European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 7, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 7, 1992 the stars and stripes c Page 17money matters americans Rich Are getting Richer with the most wealthy 1 percent of americans gaining much of the Prosperity since 1977, the new York times reported thursday. The average pretax income of families in the top 1 percent swelled to $560,000 from $315,000 Between 1977 and 1989, it reported. That is a 77 percent gain when using inflation adjusted dollars the report said. A at the same time the typical american family. Saw its income Edge up Only 4 percent to $36,000. And the Bottom 40 percent of families had actual declines come a it said. In in conversion 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 $349.75 an ounce Silver at $4.17. March 5 March 6 British Pound.1.71685 1.7139 German mark.1.6735 1.6730 French franc.5.6b65 5.6620 dutch guilder.1.8813 1.8780 belgian franc.34.40 34.35 italian lira.1,254.15 1,249.45 Swiss franc.1.5250 1.5205 greek drachma.192.65 192.63 turkish lira.5,977.70 5,977.80 saudi arabian riyal.3.7501 3.7501 Spanish peseta.105.25 105.14 portuguese escudo.143.80 143.69 Canadian Dollar.1.1905 1.1865 austrian schilling.11.7625 11.76 norwegian krone.6.551 6.547 danish krone.6.4745 6.4740 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. A the Only official rates concerns the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.62 Marks to a Dollar and $1.76 for a Pound through monday based on fridays noontime Price fixings. Dow Jones new York up a Dow Jones closing Range of averages thursday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks High 3283.54 1457.59 204.68 1189.28 Low 3226.74 1429.93 202.24 1168.91 Closa Chang 3241.50 off 27.56 1437.97 off 17.75 203.37 Oft 0.25 1174.78 off 10.16 Gap s profits up 49 percent san Francisco a Gap inc., continuing to Prosper despite a consumer spending slump reported thursday a 49 percent jump m fourth Quarter profit. The clothing retailer earned a record $83.9 million or 59 cents per share for the three month period that ended feb. 1. That compares with $56.5 million or 40 cents per share for the last Quarter of fiscal 1990. Sales were $803.4 million 29 percent higher than $624.7 million in the year earlier period. A your ability to generate these results during difficult economic times is a credit both to our strategy and to All our employees a Donald g. Fisher gaps chairman and chief executive said in a statement. For 1991, the company a profit Rose to a record $229.9 million or $1.62 per share a 59 percent increase from $144.5 million or $1.02 a share the previous year. Macy plans to shed 57 stores in bankruptcy reorganization new York a . Macy amp co. Inc. Began pruning laggard stores thursday announcing the closure of five i. Magnin branches and 52 specially stores As part of the retailers bankruptcy reorganization. Macy decided to close i. Magnin stores that a the company Felt were not viable going Forward said Michael Freitag an employee of the Public relations firm Kekst amp co. Who acts As a spokesman for Macy. The i. Magnin closings could be a prelude to a Sale of the division said Joanne Legomsky an analyst with Standard amp poor a corp. A they probably would like to get rid of it at some Point a she said. Closing under performing stores would make i. Magnin More attractive to possible buyers. Ironically i. Magnin was one of the jewels coveted by Macy chairman Edward s. Finkelstein when he unsuccessfully sought to take Over Federated department stores inc. In 1988. But analysts have said the Purchase of the i. Magnin Chain and Federated a Bullocks division ultimately led to Macy a Landing in bankruptcy court in late january. Finkelstein took i. Magnin and Bullocks As Consolation prizes paying $1.1 billion. The company was already juggling debt from its $3.58 billion leveraged buyout in 1986. Robert Miller an attorney representing Macy bondholders said that a there was no quarrel on the part of our group with the decision to close the i. Magnin and specially stores. Bondholders Are among the retailers creditors. Closing the five i. Magnin branches and the specially outlets a was an easy decision a said Tom Razukas an analyst with Fitch investors service inc. Razukas said Macy had not aggressively pursued its specially store business which the retailer started in 1987 As an outlet for some of its private Label clothing. Macy said it was shutting Down All 34 stores in its fantasies by Morgan Taylor Chain which Sells women a lingerie in Competition with the limited  highly successful victorians secret stores. A the company is essentially saying the concept has not proven itself