European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday May 15, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters today a tip american express has agreed to inform its More than 20 million cardholders that it provides a a portraits of their buying habits to merchants for use in marketing campaigns new York states attorney general says. An investigation showed american express provides the a a portraits to merchants such As american airlines and Marriott hotels and then mails advertisements for those merchants to cardholders along with their monthly statements att Tomey general Robert Abrams said. In return american express would share the profits gained through the promotions he said. Under the agreement the new Ork City based american express will Send a mailing to cardholders York City based american exp id a mailing to car hold telling them of the practice and giving them the option of having buying habits kept confidential conversion rates London up 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 $4.10. May 13 May 14 British Pound.1.8115 1.8194 German Mark 1 6220 1.6135 French franc 5 4295 5.4125 dutch Guilder 18175 1.8163 belgian franc 33.39 33.24 italian lira 1217.30 1,214.30 Swiss franc 1 4955 1.4815 greek drachma 190.70 190.41 turkish lira 5 658.70 6,662.40 saudi arabian Riyal 3 7492 3.7497 Spanish peseta 100.77 100.60 portuguese escudo.134.09 133.81 Canadian Dollar 1 2030 1.2026 austrian schilling.11.365 11.330 norwegian krone.6.296 6.281 danish krone.6.230 6.217 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 1.57 Marks to a Dollar and $1.87 for a Pound through Friday based on thursdays noontime Price fixings. New York Exchange new York up a Thi 15 most Active stocks in new York Stock Exchange composite trading on wednesday. Stock Marion Merrell limited inc coca cola co Citicorp Glaxo holdings Bank America Eastman Kodak tet Fonos de my in corp Philip Morris Pepsico inc Chase Manhattan get corp chemical Bank Ford motor co sales 5.564.900 3.804.900 3.022.000 2,118,400 1.918.000 1.645.700 1.485.700 1.396.900 1,388,200 1,324,800 1.270.100 1,231,600 1.228.100 1.217.000 1,185,300 last 32 22 vhf 43 a a 19 i 27 vhf 49 i 41 i 56 i 92 i 78 i 36 i 30 i 32 38 i 44 i net chg. Off i up i up i up i Oft i up 1 up 1 i off i off 1 i off i up i up i off i up i up i american Exchange new York up the ten most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading wednesday. Stack Hwy Vancorp Plains resource Iva corp Worthen banking inti Corona Sofarro inc Chambers Dev a instrument sys Phil Long 0 Tel magma Copper co 634,900 612,200 603.300 514.300 480.600 472,400 409.600 332,500 291,200 270,100 last 2 i 20 25 i 20 i 315-16 26 i 7 i 5 i 40 Ltd 11 i net clog. Up i up 3 i off i off i unch off i off i up up i 2 i up i Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones dosing Range olt averages wednesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 i hates 65 stocks he 3414.17 141405 21495 121308 Low 3362 93 1392 00 212.19 1195 02 close 3391 98 1405 27 21395 1205 60 Okenge up 6 86 082 24 up 0 50 up 1 22 retail sales hike indicates Economy gaining strength by the Washington Post Washington a a Strong gain in retail sales coupled with a modest 0.2 percent Rise in consumer prices last month encouraged government officials and private economists wednesday that the economic recovery is gathering strength. Retail sales increased 0.9 percent the Commerce department reported As Consumers stepped up their purchases of a wide Range of goods particularly new cars clothing and building supplies. Sales rebounded from their 1 percent drop in March a decline some analysts said was caused in Large part by the unusually late. This1 p1 apartment showed most of the major parts april Date for easter this year. The report on prices from the labor de of the consumer Price Index went up less than in March when a 0.5 percent jump had worried some experts that the recovery might trigger worsening inflation. Along with last weeks news that the unemployment rate dipped in april to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent in March the latest reports were consistent with predictions from Many forecasters that the Economy is growing at a 2 percent to 3 percent Pace this Quarter. Excluding the food and Energy portions of the Chi the remainder of the Index Rose 0.3 percent last month and was up at an annual rate of 4.8 percent in the past three months. Over the past year that portion of the Chi Rose 3.9 percent compared with 3.2 percent for the Overall Index. Grocery store prices which had risen 0.5 percent in March fell 0.1 percent last month As prices went Down for fresh fruits and vegetables Dairy products and some other items. Homeowners costs interest rates May drop following inflation report by Cox news service Washington if you plan to make any major purchases on credit soon be advised interest rates on everything from mortgages to certificates of Deposit Are Likely to be lower in coming weeks than they Are now. Economists delivered that message wednesday after the government said consumer prices Rose in april at a Low annual rate of Only 2.4 percent a giving the Federal Reserve plenty of leeway to nudge Down interest rates at its tuesday meeting. Although Low inflation is Good news it also Means demand is weak. As Long As that a the Case business wont Boom and jobs will stay scarce. For that reason said economist Joel Prakken of Laurence h. Meyer