European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes thursday november 14,1991 Money matters Good news for Federal workers and retirees who have until . 9 to pick a health plan to cover them and their families next year All of the plans Are Good. Buying the most expensive plan is not necessary for most people. The exception is for people with heavy mental illness Bills or those anticipating Organ transplants. For the average individual or family shopping should not be an ordeal. Quot there Are no bad plans in the Federal program a said Gordon f. Brown who has written the open season guide for workers and retirees. It is available from the National association of retired Federal employees $9.45 for members $10.45 for non members from . Box 320, Washington . 20055. The toughest chore Brown writes faces those who want special benefits Quot like dental chiropractic skilled nursing facilities or mental health coverage. They really need to Check the brochures. Mental health benefits Are a weak Point of most of the Federal health plans. Most fee for service plans have separate mental illness catastrophic Protection Benefit limits and lifetime maximum benefits. Conversion rates London up wednesdays 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 $356.00 an ounce Silver at 14.04, nov. 12 nov. 13 British pound.1,7720 1,7725 German mark.1,6340 1,6360 French franc.5.5870 5,5950 dutch guilder.1.8425 1.8455 belgian iranc.33.67 33.65 Kalian lira.1,230.65. 1,232.45 Swiss franc.1.4480 1.4495 greek drachma.185.73 185.15 turkish lira.4,924.60 4,945.40 saudi arabian riyal.3.7502 3.7502 Spanish peseta.102.84 103.03 portuguese escudo.140.72 141.43 Canadian dollar.1.1313 1.1352 austrian schilling.11.490 11.528 norwegian krone.6.4050 6.4230 danish krone.6.3385 6.3625 these arc 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 thursday based on wednesday s noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York Dpi York Stock Exchange the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on tuesday. Stock Saha last Natch. Glad o holdings Rwjr Nabisco hid 6.308,400 29 a up 1 w 3.452,300 10 a unch pub Sec in Erpis 3,036,200 27 i off 4 Ford motor go 2,925,200 25 a up i limited inc 2,912,500 26 a up Eastman Kodak 2,622,400 48 4 up 2 i Tele Lonos de my 2,362,600 44 i up i general motors 2,119,400 32 4 up i Philip Morris 1,979,200 70 i up Rwjr Nabisco pop 1,678,500 10 a unch ban America 1,813,000 38 4 off 1 v4 Home shopping 1,792,200 7 up i Amer express 1,751,100 19 Vuk up v4 syntax Carp 1,733,700 42 4 up 1 i Pepsico inc 1,628,500 29�?T4 up 14 Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones dosing Range of avenges tuesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks High 3078.71 1285.13 221.14 1116 50 Low 3028.62 1265.13 217.20 1098.31 Cleif 3054.11 1278.03 21945 1108.42 Cham up 11.85 up 8.97 up 1.19 up 5.54 zoom in wholesale prices catches experts by Surprise Washington a wholesale prices shot up an unexpectedly Sharp 0.7 percent in october the worst showing in a year As prices on everything from food to autos took a big leap upward the government said wednesday. The Steep climb in the labor departments producer Price Index which measures inflationary pressures before they reach the consumer caught economists by Surprise. They had been expecting a much More moderate Advance of 0.1 percent. Analysts said they did not believe the october jump in prices signalled much More than a temporary Blip but they said the bad news was Likely to put on hold for a while any further credit easing by the Federal Reserve. Such a development would be a setback for the Bush administration which has been keeping up pressure on the Central Bank to lower interest rates further in an Effort to boost a sluggish Economy that Many fear is in danger of toppling Back into a recession. However the fed which slashed rates just a week ago is unlikely to move again economists said until it is sure that the october jump in prices does not signal an Onset of new inflationary pressures. The 0.7 percent Rise was the largest since a 1.2 percent increase in october 1990, a time when world Energy prices were soaring following iraqis invasion of Kuwait. For most of this year wholesale prices have actually been falling reflecting a reversal of last years Rise in Energy prices and decrease in food costs. . Airlines desperate for travellers Send wintertime fares into tailspin new York a . Airlines still staggering from the recession have announced fare sales that they Hope will lure More passengers during the traditionally slow Winter months. Despite some Fine print limitations the discounts announced tuesday Promise savings of hundreds of dollars on destinations Many potential fliers May have dismissed As unaffordable in these tight economic times. But Industry analysts said the tickets were so cheap that airlines cannot make Money on them and Are largely a Way for the carriers to Cut their losses. Us air was a main catalyst for the discounting offering Domestic fares for As