European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday april 21, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 17money matters $ an increasing number of major japanese firms Nave turned bearish in their Outlook for an economic recovery this year. The Japan association of corporate executives reported that 43.5 percent of 177 member companies expect the Domestic Economy will not recover before 1993, compared with 14.6 percent in the previous Survey last december. According to the Survey 51.4 percent of respondents believe a recovery will Start in the october december  rates London up because of the Good Friday and easter monday closings in Europe these Are 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 $337.00 an ounce Silver at $4.00. April 16 april 17 British Pound.1.7579 1.7488 German marir.1.6675 1.6686 French franc.5.6125 5.6356 dutch guilder.1.8676 1.8770 belgian franc.34.160 35.15 italian lira.1,248.10 1,254.50 Swiss franc.1.5445 1.5448 greek drachma.193.76 193.76 turkish lira.6,439.50 6,439.50 saudi arabian rtyal.3.7495 3.7495 Spanish peseta.104.09 104.09 portuguese escudo.142.25 142.25 Canadian Dollar.1.1803 1.1803 austrian schilling.11.6750 11.6750 norwegian krone.6.4990 6.4990 danish krone.6.4310 6.4310 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 and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.62 Marks to a Dollar and $1.79 for a Pound through tuesday based on thursdays  s hoping to Corral former Roy Rogers fans Baltimore a Roy Rogers is Back in the Saddle again. The fast food Chain bearing the singing cowboys name had been slated for extinction by its new owners Hardeep a food systems inc. A Chai wide reconversion from roys to Hardeep a had begun at More than 200 restaurants in the Washington Baltimore area. But when patrons started disappearing along with the signs for roys Hardeep a decided to launch a rare and costly corporate reversal to round up those lost customers. Now the company is spending $4 million to reconvert the restaurants. And the legendary Roy Rogers himself will be brought Back on television to pitch the Chain. A i just Hope they can get the people Back a said Rogers 80, who starred in 88 movies and a popular to series in the 1950s Ana 1960s. A once something like this happens sometimes its hard to get them  Rogers who now lives in Apple Valley calif., said his fans Are so Loyal he a not surprised so Many people abandoned the restaurants when they no longer bore his name. Nor Are analysts surprised. They say the failed conversion illustrates what can happen when a company eliminates a Brand name that a popular with the Public. Twa says american is cutting fares to undermine weak rivals Washington a american airlines is slashing fares to drive weaker competitors out of business and will raise prices if it succeeds the chairman of financially troubled Twa said sunday. A you believe in the tooth fairy if you believe these fares Arentt going to go Back up a twas Carl Icahn said on abcs this week with David Brinkley. American airlines chairman Robert Crandall said on the same program that the company a new fare Structure is a Good not Only for Consumers and for the Economy but its Good for All airlines because it will increase travel. A if i were so fortunate As to be the Only airline in America. We  raise fares for a Long time a Crandall said. American has announced plans to lower fares by As much As 50 percent in some cases. Many other carriers have matched the new Price Structure. Twa which is trying to fight its Way out of bankruptcy court said last week that while not Matching american it will Cut Many ticket prices an additional 10 percent to 20 percent in response to the stronger airlines action. A the reason american is doing this without question in my mind is to do away with the weaker carriers a Icahn said. He said he Wasny to criticizing Crandall who he said was acting in the Best interests of his airline. A a you re not at a Church social Here a he said. A a you re in a very Tough league when you re in the airline  Icahn predicted that Twa which went into bankruptcy court to seek Protection from its creditors will survive. A we Are now the Low Cost Carrier a he said. A i think we be definitely developed a Niche for  Julius Maldutis an aviation analyst with the investment banking firm of Salomon Brothers was less sanguine about twas chances. A i am very concerned that unless the pricing Structure stabilizes in the Industry that its Chance of coming out of bankruptcy is Small a he said. Maldutis disagreed with Icahn and others who have said that americans new fare Structure is a scheme to drive smaller airlines out of business. To the contrary he said the proposal a if it is adopted by the rest of the Industry has a Chance of bringing some financial responsibility to the Industry Quot by simplifying fares. . Firms have Home advantage a stocks should Benefit from accelerating corporate profits a said Martin Sass at the new York Money management firm of . Sass investors services. But he added a with a fully valued Stock Market selectivity will be essential for achieving attractive  Sass said his firm Aims in particular to a avoid earnings disappointments of companies that require a Strong global Economy instead of the moderate .