European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 14, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february 14, 1992 the stars and stripes c Page 17money matter today s tip Amtrak is eliminating 230 Blue Collar and management jobs across the country. Amtrak spokeswoman Patricia Kelly said abolishing the jobs is one of several Steps to offset $67 million in projected losses for the fiscal year ending next sept. 30. Amtrak already had announced that beginning july 1 it will furlough 1,000 maintenance employees for up to three months unless its economic situation has improved by then. Last year Amtrak reduced management positions by 10 percent and froze management salaries. Amtrak has a total work Force of nearly 24,000.conversion rates London up thursdays 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 $356.25 an ounce Silver at $4.23. Feb. 12 feb. 13 British pound.1.78505 1.77135 German mark.1.6080 1.6220 French franc.5.4550 5.4570 dutch guilder.1.8030 1.8020 belgian franc.32.96 33.38 italian lira.1,204.95 1,204.20 Swiss franc.1.4345 1.4565 greek drachma.185.27 185.24 turkish lira.5,530.00 5,601.00 saudi arabian riyal.3.7501 3.7501 Spanish peseta.100.91 100.78 portuguese escudo.137.94 1 37.07 Canadian dollar.1.1810 1.1829 austrian schilling.11.22 11.26 norwegian krone.6.2750 6.2820 danish krone.6.2095 6.2060 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for a s official business. I the Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . It personnel for personal use and this will be 1.56 through Friday based on thursdays noontime  York Exchange new York up York Stock Exchange Stock Glaxo holdings Chrysler corp Natl Semi conduct Boeing co Citicorp Uniss corp Natl med enter Tel Fonos de my Rwjr Nabisco hid Philip Morris general motors coming inc chemical Bank adv Micro docs Maxis Energy american Exchange new York up a the ten most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading wednesday. Stock Wang labs inc b go video inc Forest labs inc tubes de Acero us Bio science fruit erf loom Alza corp magma Copper co Western digital Amdahl corp a the 15 most Active stocks in new i composite trading on wednesday. Salat lilt net chg. 4.086,600 29% 011% 3,026,700 15 of1% 2,075,300 10% up % 2,842.700 46 is off % 2,781,000 16 off % 2,307,000 9 % up % 2,285,800 15 % off % 2,174,500 54 i up 1 % 1,994,300 10 % up a 1,990,900 75% up 1 % 1,930,600 35% up % 1,927,300 31 up 1 v 1,921,800 32% up 1 1,873,600 20% up % 1,668,800 7% Oft a Salat 3,860,000 Laet 5% Necta. Up % 1,539,100 5% up 1,233,700 36% unch 799,400 8% off % 675,200 17 unch 620,800 33% off 1 508,500 45% up 2 % 545,800 7% up 506,400 4% up 407,300 19% up Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones dosing Range of averages wednesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks Hiob 3291t7 1411.81 210.63 1183.97 Low 3233.68 1386.46 207.44 1163.19 close Chasae 3276.83 up 25.26 1405.64 �15.32 209.94 l�125 1178.93 up 992 Ford reports record loss of $2.3 billion for 1991 Detroit a Ford motor co. Lost $476 million in the fourth Quarter of 1991 and $2.3 billion for the year marking the worst financial year in history for the no. 2 . Automaker company officials said thursday. Fords net loss offers More evidence that 1991 is proving to be the worst in . Automotive history. Chrysler corp. Last week reported a $795 million net loss for 1991 and Industry giant general motors corp. Is expected to report on its 1991 red Ink later this month. Ford and Chrysler losses were generally what Wall Street analysts expected. The analysts have predicted that by the time pm figures Are announced the big three a losses will approach $7 billion easily Topping the $4.5 billion the Job Hunt Pete Condon a Valet car Parker in Atlanta turned himself into a walking ramp sum in Hopes of finding a better paying Job. The move paid off for the University of Georgia graduate a he got a Job interview wednesday. Dropped in 19s0. Fords 1991 losses were calculated at $4.79 a share and came on revenues of $88.3 billion. In 1990, Ford earned $860.1 million or $1.86 a share on revenues of $97.7 billion. For the fourth Quarter Ford lost $475.7 million or $1.03 a share compared with a loss of $518.5 million or $1.11 a share during the same period the previous year. Revenues during the final three months of last year amounted to $22 billion compared with $24.2 billion during the same period a year ago. Ford chairman Harold Poling saw a Bright spot in the fourth Quarter results saying the smaller loss compared with 1990, a despite substantially lower vol ume indicates that our efforts to reduce costs without compromising our product plans Are  Fords annual loss included a $93 million charge the automaker took in the first Quarter to cover Carly Reti Romont and personnel reduction costs. The worst previous year in Ford history was 1980 when the automaker lost $1.5 billion. Just three years ago Ford reported an Industry record profit of $5.3 billion. With a combined loss of $4.5 billion 1980 was also the worst year for the big three Overall a except for 