European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday april 23, 1992 the stars and stripes c Page 15money matters Consumers used credit cards to help them through the recession Ana More than half of card users worried about meeting their monthly payments according to a Survey by consumer groups. Forty percent of those questioned said they were a very concerned about meeting their current monthly credit card Bills and an additional 14 percent said they were a somewhat concerned a the Survey showed tuesday. Ninety percent of the respondents said credit card rates despite some recent decreases were too  rates London up1 wednesdays 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 $338.75 an ounce Silver at $3,985. April 21 april 22 British Pound.1.7484 1.7649 German mark.1.6660 1.6650 French franc.5.6310 5.6290 dutch guilder.1.8750 1.8755 belgian franc.34.26 34.22 italian lira.1,251.00 1,250.80 Swiss franc.1.5430 1.5395 greek drachma.194.84 194.87 turkish lira.<.6,509.40 6,528.70 saudi arabian riyal.3.7498 3.7495 Spanish peseta.104.51 104.36 portuguese escudo.142.37 141.84 Canadian dollar.1.1786 1.1806 austrian schilling.11.7300 11.7220 norwegian krone.6.5230 6.5120 danish krone.6.4480 6.4480 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 1.62 Marks to a Dollar and $1.80 for a Pound through thursday based on wednesdays noontime Price fixings. New York Exchange new York up a York Stock Exchange Stock Citicorp Uniss corp storage techno Silicon graphic Glaxo holdings limited inc Al Tel corp chemical Bank ism corp inti game tech general motors Chrysler corp wms industries pacify corp Rwjr Nabisco hid the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on tuesday. Selee 6.721.800 4.018.900 3.753.800 3.039.700 2.659.500 2.428.400 2,245,000 2.203.500 2.117.200 2.093.900 2.076.200 2.013.100 1.858.700 1.829.400 1.769.100 last 18% 10% 45% 15% 26% 23% 38% 34% 90 27% 42% 18v4 17% 21v4 9% net chg. Up 1% off % off 10% off 2% up % up % off % up % up % off 1% off % off % off 3% off % unch american Exchange new York up the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading tuesday. Stock us Blo science inti Corona Energy service Weatherford inc Chambers Dev a Ivan corp Amdahl corp Echo Bay mines Wang labs inc b Hill Haven corp Salm last Nat chg. 705,100 10% up % 554,400 a up % on % 527,500 1% 487,900 3% up % 433,900 8% up % 424,700 26% off 1% 415,800 15v4 upv4 378,200 6% up % 313,200 5 up 289,800 2% off % Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages tuesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks High 3366.50 137855 209.13 1190.16 Low 3305.68 1343.05 206 50 1166 88 close 3343.25 1354 82 208.12 117875 change up 6 94 0 116 82 Oil 0 51 Oil 3 09 travel not cheap or easy despite wars Over fares new York a done to be fooled by All the loud talk of simplified air fare structures lower rates and reduced car rental costs travel can still be a pricey and stubbornly Complex affair. Although american airlines recently reduced its highest ticket prices the lowest fares on hundreds of routes actually went up. Some new cheaper airfare prices Start expiring in less than a month. And a mind boggling Range of fare choices persist despite an initiative by american to whittle them Down. Landlubbers also need to shop around cuts in car rental rates that came on the heels of slashed airline prices Are not As far reaching As they initially seemed. A people  let the perception of simplified fares make them less vigilant than they were before about getting the lowest rates a said Jeanie Thompson Smith president of Topaz enterprises inc., a Portland ore., firm that follows air fares. American the airline Industry a pricing Leader announced april 10 that it had simplified its fare Structure from As Many As 30 rates in some markets to just four. Other major airlines said they would follow suit. However As of april 16 a nearly a week after americans announcement a american had 11 fares on its new York to los Angeles route United had 16, Delta had 18, Twa had 26 and Continental had 17, Thompson Smith said. Previously american had 14 fares on the same route United had 17, Delta had 20, and Twa had 22. As part of its overhaul american Cut fares mostly on full Price and first class tickets while prices for excursion tickets in some cases Rose and a wide variety of discount tickets were eliminated. But it is the cheaper excursion tickets that count for the average consumer said Herbert Teison publisher of the travel smart newsletter in Dobbs ferry . A second round of reductions promises to give Leisure travellers a break As Well. American on monday slashed fares again to match three weaker carriers that had tried to Chip away at parts of its new fare Structure. Most airlines matched americans new cuts. Besides the new cuts american eased its 21-Day Advance Purchase requirement to 14 Days. New car rental fares require a saturday night stay limiting the number of travellers who can take advantage of the lower rates. America paying for its financial myths by John Cunniff the associated press new York a Many of the myths americans lived by in