European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 8, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday december 8, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 15money matters i Dollar watch shown below Are the highest Dollar Exchange rates for the week of dec. 2 dec. 6 compared with Dollar rates Tor the same period one year and five years ago. British Pound one Pound would Cost you $1.77 $1.97 German Mark one Dollar would buy you 1.59 1.45 1 82 1991 i 1990 military Exchange rate 1996 greek drachma one Dollar would buy you 185.7 154.9 1991 1990 138.5 1986 a amps the Dollar fell sharply Friday Kos a by three factors a far wider than expected drop in a key economic indicator an apparent Federal Reserve move to encourage lower interest rates and Short covering in the German Mark ahead of the european Community Summit monday and tuesday. The Dollar started heading South after the labor department announced non farm payrolls a a widely watched barometer of the Economy a Overall health a were Down by 241,000 jobs in november with declines seen across the Board in All sectors of the Economy. A people were looking for a drop of 30,000-35,000,�?� said Lisa fins trom an analyst for Shearson Lehman Brothers in new York. A True there were some seasonal factors involved but when you Are this Many months supposedly past the trough of the recession and have this kind of a number that a Why you saw the fed  Finstrom was referring to the Federal reserves injection of $3 billion into the banking system. The Federal funds rate on overnight inter Bank borrowing is now hovering at around 4.5 percent below the perceived a a target level of 4.75 percent. Analysts called that a signal the Central Bank wanted Short term rates to go Down in Hopes of spurring the Economy. The prospects of lower interest rates sent the already reeling Dollar Down further Finstrom said. In late new York trading Friday the Dollar tumbled to 1.5682 German Marks from 1.5870 thursday and fell to 128.05 japanese yen from 128.68. The Dollar also retreated against the British Pound which jumped to $1.8165 from $1.7960. Against other european currencies the Dollar eased in new York to 1.3855 Swiss francs from 1.4040, and dropped to 5.3595 French francs from 5.4275 and to 1,187.25 italian lire from 1,200. Based on fridays Price fixing the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use will be 1.55 through monday. The rate through monday for the Sale of British pounds to . Personnel will be $1.85 for a Pound. Congress anything but unified Over How to cure Economy Washington up lawmakers from both political parties called Friday for a unified approach to stimulate the . Economy then offered fundamentally different measures. While republicans continued their Calls for a Cut in the capital gains tax rate democrats said tax cuts and incentives for Middle income wage earners would ultimately reawaken the moribund Economy. All this disparate talk led rep.  Jenkins d-ga., to remark a it appears to me that we re going to be All Over the Board. We could end up with a legislative package that does not get to the immediate concern to stimulate the  an equally immediate concern among lawmakers is the growing swell of discontent expressed by unemployed workers. The debate on the Economy came on the second Day of hearings held by the ways and Means committee. It featured testimony from 28 lawmakers who embraced or attacked dozens of legislative options. House majority Leader Richard a. Gephardt d-mo., offered a typical democratic appraisal of the administration s economic record. The recession he said is the a product of a decade Long abandonment of responsible economic policy and the result of three years of inadequate presidential  during the Day s talk the lawmakers gained fresh evidence about the sour state of the nation s Economy. The government reported that the nation s work Force declined by 241,000 jobs in november the steepest drop since March. The nation s unemployment rate remained at 6.8 percent in november despite the loss of jobs. Quot lets face it we re Here today because the american people Middle income american families a our constituents a Are hurting a sen. A Gore d-tenn., said Friday. Gore offered a Bill in May that would convert the tax exemption for children to a tax credit a net savings for most mid dle income families. The measure also would reduce taxes for about 134 million people and raise taxes on 15 million of the wealthiest taxpayers. Gore said his approach which would not further bloat the Federal deficit is not intended a to soak the Rich. It is offered because we want to give Middle income taxpayers a break without making the deficit a bigger  rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia the Republican whip also asserted his proposal would not Force up the deficit despite congressional figures showing it would Cost $28 billion Over five years. Gingrich denounced the congressional joint tax committee figures calling the