-based recovery that we  a we consider a Strong global expansion unlikely Over the near term. We look for continued economic deceleration in Europe and Asia punctuated by Japan a credit crunch which hopefully wont spread to a global crisis and Germany a inflation  such thinking helps explain a marked shift in investors favor since the end of last year toward stocks of cyclical manufacturing companies and away from Long standing growth favourites in industries such As food and pharmaceuticals. Among the big gainers so far in 1992 new York a in the Stock markets Advance this year investors have demonstrated a distinct preference for companies that make their Money close to Home. The Rise in prices that propelled the Dow Jones Industrial average past the 3,300 level last week has been widely attributed to expectations of stronger corporate profits As an economic recovery unfolds. But Many analysts have cautioned that the earnings rebound is Likely to be very uneven from one company to the next. For one thing they note while the each of . Business activity appears to e quickening economies in several other leading industrialized countries Are slowing Down and perhaps headed into recession. Thus Many Market participants believe profit gains Are Likely to be sharpest and surest among companies that do the greatest proportion of their business in the Domestic Economy rather than  prospects brighten executives say new York up a . Executives Are More optimistic about the Economy and expect to create 1.9 million new jobs this year an annual employment Survey said. The Dun amp Bradstreet corp., a provider of business information surveyed 5,000 business executives across the country about their employment expectations for the year. Approximately 80 percent of the new jobs created this year will come from the nations smallest businesses Dun amp Bradstreet said. A the Outlook for new employment is up dramatically from last year reflecting a growing sense of optimism about the prospects for the . Economy a said Joseph Duncan vice president and corporate economist for Dun amp Bradstreet. A with the exception of the nations largest companies businesses of All sizes expect employment growth in 1992,�?� Duncan said. A while companies with More than 25,000 employees plan to Cut jobs the loss will be easily offset by the nations smaller firms a those with fewer than 100 employees a which expect to create nearly 1.5 million new jobs this  the smallest businesses employing fewer than 20 people plan an increase of 6.3 percent in new Job growth compared with last year. That Rise in employment will account for 58.8 percent of All new jobs Dun amp Bradstreet said. A while Small businesses typically account for the majority of new jobs firms with fewer than 20 employees Are the driving Force behind this years employment forecast far beyond what we be seen in recent years a Duncan said. By business sector mining was at the Bottom of the list on the creation of new jobs with an anticipated 8.3 percent decline in jobs for the year. Construction companies reported the largest gain of 6.7 percent Over 1991, the Survey found. Auto manufacturers Home builders and other housing related industries. A interestingly these Strong Industry groups arc not As Export sensitive As Many of the industries with poor Price performance a observed Thom Brown at Walnut asset management inc. In Philadelphia. Byron Wien at Morgan Stanley group inc. Added a Many of the Large capital nation growth stocks have extensive operations overseas. The stronger Dollar and weaker economics in Western Europe and Japan should trim reported overseas earnings of these  the Dollar which has rallied since around new years contributes to the prot . Problem by shrinking the value of foreign Quot when they Are translated into the currency. Many observers worry that concerns of this sort could sooner or later weigh Down american Stock prices As a whole once investors get a Chance to gauge the prospective Overall effect on corporate earnings. Business Home mortgage rates Post fourth consecutive decline from wire reports Washington a mortgage rates last week registered their fourth consecutive drop averaging 8.76 percent the Federal Home loan mortgage corp. Said. Thirty year fixed rate mortgages were Down from 8.84 percent last week and 9.03 percent in late March. But rates still were about half a percentage Point higher than the 19-year Low of 8.23 percent established the week ending Jan. 10. Gillette plans venture in Russia Boston a the Gillette co. Says it will begin making razors and Blades in the former soviet Union this year in a joint venture with a russian group in St. Petersburg. The Boston based company said it plans to begin producing Blades and razors at a new Plant in St. Petersburg by the end of the year and Hopes to produce up to 800 million Blades and razors by the end of 1997. Utility share earnings drop Bellevue Wash. A puget sound Power amp. Light co. On Friday reported first Quarter earnings of $46.1 million or 83 cents a share. That is off 14.3 percent from earnings of $53.8 million or 97 cents a share for the year ago Quarter. First Quarter revenues increased 1.5 percent to $280.2 million from $276.1 million in the year ago Quarter