European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday May 13, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 17 Money matters stocks of California banking giants first interstate ban corp and Wells Fargo and co. Both jumped monday on speculation that some kind of merger Deal May be near. The rumours have come in the Wake of ban America corp. Completing its $5 billion acquisition last month of Security Pacific corp., the largest banking merger in . History and a Clear step toward creating a nationwide Bank. First interstate Stock gained $2.50 to $44,375 a share on the new York Stock Exchange while Wells Fargo gained $4,625 to $86,375. Neither Bank would comment on the rumours which apparently originated in new York. Analysts have said the ban America merger has put pressure on its two remaining West coast rivals if they Are to remain competitive in the  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 $335.25 an ounce Silver at $4.10. May 11 May 12 British Pound.1.7934 1 German mark.1.6413 1.6280 French franc.5.4955 5 dutch guilder.1.8465 1.8357 belgian franc.33.82 33.55 italian lira.1.237.90 1,227.50 Swiss franc.1.5255 1.51110 greek drachma.193.90 15? turkish lira.6,692.90 6,671.60 saudi arabian riyal.3.7488 ?.7490 Spanish peseta.102.80 101.85 portuguese escudo.137.10 135.75 Canadian dollar.1 2040 austrian schilling.11.5760 norwegian krone.6.4200 6.3620 danish krone.6.3625 6.3015 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates apply to the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.59 Marks to a Dollar and $1.85 for a Pound through wednesday based on tuesdays noontime Price fixings. New York Exchange new York up a York Stock Exchange Stock global Marine genl electric ism corp Duke Power co Unilever no Rwjr Nabisco hid Wal Mart stores Glaxo holdings Citicorp Philip Morris ban America limited inc Pepsico inc Bank of Boston Amer express co the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on monday. Salon 2.291.300 2.025.500 1.647.700 1,606,000 1.539.900 1,523,600 1,434,400 1,363,200 1.360.700 1.249.900 1,232,000 1.103.300 1.096.900 1.046.500 1.028.500 last 17/ 79 a 93% 34 a 104vb 10 52% 27 19 79 48 24�?T/ 36% 22 22% net chg. Unch up 1 up up a up 1% up % up7/ off up % up 1 up up up a unch up a american Exchange new York up the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Stock Chambers Dev a Americus desc Hasbro inc Wang labs inc b inti Corona Alza corp fruit of loom Kirby corp Enzo Bochem us Bio science Range composite trading monday. Latoi l8lt net cd. 994,500 8% up 790,600 9% up 1% 461,900 26% up 372.800 4 up 360,100 315-16 up 1-16 316,000 45 up 303,700 35 up 275,100 15 up % 198,900 5% up a 187,900 13% up % Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones dosing Range of averages monday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 a woes 65 stocks 1410.69 21482 1211 30 Low 3363.82 1392.19 212.32 1195 33 cloth 3397 58 1402 26 213.88 1205 95 kwae up 28.17 up 2.62 on 0.13 up 6 37 Hughes aircraft to Purchase general dynamics missile Stock Detroit a general motors  Hughes aircraft division has agreed to pay at least $450 million in Stock for general dynamics  missile business the companies announced monday. The Purchase makes the levs Angeles based Hughes one of the worlds largest manufacturers of tactical missiles. Hughes aircraft co., a pm subsidiary will buy the business for 21.5 million shares of pm class h common Stock which closed at $23 a share Friday up 12v4 cents. General dynamics then would sell the shares to the Public at a time set by pm. If the Market value of the Stock exceeds $450 million at the time of Sale the companies will split the difference. The Deal is subject to governmental review. A this transaction allows Hughes to strengthen its defense business a particularly in areas where the company can sustain a leadership position a while continuing its diversification into commercial and non defense businesses Quot c. Michael Armstrong Hughes chairman and chief executive officer said in a news release. General dynamics spokesman Alvin Spivak said the company is returning to its four Core military businesses tactical military aircraft nuclear submarines armoured vehicles and space launch systems. Spivak said the reduction in the nations military spending is the reason for the  we find this the most effective Way to be competitive a he said. The Deal includes general dynamics air defense systems division in Pomona Calif., and Rancho Cucamonga Calif., and the unmanned strike systems portion of the co Nair division whose primary plants Are in san Diego and Syc Amore Canyon Calif. General dynamics based in balls Church va., will lease the Rancho Cucamonga san Diego and Sycamore Canyon facilities to Hughes. The businesses have about 9,000 workers. Products involved include surface to air missiles portable anti aircraft missiles the Tomahawk sea launched cruise missile advanced cruise missile and the Phalanx shipboard anti missile gun and rolling Airframe missile ship self defense systems. Hughes which combines with Delco electronics in pm Hughes electronics corp., will add the $1 billion a year business to its existing weapons business. About 7,300 Hughes workers at plants in con coga Park Calif. Tucson Ariz. La Grange a. And Eufaula ala., make air to air air to ground and anti tank missiles. Computers speaking in tongues san Jose