Low As $138 round trip. Trans world airlines offered half Price International business fares although Northeast travellers wont be Able to exploit them because that competitive Region is excluded from the promotion. Three airlines american United and Northwest quickly said they would match the us air Sale but were still studying twas offer. Selling cheap seats to business travellers is particularly painful for the airlines because those travellers tend to Fly regardless of Price. Quot carriers like american make Money from International operations so they be got to think hard about that one a said Mark Daugherty a securities analyst who follows the airlines for Dean Witter Reynolds inc. Continental airlines said it would match both sales although it was exclude cheaper air fares for Winter Here Are samples of cheaper air fares announced tuesday by trans world airlines for International business travellers and by us air for Domestic Leisure travellers los Angeles to Paris regular Economy fare $2,660 round trip new Economy business Saver $1,100 round trip. Atlanta to Rome regular Economy fare $2,424 round trip new Economy business Saver $1,100 round trip. Boston to Washington during off Peak hours the slowest available round trip fare drops from $208 to $158. 4 Pittsburgh to los Angeles during off Peak hours the lowest available round trip fare drops from $438 to $378. Sas Sharon Kilday Tarrant ing its Houston London and Denver London routes because airline officials think they could lose too much. Other major carriers including Delta pan am and America West said they were studying both offers. The Sale comes As the airlines Are concluding another devastating year following the record tosses absorbed in 1990. Pan am America West Continental and Midway Are All operating under Federal bankruptcy court Refuge and Twa has said it plans to seek similar Protection next year. Throughout the troubled times healthy airlines have accused their weaker rivals of slashing fares to drum up More business. A i think its just a sign of a weak Economy and overcapacity in the Industry and in some cases financially troubled carriers a Daugherty said. Quot All that adds up to uneconomic pricing. Its Good for the consumer but its bad for the  the us air Sale offers savings of 10 percent to 25 percent off the cheapest discount tickets. The fares Range from $138 round trip on journeys of up to 301 Miles each Way to $438 round trip on journeys of 1,751 Miles or More each Way. Passengers must buy tickets 14 Days in Advance and stay Over on a saturday night. The offer applies to travel from Jan. 7 through March 31 to most destinations. Trips to Southern and Central Florida Arizona Nassau and Colorado must be completed by feb. 9. Us air is cutting the Sale Short to those Points because they Are popular Winter destinations a spokesman said. Twa is offering fares of $1,100 round trip from 88 of the 102 cities served by Twa and trans world express. The cuts also apply to All Twa overseas destinations except Cairo Egypt and Tel Aviv Israel. On a trip from los Angeles to Paris that would represent a savings of $1,560 off the regular Economy fare Twa said. Tickets must be purchased by nov. 29 for travel to be completed by March 31. Bill would end retirees earnings limit Washington a millions of americans would gain financially from legislation to end the current earnings limit for Many working social Security recipients. The Senate provision adopted by voice vote tuesday would eliminate the earnings test now in effect for beneficiaries Between Ages 65 and 70 who earn More than $9,720 a year. These recipients lose $1 in social Security benefits for every $3 earned Over the limit. The Senate attached the provision to the reauthorization of the older americans act and then approved the Overall Bill by voice vote. The reauthorization Calls for $1.7 billion in spending for senior citizen programs. The Bill now goes to a congressional conference where it must be reconciled with a version passed by the House that would note imitate the earnings penalty. The earnings change was sponsored by sen. John Mccain r-ariz., who said he would try to attach it to another Bill if the provision failed to survive the conference. A the value of a $5-an-hour Job subject to the earnings test plummets to Only $2.20 after taxes a Mccain told the Senate. A the earnings test translates into an effective tax Burden of 33 percent. Combined with Federal state and other social Security taxes it can amount to a stunning tax bite of nearly 70  Quot this is plainly age discrimination a he said. A this is plainly  Mccain a office did not have figures on How Many americans would be affected but the senator said there Are More than 40 million americans age 60 and older. The elimination of the earnings test has drawn opposition from the Bush administration which said it would Cost $3.9 billion in fiscal 1992. But Mccain said the elimination would save Money through collection of additional taxes and administrative savings