European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 1, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday april 1,1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters today a tip the Federal Reserve is unlikely to Cut interest rates further despite pressure from the Bush administration private analysts say. If the analysts prediction monday is True it would mean that interest rates including the Benchmark prime rate and mortgage lending rates have probably seen their lows for this year. But even if the feds Days of easing credit to help the Economy Are Over analysts were not looking for rates to head sharply higher Given the absence of any inflationary pressures and the belief that any economic recovery will be  rates London up tuesdays 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 $341.75 an ounce Silver at s4.13. March 30 March 31 British Pound.1.73235 1.73740 German mark.1.6505 1.6473 French franc.5.5810 5.5675 dutch guilder.1.8595 1.6504 belgian franc.33.98 33.89 italian lira.1,241.50 1,238.75 Swiss franc.1.5060 1.5023 greek drachma.191.24 a 190.71 turkish lira.6,220.70 6,232.60 saudi arabian rfyal.3.7501 3.7501 Spanish peseta.104.16 103.87 portuguese escudo.141.96 141.63 Canadian dollar.1.1885 1.1902 austrian schilling.11.565 11.566 norwegian krone.6.467 6.451 danish krone.6.3900 6.3765 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates concerns the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.60 Marks to a Dollar and $1.78 for a Pound through wednesday based on tuesdays noontime  York Exchange Stock Oak industries at amp to company waste mgt inc Rwjr Nabisco hid adv Micro docs ism corp Glaxo holdings chemical Bank Amer express co Chrysler corp a a in Cokic corp Tel Fonos de my kid game tech Amoco Cor american Exchange Japan Heads list of nations . Accuses of unfair Trade a the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on monday. Sites lest is chg. 3,567,600 2 up a a 2,242,800 41 up 1,699,400 37% off 1 % 1,682,200 9% off 1,506,900 17% off vib 1,350,500 83% up 1,343,000 26 up 1,308,100 33% 0fl1 % 1,209,100 23 unch 1,154,300 17% up 1,117,200 34% off a a 1,102,600 17 0 1% 925,800 57 off % 924,500 31 % off 2 is 916,000 42% off is new York a Jpn american Stock to Cru a the ton most Active stocks in Inge composite trading monday. Stock settee lest net chg. Chambers Dev a 1,421,600 8% Oil i Wang labs inc b 956,800 5% up Rhone Poul cart 507,300 1 % up us Bio science 348,400 14% of Energy service 340,000 1 % unch metro Mobile b 331,000 21 % off if if o a 247,600 42 off 1 % 222,100 16% off Graham re hath 200,900 7% 0 1% Olsten corp 189,300 32% up Dow Jones new York up Dow Janes dosing Range of averages monday web Lew Cotese 30 industrials hmm 3215.79 3235.24 20 transport 1386.96 1365.47 1372.38 15u8imes 204.68 202.37 203.87 65 stocks 1166.97 1150.81 1157.65 Dun up 3.80 Oft 7.29 s0.63 0.55 by Martin Crutsinger a economics writer Washington the Bush administration is charging 43 nations with unfair Trade practices that Rob american companies of foreign sales. Japan and the 12-nation european Community led the list of countries named by the administration in the seventh annual report called a foreign Trade  the release of the 267-Page report monday was the first step in a process that could Lead to retaliatory tariffs if negotiations fail to Correct the alleged infractions. Japan a alleged barriers took up 19 pages in the report ranging from that country a ban on Rice imports to impediments that keep american cars and Auto parts out of the country. The european Community was targeted for 17 pages of complaints about its trading practices. The United states contended that unfair european farm subsidies Cost american Farmers $4 billion to $5 billion in lost sales each year. The subsidy fight Between the United states and Europe has stalled completion of an ambitious Effort to overhaul the world trading system. In releasing the report . Trade representative Carla Hills said that successful completion of the talks being held under the auspices of the general agreement on tariffs and Trade would resolve Many Trade problems listed in the report the administration is fighting off charges levelled by opponents in the presidential Campaign that it has not waged an aggressive fight against unfair foreign Trade practices. For the first time the report cited several newly emerging democracies in Eastern Europe including Poland and Hungary As erecting barriers to american products. In addition to naming 43 countries the report listed two trading blocs the european Community and the Gulf cooperation Council which includes saudi Arabia Kuwait and the United Arab emirates among other Arab nations. Other countries cited in the report included Argentina Australia Brazil Canada Chile China Colombia Czechoslovakia Ecuador Egypt Al Salvador Germany Finland France Greece Guatemala India Indonesia Israel Italy Korea Malaysia Mexico new zealand Nigeria Norway Pakistan Paraguay Philippines Portugal Singapore Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Turkey the United kingdom Venezuela and Yugoslavia. The administration has until april 29 to select from mondays report a target list of priority nations for intensive negotiations aimed at correcting alleged violations of . Copyright and Patent protections. There is generally a nine month deadline for completing the talks with the possibility that failure to resolve the disputes could result in the administrations retaliating by raising tariffs on imports of products from the targeted countries. In practice however both countries usually find a Way to resolve the Trade dispute before the tariffs Are imposed. 