European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 18 a the stars and stripes thursday november 14,1991 Money matters today s tip Good news for Federal workers and retirees who have until . 9 to pick a health plan to cover them and their families next year Alt 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. A 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 a 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 Al $356.45 an ounce Silver at $4.04. Nov. 12 nov. 13 British Pound.1.7720 1.7705 German mark.1.6340 1.6392 French iranc.5.5870 5.5987 dutch guilder.1.0425 1.6462 belgian Iran .33.67 33.76 italian lira.1,230.65 1,234.00 Swiss franc.1.4460 1.4525 greek drachma.165.73 185.15 turkish lira.4,924.60 4,945.40 saudi arabian ityal.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 11.526 norwegian krone.8.4050 6.4230 danish krone.6.3385 6.3625 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 British pounds to . Personnel for personal use. Through thursday this will be $1.82 for a Pound based on a Price fixing wednesday afternoon at military banking facilities. New York Exchange new York up1 a or 15 Moat Ithra Slock in few cd lung _ Arias lad Natch. 6.306.400 294k up 144 3,452,300 10 to uni 3.036.200 274k Oft to 2.925.200 254k up 4 2.912.500 26 % up in 2.622.400 48 �?T4 up 5 4k 2,362,600 44 4k up 14k 2.119.400 32 % up Vuk 1.979.200 70 4k up 4k 1.878.500 10 a a unch 1.613.000 38 4 Oil 1 Vuk 1.792.200 7 up 4k 1,751,100 19 4k up Vuk 1,733,700 42 Vuk up 1 Vuk 1.626.500 29 Vuk up Vuk York Stock exc ant Cor Potia to big on to aids. Slock. Gnu o holdings Rwjr it Teco Halo pub Sec entry a Ford motor co limited inc Eastman Kodak Calafonos Damn Ganral motors Chlup Monti Rwjr Nabisco pop Banka Edca Homo shopping Amer express syntax corp Pepsico inc Dow Jones new York up a Dow Jones dosing Range of even get tuesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15uehtln 65 stacks he 3078.71 1285.13 221.14 1116.50 Low 3028.62 1265.13 21720 1098.31 3054.11 1278.03 219.45 1108.42 comm up 11.85 up 8.60 up 1.19 up 5.45 lower credit card rates needed to revive Economy Bush says new York a president Bush urged credit card issuers to Cut interest rates tuesday to help resuscitate the nations sagging Economy and accused democrats of sending his legislative prescriptions to a Liberal  speaking at a fund Raiser for his still unofficial re election Campaign Bush blended an attack on the democrats with a fresh prescription for the Economy which has not rebounded strongly from recession As the administration hoped. A right now the signals Are mixed on the Economy he said. Bush who had previously pressed Banks to lower a variety of consumer rates took aim this time at credit card rates that Are commonly in the 18 to 19 percent Range. That is 10 percentage Points or More above the 7.5 percent prime rate that Banks charge their most credit worthy customers. A a in a frankly like to see the credit card rates Down a Bush said. A i believe that would help stimulate the consumer and get the Confidence moving  Bush spoke a Day after a poll showed his Job performance approval rating Down 6 Points in the past month and 29 Points since Spring a a drop blamed for the most part on Job layoffs and other economic problems. He blamed Congress for blocking his proposals on transportation Energy unemployment and crime declaring a sometimes i get this sinking feeling that the democrats believe that they can win Only if times Are bad. They have a vested interest in seeing us  the democrats responded in kind. A i done to think that he has offered any sense of leadership on any of the issues that might be Able to pull us out of the economic mess that we Are in a said House majority Leader Richard a. Gephardt in Washington. . 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 then 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 lowest available round trip fare drops from $208 to $158. It i Pittsburgh to los Angeles during off Peak hours the lowest available round trip fare drops from $438 to $378. A amps 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 losses 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. A fall 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 Safe 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 re authorization of the older americans act and then approved the Overall Bill by voice vote. The reauthorization Calls Lor $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 not eliminate 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  a 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