European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday. January 11, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters today a tip . Penney co., the nation s fourth largest retailer said thursday that its closing two of its 16 telemarketing departments which will result in the Layoff of about 650 employees. The departments in Manchester conn., and Canoga Park Cali. Will be closed March 11, said Duncan Muir a spokesman for the Dallas based company. Both departments handle Catalon Telephone orders. A a we be just increased the efficiency of the network a Muir said. A these improvements allow us to take the Call volume in the remaining 14  the departments being closed Are Penney a smallest telemarketing operations he said. About 80 of percent of the employees at each location work part time. The company employs about 180,000  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 $358 an ounce Silver at $4.115. Jan. 9 Jan. 10 British pound.1.8360 1.7962 German mark.1.5405 1.5730 French ranc.5.2150 5.3315 dutch guilder.1.7170 1.7526 belgian franc.31.58 31 35 italian lira.1,154.10 1482.85 Swiss franc.1.3683 1.4010 greek drachma.175.90 179-59 turkish lira.5,149.90 5,224.90 saudi arabian riyal.3.7493 3.7493 Spanish peseta.96.17 99.15 portuguese escudo.132.72 135.65 Canadian dollar.1.4687 1.1522 austrian schilling.10.7175 10.95 norwegian krone.6.0050 6.122 danish krone.5.9250 6.04 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 1.52 through monday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York up a York Stock Exchange Slock adv Micro docs Glaxo holdings Rwjr Nabisco hid health Trust inc Santa be re secs Pepsico inc Smith inti inc Philip Morris Hewlett Packard at amp to company Hanson pc Citicorp Mcdonalds corp ism corp chemical Bank the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on thursday. Salei 6.693.000 6.542.000 6,001,200 4.430.400 3.114,500 2.613.900 2.485.900 2.483.900 2,233,600 2.163.400 2.079.000 2,063,200 2,044,700 2,033,800 2,016,100 last Natch. 18v4 off % 34% up1% 11% off 22% up 3% 7% off % 35 /4 unch 6% up 80% upv4 60 up 2 41% up % 18% off % 10% unch 42% up 1% 91% off 1 27% up 1 % american Exchange new York us american Stock sleek Chiles offshore Echo Bay mines he Haven corp o Brien Energy first Aust pm response tech Cal Energy inc Bat industries carnival cruise instrument sys a the 10 most Active stocks in sales 926.700 914,500 743.700 720.600 719.000 670.000 644,200 531,800 460.600 423.700 last Inch. 2% off % 7% up 2% off % 4% unch 10 off 15-16 8% up 1% 14% up % 11% off % 28% up % 7% unch Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages thursday Nintendo vice president Peter main displays a super scope accessory at the consumer electronics show in Las vegas on thursday. Firms playing to win larger share of video game Market with cd Las vegas a Sega and Nintendo claimed thursday to Nave beaten each other in sales of the new generation of video games last year a and upped the stakes for 1992 by introducing compact disc attachments for the machines. Both companies announced their sales figures at the consumer electronics show for the 16-bit game machines which provide better graphics than the older ones with eight bits. A bit is a unit of computer information. Nintendo claimed it sold 2.1 million of its super Nintendo machines in 1991, but Sega disputed that figure saying it was closer to 1.4 million. Meanwhile Sega said it sold All the 16-bit genesis systems it could make last year 1.6 million. But Nintendo claimed the Sega figure was inflated based on data from services that track toy sales. Nintendo said the actual figure was no More than 1 million. Nintendo officials added that their machine had been on the Market Only since August while Sega a genesis had been sold since 1989. However National retailers that sell both systems said Sega outsold super Nintendo during the Christmas season. Sears Roebuck and co. Found Sega did better because at a Price of $150 it was $50 cheaper than Nintendo Sears spokeswoman Marcy Grossman said. And at branches of the electronics boutique employees said Sega outdid Nintendo because Consumers believed it was a Superior system. Although Nintendo disputed Sega a sales claims it acknowledged that its rival is producing stiff Competition Lor the once untouchable Nintendo. In response Nintendo on t thursday Cut the list Price of super Nintendo by $20, to $180. Another reason for the growing popularity of Sega a machine is its Best Selling game sonic the hedgehog. Analysts also Point out that Sega had Many More game cartridges for genesis than Nintendo does for its 16-bit machine. The cd devices both companies plan to produce will use the same types of disks found in Home music cd players. The cd will store game data instead of songs and will work Only with 16-bit machines. The cd allow game makers to store vastly More data than game cartridges currently used. More data will provide Richer graphics and even full motion video. A in a game based on a movie you could have actual footage of the movie in there a said Alfred Nilsen Sega a marketing director. Peter main Nintendo a marketing vice president said cd should provide Quot another quantum leap in game performance As did moving from eight bit to 16-bit technology. Moreover cd will be cheaper to make than game cartridges. Nintendo said it expects the cd for its cd attachment will Cost about what the cheapest cartridges sell for about $20. Sega said its cd attachment for genesis would be available later this year but it did not provide its expected Price. Nintendo said its device would not be available until Early 1993 and would Cost $200. Some analysts said the video game Industry needs something new like cd to spice it up. A the fad has peaked Quot said Standard amp poor a corp. Toy analyst Paul Valentine. A the toy business is a fashion Industry. Periodically tastes change. Its going to remain a major category in the Industry but i think its going to undergo a substantial contraction in  but to listen to Sega and Nintendo the Market is just heating up. Nintendo believes its . Sales of All its machines and software will grow 39 percent this year to $4.8 billion. Sales of super Nintendo should triple to 6 million units the company said. Sega expects to nearly double its Overall . Sales this year to $1.44 billion including a double of genesis sales to 3.2 million units. . Shoemaker gives automakers a tip take Steps to improve products for Japan 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks he 3246.65 139686 22227 1179.63 Lew 3173.75 1346.79 217.95 1149.01 Cirisa 3209.53 1367 53 21889 1162.22 coca up 5.59 of 12 89 Oil 2.75 off 4.06 new York apr As president Bush a Trade trip to Japan wound Down an american athletic shoe company took an indirect dig at . Automakers and other companies that have blamed Japan for . Trade imbalance. The maker of new balance athletic shoes placed a full Page and in fridays editions of the new York times in which it argued that the Way to overcome Trade barriers is to make useful products. A emr. President Here a one american made vehicle that has no problem com Peting in Japan Quot the and asserts. President Bush was accompanied by a group of american businessmen on his trip to the far East including the Heads of the three biggest . Car companies. The automakers were particularly unhappy with what they called the vague promises that Japan made about buying More american cars and parts. The and shows one of the Boston based new balances athletic shoes and notes that Bush May have noticed a while jogging in Tokyo a Palace gardens that More than 1 million japanese people Wear that Brand. New balance makes 80 percent of its shoes at factories in the United states while Many major . Companies import shoes made in the far East. A it Only goes to prove or president that when you build a product people really truly need something amazing happens. People buy it a it said. In a news release new balance president Jim Davis was quoted As saying a the Only reason american products Are not Selling Well in Japan is that they re