European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday May 25, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters the agriculture department wants to let Farmers Drain millions of acres of wetlands from the Mississippi Delta to the Prairie potholes of the great Plains where migrating waterfowl rest and feed. The departments draft proposal obtained by the associated press would exempt the Farmers from a 1990 Law barring Federal subsidies to producers who Drain or otherwise alter wetlands in a bad  environmentalists have strongly criticized the  rates London up fridays 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 $337.35 an ounce Silver at $4.07. May 21 May 22 British Pound.1.8189 1.8159 German mark.1.6183 1.6180 French franc.5.4225 5.4395 dutch guilder.1.8180 1.8183 belgian franc.33.27 33.27 italian lira.1,215.30 1,219.9 Swiss franc.1.4850 1.4870 greek drachma.191.28 192.78 turkish lira.6,718.40 6,749.80 saudi arabian riyal.3.7498 3.7498 Spanish peseta.100.49 101.04 portuguese escudo.133.87 134.47 Canadian dollar.1.1942 1.1960 austrian schilling.11.3185 11.3950 norwegian krone.6.2760 6.3120 danish krone.6.2186 6.25 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 1.58 Marks to a Dollar and $1.86 for a Pound through monday based on fridays noontime  corp. Predicts layoffs will be needed san Francisco a about 4,400 Chevron corp. Employees have opted for Early retirement As part of the company a Effort to reduce its work Force and boost competitiveness officials said Friday. But some layoffs will still be necessary the Oil giant said. A this is a difficult time for us but we must take these Steps to ensure Long term competitiveness of our company a Chevron vice chairman . Sullivan said in a statement. Chevron corporate offices had announced earlier this year it would have to Cut 2,500 jobs by september to bolster profitability. The Early retirements took care of some of the jobs that were slated to be eliminated. However some employees still will have to be Laid off to Cut the 2,500 jobs identified at the january announcement. Jobs vacated by Early retirement but still necessary to the operation w ill be filled. A a it a a wrenching process Overall but necessary in the Long run a Chevron spokesman Mike Libbey said. Layoffs and the retirement offer apply Only to the Domestic staff while some foreign operations Are expanding. American appetite for books grows despite recent recession Anaheim Calif. A buoyed by reports that bookstores Are enjoying increased business while the rest of the nation slumps in recession the american booksellers association opened its annual convention saturday. More than 1,900 exhibitors opened displays to an estimated 25,000 retailers publishers authors and others at the Anaheim convention Center and neighbouring hotels. Association officials also circulated a . Census Bureau report saying retail sales for bookstores increased 8.4 percent during 1991. By comparison Overall retail sales were up .8 percent. Preliminary reports for the first two months of 1992 also showed a 15.5 percent increase Over the same period last year said Bernie raft the associations executive director. A it docs appear that the old adage about books being recession proof holds True a he said. The four Day convention which was closed to the Public attracted such luminaries of popular literature As horror writer Stephen King and self help guru Robert Fulghum. King Fulghum and authors Amy Tan and Louise Erdrich were scheduled to perform in a makeshift Rock a no Roll band dubbed the a Rock Bottom reminders during a private party monday. Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf who is promoting his autobiography was to address the convention sunday. Former president Carter was scheduled to speak to the gathering tuesday to promote his Book every vote counts. Among the topics discussed saturday was the development of books on compact discs. Sony corp. Is developing a portable electronic screen on which a a software books can be read. A i think they will supplement books on paper and they will become a substantial Nart of the publishing Industry Quot said Mark r. Pattis vice president of Etc publishing group of Lincolnwood Iii. Art auction sets several records by Frederick m. Winship United press International new York a three Day $29.35 million auction of Art collected by the heir to a bolivian tin Fortune smashed three world records. Furnishings Silver and paintings from the Geneva Switzerland residence of Jaime Ortiz Patino grandson of bolivian tin King Simon Patino Drew hundreds of collectors and dealers to soothe by a auction House for the sales which began wednesday and ended Friday. The auction set records for a Sale of decorative arts for a single Sale session of French furniture in America and for a single owner Silver Sale. Competition was stiff and 99 percent of the lots sold banishing much of the gloom of the recent Art Market recession. Thierry Millerand a rotheby expert on decorative arts credited the Quality and rarity of the collection and the cachet of Patino ownership for bringing Many prices above the houses resale estimates. The top Price in the Sale was $1.98 Mil investors guide lion paid by an unidentified european collector for a Louis Xvi commode by Charles Andre Boulac. The commode painted with ribbon tied Flowers was formerly owned by Lucien Bonaparte 17751840napoleons