2 firms in Keating Case Settle fraud suits Tucson Ariz. Apr an accounting firm and a Law firm accused with convicted savings and loan chief Charles Keating in Federal civil fraud lawsuits agreed in mid trial to pay a total of $87 million spokesmen said monday. The settlements leave seven defendants including Keating who is not putting up an Active defense. The accounting firm Ernst amp Young settled for $63 million and the International Law firm Jones Day Reavis amp Pogue will pay $24 million to plaintiffs in the two class action lawsuits the Compa Nies said. The firms were accused of helping Keating deceive Federal regulators about the health of the thrifts Parent company american Continental corp. Also monday one of the a Keating five a sen. John Mccain r-Ariz., testified that Keating befriended him in 1982. But Mccain said the Friendship soured in 1987 after he refused to go to san Francisco to press Federal regulators to ease up on Keatings savings and loan. A Keating got red in the face clenched his Teeth and he was clearly not Happy a Mccain testified. He said he further distanced himself from Keating when regulators told him and four other senators in april 1987 that the Federal Home loan Bank Board was referring criminal charges against Keating to the Justice department. Keating arranged a total of $1.3 million in political Campaign contributions to Mccain and the four other senators. All five received reprimands from the Senate ethics committee for their relationships with  Security major Issue at at amp to contract talks by the Washington Post at amp to opened contract talks monday with its two major unions and Job Security was clearly the major Issue on the bargaining table. A your goal in these negotiations is to end the layoffs and downsizing and re establish employment Security and Job growth at at amp to Morton Bahr president of the communications workers of America told the company at the formal opening of negotiations. Jack Barry president of the International brotherhood of electrical workers warned the company that without Job Security it would be hard for his members to continue cooperation with at amp to management at the Plant floor level. A workers whose jobs Are secure Are not threatened by change a Barry said. The two unions represent 124,000 of at amp to a 147,000 workers in the United states. Their current three year contracts with at amp to expire May 30. The two unions will put their contract demands on the table this week. This is the first round of negotiations since the mid-1980s in which the rising Cost of health care is not a major contract Issue. In the last agreement the two unions and at amp to agreed to a managed health care system that has kept the annual increase in health care costs below 10 percent. The idea of any agreement that would guarantee a Job for everyone was immediately rejected by at amp to a chairman Robert e. Allen As  but Allen said the company and the Union had a a common goal of no More layoffs. A for Allen the key Issue at the bargaining table is flexibility on work rules. He said that since the last negotiations in 1989, the company had developed 21 business units and each needed its own flexibility in negotiating Plant level work rules. Allen called on the two unions to help a clean out the remnants of 19th-Century mentality that still linger in our work  business salary of United airlines chief Cut by More than $17.5 million from wire reports Chicago a United airlines chairman Stephen m. Wolf took a 97 percent pay Cut in 1991, earning a relatively meager $575,000, after his $18.3 million compensation the year before became a lightning Rod for criticism of High executive salaries. Wolfs 1991 wages and those of other Ual corp. Executives were detailed in proxy materials that United a Parent began mailing to shareholders monday. Waste management inc., another Large Chicago area company also began mailing proxy statements monday that showed its chairman pocketed substantially less Money last year. Dean l. Buntrock received $3.7 million compared with $12.3 million in 1990.Home sales Down 2.7% Washington a rising mortgage rates and uncertainty Over a proposed new tax credit for first time Purchase helped cause Home sales to fall 2.7 percent in february analysts said. But few analysts Felt the housing sector recovery was in any danger of faltering. The Industry traditionally leads the Economy out of  earnings up Deerfield 111. A Walgreen co., the nations biggest drugstore Chain said monday that its quarterly earnings Rose 14 percent on a sales increase of 12 percent. The company said net earnings for the Quarter ended feb. 29 were $77.13 million or 62 cents a share up from $67.43 million or 55 cents per share in the same period in 1991. Sales for the fiscal second Quarter were $2.04 billion up from $1.82 billion