Calif. A Apple computer inc. Went multilingual monday with the introduction of software to let machines use dozens of languages from complicated arabic and japanese to romantic French and italian. Apple chairman and chief executive John Sculley announced world script at the company a annual worldwide Developer conference a we Klong gathering of More than 4,000 engineers and executives from 30-plus countries. A a it a the first global ready release of software a Sculley told the developers. A a you la now have Access to global  world script which will become available when Apple upgrades its macintosh system 7 operating system this fall lets developers write programs in nearly any language and then immediately convert it to another Tongue. The operating system is an underlying base of software that controls a personal computer while programs Are the working applications people use. A spreadsheet that lets people balance their books with the roman alphabet used primarily in Western languages for example can be translated through world script to the artistic strokes of arabic or hebrew. The program has 31 languages according to Apple. A with the growing importance of doing business on a global scale Multi language computing capabilities Are imperative a said Ian Diery president of Apple Pacific which serves asian nations. Previously converting programs into other languages was time consuming. The developers conference which has grown Over the past decade from a hand Ful of program writers had an International flavor. Signs posted in exhibit Halls were in several languages and mondays introduction by Sculley and other Apple executives included graphics that showed a swirling Globe transformed into the company a logo a a Rainbow coloured Apple. A i think Apple is going to leave some people behind a said Bede Ireland a senior partner in the software development firm of Wilbard proprietary Ltd. In new South Wales Australia. A Sculley is scaring some people with All this talk of future technology. A lot of people done to understand  a a it a very hard to keep up these Days a Terrapin software Developer Lee Chubb from Connecticut said. A Apple is still a relatively Small shop but they just keep pumping out the  Utility company offering Aid to areas hit by riots Rosemead Calif. Up a Southern California Edison co. Said monday that it will make a $35 million investment in the form of a five year assistance plan to help rebuild areas hit by the los Angeles riots. Edison one of the nations largest utilities said it would announce today details of its plan which it said would help a rebuild and redefine the greater los Angeles area. The riots claimed at least 52 lives and property damage estimates were put at $785 million. Nearly 16,000 people were arrested for charges ranging from curfew violations to murder. The riots erupted following the acquittal of four White men in the police beating of Black Motorist Rodney g. King. The damage figure does not include losses from widespread looting expected to be several Hundred million dollars. Thus far the Bush administration has said it will provide an estimated $600 million in Low Cost Small business administration Loans and Federal emergency management Agency Grants. The Al Cio promised last week that it would provide up to $75 million in Loans to rebuild damaged properties with a focus on shopping centers and supermarkets. Ban America corp., the regions largest Bank has announced it will make up to $25 million in Low interest Loans of up to $100,000 available for businesses trying to rebuild from the riots with the Bank offering to make equity investments in the rebuilt business. Peter Ueberroth the head of the 1984 los Angeles olympic organizing committee was named a week ago by mayor Tom Bradley As Point Man in a Public private Effort to rebuild los Angeles. Ueberroth has said he has received a a hundreds of offers from corporations interested in investing in the riot areas. Business Mcdonald s meals available on More of United s flights from wire reports Chicago a Mcdonald a corp. On monday expanded its Friendly skies meals program to All United airlines flights departing from Chicago. The promotion which began in october As part of United a expansion of service to Orlando now will be offered on 250 daily flights. The meals must be ordered when making reservations. Lunch and dinner flight packages include cheeseburgers Carrot Sticks cookies Ana milk. Breakfast includes a sausage biscuit Sandwich and fruit. Profits up at Wal Mart May Wal Mart stores inc. Reported first Quarter earnings Rose 26 percent As business remained robust and May department stores co. Said its profits rebounded following a decline a year earlier. Wal Mart the nations largest retailer has flourished As budget conscious Consumers have a traded Down Quot turning to lower priced merchants because of the Economy. T Wal Mart said it earned nearly $387 million or 34 cents a share in the Quarter ended april 30, up from $307 million or 27 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Sales Rose to $11.75 billion from $9.36 billion. May reported earnings of $81 million or 60 cents per share in the Quarter ended May 2. This was up from $76 million or 56 cents per share in the same period a year ago when earnings fell 5 percent. The department store retailer reported revenues of $2.39 billion up from $2.31 billion