and associates in St. Louis the fed is Likely to ease rates a Tad More. That should encourage More Banks to follow the Lead of chemical banking corp. Of new York which has Cut its Short term prime lending rate to 6.25 percent from 6.5 percent. The prime rate is the rate Banks charge their Best customers. It is also used to set Many other interest rates that affect Consumers. So if the prime Falls so should Auto loan rates in addition to what Banks charge Small businesses for Money experts said. Of course if Banks lower charges for their customers they also will Shell out less to people who buy cd. Mortgage rates could fall because Long term rates drop when expectations Are that inflation will stay subdued. Nationally the average 30-year mortgage rate is around 8.8 percent but Prakken predicted it la drop to around 8.5 percent within weeks. Rose Only 0.1 percent last month after an unusual 0.6 percent Rise in March. Gasoline prices which had gone up 0.8 percent the month before Rose a further 0. 2 percent last month. The retail sales gain came on the heels of a revision in the March figures to show a 1 percent drop rather than the 0.6 per cent decline originally reported. As a result of the  and Downs retail sales in april were $158 billion about $120 million lower than the february level. On the other hand sales in april were higher than the monthly average for the first Quarter and analysts expect sales to keep climbing As the year wears on. Raw Coffee prices fall but drinkers still pay Chicago apr raw Coffee bean prices Are at 20-Ycar lows but the decrease has not fully filtered Down to Coffee drinkers. Raw Coffee prices have tumbled about 40 percent in less than three years. That Means specially Coffee Sellers Are paying about $1.50 a Pound for raw Beans a fraction of the Price they sell them for roasted. A the consumer has been willing to pay in the $7.95 a Pound Range for super Premium Coffee without any resistance a said Phil Jones president of the specially Coffee association. Jones said sales increased 17 percent last year at his Orlando  Chain of 82 Bamieh a Coffee amp Tea co. Stores despite the recession. Sales had grown about 30 percent in each of the five previous years. Some retail Coffee prices have fallen though not As far As raw bean prices. Canned coffees such As folgers and Hills Bros have come Down about 18 percent in three years according to the . Bureau of labor statistics. The Coffee business involves scores of varieties produced in dozens of countries. The Beans Are handled by exporters importers roasters and retailers. Raw Coffee prices have been eroding since the summer of 1989, when an International Price support agreement collapsed. Coffee producing countries flooded the world with Beans that they had been restricted from exporting under the defunct International Coffee agreement. The result was not Only lower prices but i eater availability of the higher Grade arabic Beans a such As colombian supremo Guatemala Antigua and Costa rican a in which gourmet Coffee stores specialize. Last week the near term delivery Price for arabic coffees business on new Yorkus Coffee sugar amp Cocoa Exchange dropped i Pound for to International Coffee organizations Price indicator for All raw below 60 cents a Pound for the first time in 19 years. Also the coffees hit a 20-year Low of about 47 cents a Pound last week. Gourmet Coffee dealers pay 50 cents to $1 a Pound above the average arabic Price to get the highest Quality Beans Jones said. Specially Coffee retailers said supplies of High Grade coffees eventually May tighten lifting prices higher As growers Cut Back on fertilizer and crop care to compensate for the Low prices. At amp to service targets hackers to halt fraud and up profits from wire reports to Stem what it called a a rapidly growing criminal Enterprise and make Money As Well at amp to said it would introduce a service for corporate customers called net protect this summer. Intended to Stop fraudulent Long distance Calls it will include increased surveillance to detect unusual patterns like a Large number of overseas Calls from phone numbers that normally have mostly Domestic Calls. At amp to will not announce prices for the service until it files notice with the Federal communications commission next month. Be to Cut 750 jobs in Ohio Evendale Ohio a general electric co. Said wednesday it will Cut 750 aircraft engine jobs in Ohio when it moves three Assembly operations to other states. The reductions at be aircraft engines suburban Cincinnati Headquarters will take place by 1994. The moves Are intended to streamline production. Be which builds Jet engines for military and commercial use said it plans to begin production of its ge90 engine at the company a newest Plant in Durham . The company said it will move its rotating parts operations to Wilmington ., and Lynn mass., and some of its air foils work to gets Plant in Madisonville by. Beer firm trims aluminium use St. Louis a Anheuser Busch cos., the worlds largest Beer Brewer has designed a new can that it says will save millions of pounds of aluminium each year. Officials said the cans feature a lid that is one eighth Inch smaller in diameter than the lids currently used by Anheuser Busch and most other beverage companies. Since Anheuser Busch uses More than 17 billion cans annually the relatively Small trim will reduce the amount of aluminium in its cans by 20 million pounds a year