4 percent in August. This was the third straight month of declining food costs including a 0.8 percent decline in july that had been the biggest one month drop in More than four years. The Good news on food prices continued to reflect falling fruit and vegetable prices which remained in Retreat after a big run up earlier in the year. Vegetable prices dropped 6.9 percent last month following a 24.5 percent decline in july while fruit prices were Down 3.1 percent. Beef prices also fell decreasing by 4.7 percent while pork prices edged Down 1.1 percent. The underlying inflation rate absent the volatile food and Energy categories. Was up 0.2 percent in August the same As the july increase. The increases in this area were led by a 1.1 percent jump in the Price of new ears and a similar 1.1 percent increase in tobacco products. The various changes left the producer Price Index before adjusting for seasonal variations at 121.7, compared with 119.3 a year ago. That meant that a Market Bas Ket of goods costing $119.30 in August 1990 would have Cost $121.70 last month. For the year analysts Are looking for inflation at the wholesale level to Rise by about 1.5 percent while consumer prices Are expected to increase by around 3.5 percent. Both figures would represent the Best inflation performance since 1986. Bolstering the View that a weak recovery will help keep the lid on Price pressures was last weeks report that the unemployment rate remained stuck at 6.8 percent in August. A we Are not going to see any meaningful upward pressure on prices Over the next year a said brute Steinberg senior economist at Merrill Lynch in new York. Reviewing the August jobless report Michael Boskin the presidents chief economic adviser said the Central Bank needed to go further to ease credit conditions. House Bill would Stop Bush plan to permit company owned Banks Washington a the House Energy and Commerce committee on wednesday released draft legislation that could scuttle the Bush administrations plan to restructure the banking system. The Bill would Block the administrations proposal to allow commercial companies such As general motors corp. And Sears Roebuck and co. To own Banks. It also would bar Banks expansion into insurance. The Bill was proposed wednesday by democratic reps. John d. Dingell of Michigan and Edward j. Markey of Massachusetts. Dingell is chairman of the committee and Markey of its finance and telecommunications subcommittee which is scheduled monday to Start considering amendments to the draft Bill. As the administration urged Dingell and Markey would repeal the Glass Stea Gall act of 1933, which separated banking from the securities Industry in response to abuses before the 1929 Stock Market crash. However they would place stringent restrictions on dealings Between affiliated Banks and securities firms. The restrictions called Quot fire Walls a May make the new securities Powers not Worth having Bankers said. Also Dingell and Markey would expand the regulatory Power of the securities and Exchange commission an Agency their panels oversee. The banking committees in both the House and Senate have passed versions of the banking legislation to repeal the Glass Steagall act. However Only the House version opens Bank ownership to commercial firms. The new Bill if it emerges from the full committee by the sept. 27 deadline set by House speaker Thomas s. Foley d-wash., would serve As a rival version in the House. In the Senate the banking committee has sole jurisdiction Over the Bill. So the key elements of its version which Are More acceptable to the banking Industry Likely will emerge from the full chamber. Meanwhile administration officials sought to reassure Rural legislators who fear president Bush a banking Reform proposal will choke off credit to Farmers and Small town business people. Quot in a worried about Congress Rushing in a knee Jerk fashion to banking Reform. That will have an Adverse effect on Rural and Small town America a said rep. Pat Roberts a Kan. Roberts was one of a half dozen members of the House agriculture committee a democrats and republicans a from such farm states As Wisconsin Missouri Oregon and Oklahoma who said provisions in the Bill permitting Banks to establish branches across state lines could result in Rural and Small town deposits being invested in big cities. Exclusion deals blow to japanese firm Tokyo up a officials at Nomura securities co. Said thursday that the world Bank a exclusion of the largest brokerage firm from an upcoming global Bond Issue was a a damaging blow to the prestige of the beleaguered firm. The disciplinary measure was also taken against Nikko securities co., the third largest in Japan sources said. Nikko executives however maintained they had not received official notice. Both were barred from the Syndicate underwriting More than $1 billion Worth of Bonds the world Bank is issuing in major markets this month As a result of their transactions with the late Susumu Ishii the deceased head of the Inagawa Kai crime Syndicate. A a it a a damaging blow to our prestige a said spokeswoman Tomako Aikawa. Quot Nomura has Learned its  the world Bank a move was the latest embarrassment for Japan a brokerage Industry wracked by scandals since it was disclosed in june that 21 firms acknowledged paying nearly $1.3 billion in compensation to More than 600 favored customers for Stock Market losses. Such compensation is not currently illegal unless promised beforehand. Scandals in the banking Industry also escalated with the arrest thursday of two former Fuji Bank employees and two businessmen in connection with a $2 billion loan scam at the fifth largest City Bank. Police said Minoru Nakamura and Hideo Sato both former senior officials at the Bank a Akasaka Branch and Akira Akagi president of Marushok Kosan co. And Masato Yajima former Marushok managing director were suspected of using forged Deposit documents As collateral for Loans with Nakamura allegedly conspiring to defraud 14 financial institutions