brother. When it was last sold publicly by the former wife of Henry Ford in 1980, it fetched Only $264,000. A Louis Xiv marquetry writing table decorated with Horn Mother of Pearl and Tortoise Shell was knocked Down to an Anonymous bidder for $1.87 million. A pair of Louis Xvi Boulle marquetry commodes decorated with japanese lacquer panels was sold to an English dealer for $1.7 million. Ortiz Patino paid Only $130,000 for the commodes 20 years ago. A pair of Louis Xiv two handled octagonal wine coolers attributed to Nicolas Besnier brought the top Price of $1.8 million in the Silver Sale. That was followed by $1.2 million for a Louis Xiv Silver soup terrine ordered by Catherine the great of Russia 1729-96 from Silversmith Jac ques Nicolas Roe tier. It had been Given to her Lover Prince Gregory Orloff. The famous Brownlow tankards a rare air of covered Silver drinking vessels made y John Duck in the late 1600s, brought $795,500. Another jacobean piece the Basingstoke racing trophy fashion cd in the form of a Monteith bowl by Robert Cooper went for $517,000. Both were purchased by English collectors. There were four views of Venice by Francesco Guardi in the paintings Sale each of which brought More than $500,000. View of the Church of san Giorgio Maggiore with the tip of the Gid coca beyond was sold for $1.2 million. A French painting can Baptist Pateros elegant figures bathing brought $577,500. Ortiz Patino sold his Geneva House to a greek millionaire when the City refused him permission to enlarge a Golf course on his property. He has moved to London where he has been appointed european adviser to the bolivian government. He sold eight impressionist and Post impressionist masterpieces from his collection at soothe by a three years ago for $67 million. Investor s stocks May not be Worth a cent by Bill Doyle q. In 1986, 1 purchased 7,000 shares of one Stock and 300 shares of another. Both were Penny stocks. The certificates were held by a new York City brokerage firm which has since gone out of business. The certificates then were transferred to another new York brokerage. Recently i asked the second brokerage to Send the Stock certificates to me in my name. It told me it cannot do that because those stocks have no value and there is no Transfer agent. Is that Correct do i have an alternative a. You can Check with other brokerage firms to find out if those stocks have any Market value at All. But Don t spend too much time doing that. My Quick Check indicates both stocks you mentioned in your letter Are worthless because the two companies in which the stocks represent ownership went bust. When a company goes out of business it no longer retains a Transfer agent. Among other chores when asked a Transfer agent issues Stock certificates registered in Stock owners names. Now that there is no Transfer agent and both companies Are out of business there is no Way Stock certificates can be issued to you. Chalk those two stocks up As losses. You probably can claim tax losses equal to the prices you paid. A worthless Stock can be taken As a capital loss on schedule d of your form 1040 Federal income tax return for the year the Security lost All value. In the Case of worthless securities an amended return form 1040x, can be filed Back for six years. Q exactly what makes a Stock a a Penny Stock Doyle a a Low Price. Time was when any Stock trading in the marketplace below $1 a share was tabbed a Penny Stock for the simple reason it was going for from 1 cent to 99 cents per share. Because of inflation the Penny Stock Label now is applied to any Stock trading below $5 per share. Q during the Early 1970s, i bought Stock in a shale Oil company. The company a name was changed and after the first year or so i no longer received stockholder reports. I Learned recently that the company has paid dividends and a reverse Stock split took place a couple of years ago. I wrote to the company three times in the past year. It has not answered. I sent it a photocopy of my certificate to confirm my ownership. Still nothing. What recourse do i have a the company you named is a reputable outfit. If indeed it is the company in which you own Stock due to a name change i suspect you have been writing to the wrong address. Visit a Public Library and Check the address of that company s Headquarters in the financial manuals you la and in the Library a reference Section. Write to the company a shareholder relations department. Assuming it is the company of which you Are a stockholder you should be welcomed with open arms. If you have Back dividends coming a Check should arrive reasonably fast. The Only thing striking a false note is your mention of a reverse Stock split. No such thing happened at the company you named. A reverse split is bad news and is just the opposite of a regular Stock split which turns each share into More shares. A reverse split combines a number of shares into one share. For example in a 1-for-10 reverse split 10 shares become one share. The Price of that one share should then be 10 times the Price of the old shares give or take a bit for buying demand and Selling pressure. A reverse split is put into effect when a stocks Price has fallen Way Way Down. It lifts a Stock out of the Penny Stock or a cat and dog a category. Doyle Welcome written questions but he can provide answers Only through the column c Wing features Syndicate inc