recent decades Are tormenting them now. Neither the evidence nor the consequences make pleasant contemplation. The list is a Long one and includes such rationalizations As budget deficits done to matter consumption is the Economy a engine credit is the Way to go government can afford anything and inflation rescues bad investments. Allen Cymrot a real estate investor who cashed in and became an adviser when he saw a calamity coming Calls attention to one of the most prevalent and damaging myths observed by even the Best informed people. What was their error that you could lend Money at 10 percent to Developer analysis whose potential return on their projects was Only 8 percent. Based on what they did the Best minds in real estate banking and finance seemed to believe it. Cymrot said that it was Clear from the Start that huge real estate projects did no to have a Chance of succeeding. But Bankers Lent Money for them investment advisers promoted them and professional investors sunk Money into them. Now everyone pays for ignorance with recession taxes and lost Confidence. Organized labor pays for the myth that wages could be raised without regard to productivity growth. Managers shared in the ignorance. And elected leaders condoned it. All knew it was illogical but All participated in the myth that somehow the future would take care of things. It did no to and because it did no to millions of people have no jobs today because businesses have been forced to trim Down to be competitive. A popular myth a decade ago was that you could retire to an easy life of earning 8 percent on your savings. Millions did it and Many of them were told by professional investment advisers that they would be free of worries for life. Retirees St Mcturck their lives around that myth and few stopped to think that never before in american history had such a level been maintained for very Long. Many of those 8 percent returns have been Cut by half a and More. For some retirees the consequence of their Assumption is disastrous. Rather than being Carefree they Are burdened with concerns at a time when they Are least Able to be. Their advisers convinced them that myths paid off. Cellular phones being revamped for computers new York apr the nations major cellular phone operators plan to revamp their networks so they can Send computer data As easily As voices. The technology being announced wednesday would enable portable computer users to Send and receive electronic mail messages More cheaply and easily than Over cellular systems. It also could allow the development of such novelties As portable Bank Cash machines for use at temporary Sites like county fairs and vending machines that Send a message when they need to be refilled. Although computer data can be sent Over today a cellular phone networks the equipment needed to link a Laptop computer to the system is cumbersome and costly. The new technology should allow Laptop makers to incorporate a tiny inexpensive circuit Board in their machines that would link to the wireless network. The participants in the system include Mccaw cellular communications inc., the nations largest cellular system operator get corp., the second largest cellular operator Contel cellular inc., which is 90 percent owned by get and International business machines corp. The group said its members will Start testing the equipment this summer and expect it to be in operation Early next year. The technology involves new equipment that must be installed in each of the thousands of cellular phone transmitter Sites nationwide. The cellular systems Are divided into a cells a each of which has a transmitter to Send and receive phone Calls. The data transmission network will use the same radio frequencies As the cellular voice Calls taking advantage of frequencies that Are momentarily unused in each cell. Business Amoco earnings drop 70.9%, pointing to Oil Industry decline from wire reports Dallas a Amoco corp. Said tuesday that its net income fell 70.9 percent in the first Quarter providing the first look at what analysts expect to be Large profit declines within the Oil Industry. Excluding a special gain of $311 million in the corresponding Quarter a year ago related to an accounting change the earnings decline was 52.4 percent to $234 million or 47 cents a share. This compares with $492 million or 98 cents a share from a year ago. Revenues fell 12.3 percent to $6.4 billion from $7.3 billion. Sears plans More Job cuts Chicago a Sears Roebuck amp co. Said tuesday that it would shave 4,900 More jobs from its retail operations next month by closing the counters in 860 stores in the United states where customers can pick up merchandise ordered from the company a Cata logs. Sears the nations third largest retailer has been paring expenses at its merchandising group mostly by eliminating jobs and restructuring pay Scales. Fleet to lower card rates Providence . A Fleet financial group said tuesday that it will Cut interest rates charged to holders of 400,000 Mastercard and visa cards in eight East coast states. Rates will be reduced to 14.9 percent effective july