a Freitag said. Macy was also closing three of its 37 Aero Postale menus clothing stores and 15 of 3o charter club women a clothing stores. However the retailer said it would continue with plans to open five new Aero Postale stores this year. The specially store closings will not have a major effect on Macy sales. The company a 107 specially stores accounted for 1.2 percent of Macy a $6.7 billion in sales in fiscal 1991. Legomsky described the specially stores As so Small that closing them a does no to do any real  the bankruptcy reorganization process which allows a company to terminate leases and other obligations easily gives Macy the Chance to exit marginal businesses Razukas said. Macy is expected to close More stores during its reorganization. Freitag said the company had not yet considered whether it will close any of its flagship Macy or Bullocks stores. Legomsky said that while Macy is Likely to shut some stores she did not expect wholesale closings like those in Fedor ated a chapter 11 Case. Federated which emerged from bankruptcy court Protection last month closed or sold 42 of its 246 stores. The i. Magnin closings will leave Macy with 139 department stores. The i. Magnin stores to be closed Are in Chicago Kensington my. And Santa Clara Palm Springs and Sacramento Calif. Nineteen i. Magnin stores will be left after the closings. Razukas described i. Magnino a Maryland and Chicago stores As stragglers. A focusing on the West coast is Best a he said. Macy filed for chapter 11 Protection after a dismal Christmas season left it unable to pay suppliers. Wristwatch being armed with pager these two devices can show the time and serve As a pager. Atlanta up a Bel South subsidiary has entered into partnership with the makers of the Swatch to produce a Wristwatch that can be used As a pager. The pager Wristwatch will be marketed in the United states by sch Swiss corp., swatches corporate Parent and Mobil comm a Bel South subsidiary. The watch was unveiled wednesday by Nicolas g. Hayek chairman and chief executive officer of sch Swiss and John l. Clendenin chairman and chief executive officer of Bel South. The watch to be known As the Siepser will be the smallest available paging device the companies said. The pipes Era a retail Price will be $200 when it goes on Sale in the United states in August. A pie user Quot is the German word for Beeper. The pager watch uses four separate tones to signal the wearer. Variations in tone enable the wearer to identify the caller. The Siepser May be switched off when the wearer does not need to be contacted or put into a silence Mode when the wearer does not want to be disturbed. When in the silent Mode the Siepser stores incoming signals for retrieval. Milken s settlement proposal rejected new York a Federal Thrift regulators on thursday rejected a proposed $1.3 billion settlement of lawsuits against former junk Bond King Michael Milken. The surprising collapse in the Deal Between the Federal Deposit insurance corp. And the imprisoned financier from Drexel Burnham Lambert inc. Stymies efforts to resolve multimillion Dollar lawsuits stemming from the collapse of More than 40 savings and Loans. The Odic announcement coincided with a hearing in new York aimed at enabling Drexel to re emerge from bankruptcy after two years. But the judge in charge of the Case said the of Dick a objection  delay approval of Drexel a bankruptcy reorganization. Milken 45, was accused by the government of being responsible for the failure of the federally insured thrifts by Selling them overpriced or worthless High yield Bonds. Milken has denied any wrongdoing but agreed to Settle these and scores of other pending lawsuits against him. The Thrift regulators had sought $11.6 billion in damages from Milken and others. In a letter to . District judge Milton Pollack the of Dick a executive Secretary Hoyle l. Robinson said the of Dick a five member Board voted to reject the settlement a because it did not provide for adequate or sufficient information upon which the Board could base an informed  but the Odic left open the door for resolving the Case saying it a remains hopeful a the concerns can be addressed. Under the Deal the Odic would have received $500 million. Pollack said that a hearing on the planned Milken settlement would proceed Friday and that the Drexel Bai would be held up a not one  a there Are thousands of creditors interested in what a going to happen in the bankruptcy a Pollack said in an interview. A this is Only one facet of the  a Milken spokesman Kenneth Lerer said attorneys for Milken would not comment until Friday s hearing. The rejection shocked other attorneys connected with the Drexel Case