European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday november 5, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17_ Money matters today s tip credit card interest rates charged by Banks retailers and Oil companies should be slashed immediately new Yorkus two top consumer affairs officials said sunday. Credit card rates should be reduced by at least three percentage Points in anticipation of the Cut in the Federal Reserve Bank a discount rate and to reflect the Cut in the overnight Federal funds rates announced wednesday state officials said. A Banks Are willing to restructure the debt loads of the wealthy How about giving average Consumers a break a demanded state consumer Protection boards executive director Richard Kessel and consumer affairs commissioner Mark Green in a joint statement. They said that if card issuers do not Cut the rates Congress should enact  ceiling to Cap interest rates at 11 Points above the rate for three month Treasury Bills. That would put the ceiling for annual credit card rates at about 16 percent compared with current annual rates charged by Banks retailers and Oil companies of up to 21.6  rates London up mondays 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 $356.50 an ounce Silver at $4.09. Nov. 1 nov. 4 British pound.1.7490 1.7825 German mark.1.6607 1.6375 French franc. A 5.6045 dutch guilder.1.8825 1.8565 belgian  33.73 italian lira. 1,229.00 swissfranc.1.4625 1.4410 greek drachma.187.04 184.47 turkish lira.4,913.80 4.886.10 saudi arabian riyal.3.7501 3.7502 Spanish peseta.105.18 103.55 portuguese escudo.143.58 141.40 Canadian dollar.1.1223 1.1195 austrian schilling.11.7450 11.5640 norwegian krone.6.5490 6.4435 danish krone.6.4800 6.3720 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 1.60 through tuesday based on mondays noontime  owners cautious new York a Small business owners Are slightly More optimistic about the Outlook for their businesses and the Economy Dun amp Bradstreet corp. Said in its annual Survey released sunday. The Survey of 5,000 Small businesses found that 61 percent of the respondents Are optimistic about the next 12 to 18 months. Last year 59 percent were optimistic the lowest Reading since the 1982 recession. A Small business owners Are usually an extremely positive group but this year their optimism is barely higher than it was a year ago a said Patricia w. Hamilton editor in chief of Damp a reports Dunn amp brads Teeth a Magazine for Small businesses which conducted the Survey. Gerald Fagan sitting in a competitor s tractor joins fellow workers picketing the Caterpillar Plant in Decatur Iii., on monday. Workers mount limited strike at Caterpillar plants in Illinois Peoria Iii. A up to 2,400 workers at two Caterpillar inc. Plants in Illinois went on strike at Midnight sunday after their Union scaled Back plans for a National walkout against the maker of construction machinery. Some 17,000 members of the United Auto workers in Illinois Pennsylvania Colorado and Tennessee originally had been set to strike after five weeks of contract talks failed to produce an agreement. But the a awl a Secretary Tryc assurer Bill Casstevens said the strike would be limited to plants in Decatur and East Peoria which employ 2,400 workers. Casstevens said the move would a a limit the economic and social Impact of a shutdown on workers and on the communities in which Caterpillar facilities Are  Wayne Zimmerman a Caterpillar vice president said the remaining Union workers a will be treated like Caterpillar folks Quot even though they would be working with out a contract. Zimmerman said it was too Early to talk about Locking out the remaining Union workers. He declined to say How the remaining workers would be paid or whether they would keep receiving benefits without a contract in place. Casstevens decision was announced Fob lowing a plea by Peoria mayor Jim Maloof who said a strike could devastate the area. A a work stoppage now would affect the lives the fortunes and the jobs of literally thousands of people far beyond just the u a and Caterpillar a Maloof said. The contract was to expire sept. 30, but the two sides agreed to an indefinite Extension to let talks continue. The Union cancelled the Extension oct. 29, giving the company five Days to agree to a settlement or face a strike. In its latest offer Caterpillar continued to propose selective wage increases and added Cost of living raises for All factory workers regardless of the inflation rate. Caterpillar had wanted to ban Cost of living increases unless inflation exceeded 4 percent. The Union rejected the proposal. The company a original offer would have raised wages by 4 percent for workers in the top two pay categories and 3 percent in the Middle two. No increases were offered for workers in the Bottom two categories. Caterpillar also wants employees to Start contributing to their health insurance coverage. The average Caterpillar employee earns $16.89 per hour. Fringe benefits bring labor costs to $31.74 per hour. Caterpillar earned $210 million in 1990 on $11.4 billion in sales and Revenue but lost $86 million for the first nine months of 1991 on sales and Revenue of $7.7 billion. Seagram Selling Low end brands by the new York times the Seagram co. Has agreed to sell a group of Well known liquors to american brands inc., a diversified company and the maker of Jim beam Bourbon for $372.5 million. Analysts said the Deal signalled a move by Seagram to build a War Chest for an acquisition. But Seagram said it was simply Selling brands with lower profit margins and less growth potential than its costlier offerings such As chivas regal. The Sale of the seven brands a including Ronrico rum Calvert Gin Wolf Schmidt Vodka and Leroux cordials a requires Federal antitrust clearance and is expected to close before the end of the year. A while the divested brands represent approximately one Quarter of the House of Seagram a sales in the United states they constitute a significantly lower percentage of operating income a said Edgar Bronfman jr., president of Seagram. The company has shifted its strategy to focus on Premium brands with higher profit margins and greater growth potential. It has run advertising for chivas that asks a drinking less then drink  Stephen e. Banner senior vice president of Seagram said the company was not actively shopping for acquisitions. But he added a we Are going to be opportunistic. We Are certainly going to look at acquisitions but it really depends on what is out  the Sale will reduce Seagram s presence in the . Spirits Market where drinking is declining because of health and social factors. The drop in consumption has been sharper Lor cheaper liquors analysts said. A it s very hard to be optimistic in terms of growth trends in the United states for the lower end brands a Banner said. William j. Alley chairman and chief executive of american brands said buying the Seagram brands would strengthen the company in the Market for Vodka whiskey and rum. With the acquisition american brands Jim beam Brand co. Will displace Seagram to become the third largest spirits company in the United states