1991. Fords overseas automotive operations lost $970 million in 1991, compared with $116 million in profit in 1990. Earlier Csc ban Means Consumers will pay More Detroit apr president Bush a plan to get rid of Ozone depleting chemicals faster will push up prices for everything from food to air conditioners. Bush announced tuesday that production of chlorofluorocarbons or rfcs will be eliminated by dec. 31, 1995, four years earlier than required under an International treaty. Rfcs Are widely used in refrigeration cleaning solvents packaging and insulation. They Are widely blamed for depleting the Ozone layer of the upper atmosphere which screens the Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. Other chemicals that will be banned Are Halogen compounds Methyl chloroform and Carbon tetrachloride. Industry spokesmen said they were not surprised by Bush a decision to move the Date up Given growing concern Over global warming and the eating away of the Ozone layer. Many businesses that use rfcs already had plans to phase them out by 1995. The unknown is How manufacturers will Cope with getting Plant and building air conditioning systems ready in time without spending billions to Swap existing systems for new ones. An interim replacement for rfcs could be Hydro chlorofluorocarbons or a rfcs. These chemicals also have the potential to deplete the Ozone but far less so than rfcs. And the ban on a rfcs Isnit until 2030. A a it a obvious there will need to be a carry Over compound for a while a said general motors corp. Spokesman John v. Dinan. The Cost to Industry already has run in the billions and some of that is being passed on to the consumer. Its already reflected in the Price of new cars that have Csc free air conditioners. Eventually it could be seen in a head of lettuce kept Cool in a grocers produce Case. A this is happening a year earlier than we were targeting a said Carol Sizer a spokeswoman for Whirlpool corp. Refrigerators Are a major product for Whirlpool and converting refrigerating systems and insulation already has Cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Sizer said the appliance Industry has asked for a 15-year a clock in agreement from the government a so we re not asked to do this again in two  Dow chemical co., which has been steadily reducing its use of rfcs in its plastic products since 1988, is stuck Over what to use As a substitute for its Trymer rigid polyurethane film spokeswoman Denise la Croix said. A we re waiting for the completion of toxicity data and safety testing to make sure we find a Safe and effective alternative a she said. Automakers who use forms of rfcs for air conditioner coolant appear to be ahead of the rest of Industry. They be already phased out rfcs in foam used for seats dashboards and other Interior Auto parts. Ford motor co. Said All its ear and truck air conditioners will be Csc free by the end of 1994. Chrysler  new grand Cherokee is rolling off the line with Csc free air conditioning and mini vans pm said All its vehicles will have alternative Cooling systems by 1995. Agency details hidden costs of a amp a debacle by the new York times when accountants talk about the Cost of the savings and loan disaster they mean the budgetary Cost a the Money Uncle Sam must borrow to pay off every insured depositor. But when economists talk about the Cost they mean something else. The act of shuffling funds from taxpayers to depositors they note does not create or destroy tangible wealth. The real costs they argue Are the losses in past and future output a and the decline in National income by diverting savings from productive capital into everything from see through office buildings in downtown los Angeles to a Rentable shopping malls in yet to be built suburbs of Dallas. And thanks to the congressional budget office this economic Cost has now been estimated. Their recent report reckons the loss through 2000 adds up to a half trillion of today a dollars. This year the government will spend an estimated $96 billion to cover failed savings and Loans liabilities to insured depositors. That is a jaw dropping number a sum As Large As Norway a Gross National product. The Transfer of funds should not change depositors behaviour because they were never Given reason to believe their nest eggs were in jeopardy. Nor should interest rates be affected since the dollars borrowed to make the payoff will flow Back into the bendable funds of the banking sector. Indeed Many economists argue that the bailout Money does not belong in the budget because it will have virtually no Impact on National spending or saving. This hardly Means though that the savings and loan meltdown has been costless. The budget office Points out that Deposit insurance created an enormous interest subsidy for investors in speculative projects allowing them to borrow at rates close to those offered to Blue Chip corporations. And the resulting misallocation of capital a the spectacular overbuilding in commercial real estate a reduced the capacity of the Economy to produce what people really want to buy