European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday november 18, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters today a tip mortgage interest rates now at their lowest Levels in 15 years May drop further in the next six to eight months according to economic and financial analysts. The Challenge facing experts and Home buyers is predicting exactly How Low they will go. The recent decision by the Federal Reserve Board to Cut two key Federal lending rates fostered anticipation that mortgage rates would continue their striking decline. In setting their rates mortgage lenders often follow the trend of Federal interest rates particularly the rate for 10-year Treasury Bonds. Analysts interviewed last week offered widely varying forecasts on How far mortgage rates will drop. Thirty year fixed rate Loans now average about 8.7ft>erccnt National by. But if there is any consensus among real estate and lending experts it is that rates will drop a bit More before starting to climb. Opinions diverge on where and when they will hit Bottom. A you do not need a Crystal Ball to see some outfits offering mortgage rates in the High sevens percentage in the . Before Christmas a said Robert k. Heady publisher of the Florida based Bank rate  rates London up fridays 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 $355.75 an ounce Silver at $4.02. Nov. 14 nov. 15 British pound.1.7755 German mark.1 6285 1 6375 French franc.5.5830 55795 dutch guilder.1 8375 1.8450 belgian franc.33.68 3309 italian lira.1.232 45 1.231.55 Swiss franc.1 4470 1.4505 greek drachma.184.69 turkish lira.4,945.30 4,954 80 saudi arabian riyal.3 7502 Spanish peseta.102.66 portuguese escudo.141.04 142 28 Canadian dollar.1.1290 austrian schilling.11 489 11 485 norwegian krone.6.404 6.404 danish krone.6.3435 6.3405 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. T he Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.59 through monday based on fridays noontime  finished at kuwaiti port Shuaibi Kuwait a a ceremony saturday marked completion of repairs to Kuwait s main Container port restoring it to full operations for the first time since the persian Gulf War. A a Shuaibi Container terminal has regained its former operating efficiency with greater capacity and a greater determination to bring Back to life the commercial sector of this country through this vital artery a said Abdul Rahman Al Zibari director general of the emirates Public ports authority. Al Zibari said the port was partly activated in March shortly after .-led coalition forces drove iraqi forces out of Kuwait. Market sell off reflects fear . Lost in economic Maze by Martin cruts1nger the associated press Washington a the huge sell off in the Stock Market served to highlight a growing perception that president Bush and Congress have no clues about How to help the troubled . Economy. While the fifth largest Stock Market loss in history hit investors in the pocket Book wiping out $130 billion in Stock values in one Day Bush and other politicians worried their losses would come at the ballot Box. Trying to project an air of doing something both the administration and Congress have scrambled in recent weeks to come up with a winning prescription for what ails the sick Economy. The trouble is that everything they have tried so far has made the problem worse. Financial markets were first rattled last month when a Batch of proposals to give tax cuts to the Middle class were unveiled in Congress. Worried investors promptly sent interest rates rising out of fear that a bidding War Over tax cuts would make already record budget deficits even worse. Then last week Bush tried to Jawbone commercial Banks into lowering their credit card rates so Consumers would spend the Economy Back to Prosperity. Congress got into the act the next Day when sen. Alfonse m. Do Amato r-n.y., led a successful Effort in the Senate to pass an amendment imposing a 14 percent Cap on credit card rates which Are averaging 19 percent. Many analysts believe the credit card Cap played a part in triggering Friday s huge 120.3 Point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial average As investors worried about the effects such a Cap would have on the already troubled banking system. The House banking committee was scheduled to take up the Cap proposal today but there were a variety of signals in the Wake of the Market turmoil that analysis policy makers were backing away from the idea. Housing and Urban development Secretary Jack Kemp said saturday that even if the credit Cap proposal made it through Congress Bush would veto it. A there is a sense in the land that Washington is losing control of the Economy a said David Jones an economist at Aubrey g. Lanston amp co. A the president does no to have a plan to get the Economy moving again except for relying on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates and that Hasni to had much of an  Bush Stop economic policy makers have been sharply split among themselves Over what should be done. Kemp has been leading a fight inside the Cabinet for Bush to come up with a bolder approach to stimulating the Economy. That plan would couple the administration s proposed Cut in the capital gains tax with at least temporary tax Breaks for the Middle class. But Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady and Michael j. Boskin chairman of the president s Council of economic advis ers. Have argued strongly against such a proposal. Thev contend that More time should be Given for the fed s interest rate cuts to work. Kemp interviewed saturday on can denied he had been ordered to keep quiet about the internal administration arguments. He said Bush was Quot tolerant of the debate. It is a vigorous debate and 1 am not going to shy away from  Brady and other advisers have urged the president to delay making any further tax Cut proposals until his state of the Union address in late january. But Kemp said he believed an Effort should be made to attach Bush s capital gains tax Cut to urgent legislation needed this year to Supply More Money for the savings and loan bailout. Analysts said however that they still done to expect tax cuts to be enacted in the closing weeks of this year s congressional session but that some Type of Middle class tax cuts were very Likely next year As policy makers confront deepening economic gloom in a presidential election year. The Treasury department and the Federal Reserve continued to project an air of normalcy saturday. Officials at both institutions said they saw no similarities Between fridays sell Oll and a 108-Point drop on a Friday in october 1987. That drop was followed by the record 508 Point plunge on Black monday the next trading Day. Nonetheless some private economists said they believed the Stock Market could still fall by another 1 k to 200 Points because of the weak Economy. Sears joins with suppliers to Cut product packaging by 25 percent Chicago apr Sears Roebuck and co. Announced that it has enlisted 2,300 of its suppliers in an Effort to reduce the amount of packaging used in its products by 25 percent within three years. The giant retailer which also is promoting the use of recycled materials estimated the program would Cut packaging by about 1.5 million tons annually by 1994 and would save the company about $5 million a year. A the new environmental partnership already is in the process of changing the packaging of Many familiar House Brand and name Brand products sold at Sears a the Chicago based company said in a statement. They include craftsman and Stanley tools Kenmore appliances weather beater easy living and dutch boy paints Sunbeam and Oster housewares and Weider health and fitness equipment the statement said. Western forge corp., a manufacturer of Sears craftsman hand tools tested the display of individual screwdrivers and pliers on Racks without packaging at the company a suburban Oak Brook store and found them Well received said Keith b. Tice Sears National director for packaging and Labelling. A we believe our new environmental partnership is significant because it is an integrated and comprehensive program linking thousands of american companies with Sears in a Broad based commitment to address the country a solid waste disposal problem a said Laurence e. Cudmore president of retail for Sears merchandise group. Keith b. Tice Sears National director for packaging and Labelling displays two sets of pliers a with and without packaging a in Chicago. Sears said it initiated the program earlier this year when Cudmore and Catalon chief Everett l. Buckardt wrote to chief executives of 5,175 source companies to ask for their help in reducing solid waste. Sears has proposed a reducing the volume and weight of a products packaging at least 10 percent by the end of 1992. A increasing the use of recycled material in corrugated containers to 25 percent by the end of 1992, and recycled material in plastic containers to 20 percent by the end of 1995. A the response has been overwhelmingly supportive Quot i ice said