Day crude Outda 1 Ain wrong. The Gingrich proposal tenuously embraced by president Bush would Cut the tax rate on capital gains investments which Are taxed As Ordinary income. Such gains Are made for the Sale of Stock and real estate. Bush and his economic advisers argue that a Cut would stimulate economic growth uttering greater incentives for investment. The Gingrich plan co sponsored by rep. Mickey Edwards r-okla., also offers a new individual retirement account plan increases the income older people May earn without a loss in social Security benefits and offers new tax Breaks for Small businesses and real estate investments the Gephardt plan would increase the top tax rate on the highest incomes and Cut taxes by about $400 a year on Middle income workers. Gingrich urged his colleagues to Lind a legislative solution rapidly saying the unemployed could not wait for enactment of measures Bush offers in his state of the Union message in january. A there s a level of anxiety a level of uncertainty that is frankly a Little unnerving a he said. �?�1 genuinely worry about the level of  Gingrich usually highly partisan sounded a conciliatory tone offering his plan As a Quot menu from which any number of items could be selected. To played methodology crude outdated d just Plain wrong. Christmas rally fails to materialize As investors keep purchases in Check new York up Wall Street began the week and the month of december with a 40-Point head Start and for a while it looked like the beginning of the expected Christmas rally. But the initial rally faltered the next Day and the Market slipped further into negative territory As investors became disillusioned by Washington a continued failure to jump Start the Economy. A a we re seeing growing nervousness because of weakness in the Economy and weakness in president Bush whose popularity is fading. The president has been very slow to respond Quot said Alan Ackerman executive vice president of Reich amp co. Joseph Barthel director of technical strategy at Fahnestock amp co. In great neck n.y., concurred. A the More important aspect is consumer Confidence. If that increases it will translate into spending but that a not going to happen until we see More leadership in Washington a he said. A the net effect is we re going to see a prolonged stale period for the Economy and the  for the week the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 8.28 Points to close at 2,886.40 a its lowest level since May 17 when it closed at 2,886.63. Among broader Market indexes the new York Stock Exchange composite Index Rose 1.99 to end the week at 209.74, and the Standard amp poor a 500 Index climbed 3.88 to 379.10. Declining issues edged advances 1,043-1,002 among the 2,311 issues traded this week. Weekly big Board volume totalled 924,964,180 shares up from 634,771,324 traded a week earlier but Down from 989,981,590 in the same week a year ago. The Market started out the month with a rally led by Blue Chip stocks shaking off an initial weakness triggered by a sell off in overseas markets and news of More economic woes at Home. The Dow rebounded 40.70 to 2,935.38. Stocks closed with slim losses in Active trading tuesday failing to extend mondays rally As investors turned cautious in the face of continued economic uncertainty. The Dow eased 5.82 to 2,929.56. But the Dow transportation average fared better jumping 23.92 to 1,223.28, boosted by a rally in the airline sector. Traders said the rally was fuelled by reports that pan am  chapter 11 reorganization plan was in trouble. Delta air lines which bought most of pan am a International routes eventually backed out of a Deal to provide an additional $25 million in a reorganization plan that would have made the 64-year-old Carrier a smaller airline concentrating on latin America. Delta a Stock Rose on the Prospect that the airline would be free from the financial Burden closing up 3% to 60-v4. Other airline issues also gained with Ual corp., Parent of United airlines climbing 1 in to 128 and Amr corp., Parent of american airlines rising % to 60%. Stock Quot closed lower in Active trading wednesday after failing to recover from bouts of computer driven program Selling As cautious investors stepped aside to await a clearer sign of the Economy s condition. The Dow fell 17.89to 2,911.67. Stocks closed sharply lower in moderate trading thursday As concerns about the sluggish Economy and Washington s lacklustre response to the recession kept Many investors on the sidelines. The Dow fell 22.58 to 2,889.09. Market update activity for the week of december 2-6,1991 daily Dow closes 3100 3050 3000 2950 2900 2850 2800 m w the f highest close 2,935.38-Mon. Weeks High 2,958.18-tues. Lowest close 2,886.40-Fri. Week s Low 2,854.65-Fri. Week s change Down 8.28 a Sas stocks closed narrowly mixed in Active trading Friday after an earlier rally ran out of steam As investors Hopes Lor further easing of interest rates by the Federal Reserve dissipated. The Dow shed 2.69 to 2,886.40