European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday june 8, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 17today s tip Canadas unemployment level Rose 2 percent to 11.2 percent in May the highest level since 1984, Canadian government figures show. The unemployment rate for youth jumped 1 percent to 17.8, while the rate for adults was unchanged from the previous month at 9.8 percent according to statistics Canadas figures. The Rise in the number of unemployed was primarily among youths and mostly among Young  rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use through monday tuesday for the Mark German mark.1.55 British pound.1.88 dutch guilder.1.75 greek drachma 187.1288 note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies italian lira .1,205.00 turkish lira .6,850.40 Spanish peseta. 100.14 austrian schilling.11.228 saudi rial.3.7495 Bahrain dinar.0.37675 Kuwait Dinar .0.29050 norwegian Krone .6.2680 danish krone.6.1720 British pound.1.8311 German mark.1.5900 Swiss franc .1.4515 French franc.5.3710 dutch guilder.1.7970 belgian franc.32.73 Gold quote $339.00 an ounce Silver quote $4.07 an ounce prices climb for heating Oil by United press International Home heating Oil prices continued their unseasonable rally Friday on the new York mercantile Exchange boosted by Low inventory Levels while crude Oil prices Rose on the world Market. A flow Stock Levels and High global demand have Given heating Oil strength in recent weeks despite the fact that prices for the product traditionally weaken in the summer months said Andrew Lebow a trader at de amp of Man International futures inc. In new York. On the merc Home heating Oil for july delivery jumped 0.98 cent to 61.85 cents a gallon and unleaded gasoline Rose 0.07 cent to 67.24 cents a gallon. The american Petroleum institutes report on the nations Oil stocks released tuesday showed an increase in inventories of heating Oil last week but put stocks Well below year ago Levels. West Texas intermediate the principal . Crude for immediate delivery on the merc Rose 14 cents to $22.62 a barrel. A the impetus for the rally was the International Energy Agency a report revising its demand estimates upward for the second half of the year and the first Quarter of last year a Lebow  matters airlines half Price promotion was no easy ticket for agents by Jesus Sanchez los Angeles times As travellers scrounged for the last of the half Price airline tickets Friday tired and angry travel agents cheered the sales end. Despite the surge in ticket buying the fare promotion Cut deeply into agent commissions and added to the costs of doing business. It was yet another blow to an Industry already suffering from the downturn in the Economy airline company bankruptcies and past fare wars. A agencies Are taking a beating with this a said Cathy Lagattuta of Topaz enterprises a Portland ore., travel consulting firm. A unless they Are making up a lot of volume they Are just not making a lot of Money at this  the damage went far beyond travel agent commissions and profits. It also struck a blow to the carefully cultivated image of travel agents As providers of High level personal service. A this last week struck at the very personal kinds of counselling and first name relationships that agents have with their customers and made it difficult if not impossible to maintain those relationships said Alan Fredericks editor of travel weekly an Industry Trade publication. The fare War took an emotional toll on travel agents such As Pearl Chekofsky of corniche travel in West Hollywood calif., neighbouring los Angeles. Faced with a barrage of incoming Telephone Calls and a computer reservations system that had once again gone on the blink the 24-year travel Industry Veteran panicked and told her Boss she could not talk to one More customer. A i had people Yelling at me. I had people hanging up on me a Chekofsky said. A a it a crazy. We Are killing ourselves for Noth a m my. Travel agents took most of their anger out on the airlines for dragging them into the Middle of another costly fare War. Despite Selling 80 percent of airline tickets travel agents often feel ignored and bullied by the carriers. In the face of widespread hostility most major airlines eventually waived rules that would have required agents to refund some of the commission on tickets that were rebooted on lower fares. A one Day they coddle us. The next Day they slap us on the head Quot said Ron letter Man president of the Carlson travel network retail division. A we Are a professional Community of agents that should be recognized and reckoned  the nations 32,000 agencies looked to 1992 for signs of recovery after a disastrous 1991, when the recession and persian Gulf War forced corporate and vacation travellers to cancel or scale Back travel. But expectations for a significant turnaround this year have yet to materialize. In april american airlines launched a simplified fare schedule that reduced by 38 percent the Price of fares most often used by business travellers. The Cut failed to stimulate business travel As planned leaving corporate travel agents with lower commissions. A few weeks later american halved vacation fares in response to a promotion by Northwest airlines. While ticket buying surged Many travel agents said the roughly 10 percent commission earned on the half off tickets often was not enough to cover their business costs. Auto dealers keeping close wraps on too hot to sell Dodge vipers by Adam Bryant the new York times after months of fanfare Chrysler corp. Is finally delivering new Dodge vipers to the Public. Well not exactly. Many dealers Are holding Back from Selling the Viper to learn what people arc willing to pay above the $56,600 suggested Price for the car which has been Riding a wave of rave reviews about its styling Back to basics Interior and 400-horsepower v-10 engine. In fact the Viper is prompting some unusual behaviour among a group accustomed to doing whatever it takes to close a Sale. For two years Cerritos Dodge near los Angeles has been taking $5,000 deposits from people who want to stand in line for a the right to negotiate with the Dealership to buy the Only 1992 Viper it will receive. There Are 15 people on the list who will not get their Chance to Deal for another month. For now the car is on the showroom floor cordoned off to guard against scratches and fingerprints. A the place looks like a museum a said Randall Menter director of Fleet operations. Cerritos Dodge has not set an opening bid for the Viper although it notes that reports Are circulating of celebrities paying up to $200,000 for the car. Chrysler is distributing Only 196 vipers in the United states this year to be sold Only by its top dealers. One dealer Carl Burger in san Diego is keeping the dealerships car for himself and using it to build showroom traffic. The Viper at Valley Dodge in Van Guys calif., has a a a sold sign on it though no one has bought the car. Howard Sellz the president plans to display it for 60 or 90 Days before talking about a Price. The Price Nch a looking for Sellz is not saying but adds i conclusively that a if someone were to come in and say $200,000.�?� in the meantime sell and other dealers Are taking orders for 1993 models of which 3,000 will be produced. They will be sold at the suggested sticker Price Sellz said adding a a we re not trying to gouge  guide Stock certificates should be delivered by Bill Doyle q during a six month period 1 bought five different stocks from a full service brokerage firm. Despite repeated requests i never received a single Stock certificate. The broker blamed the Transfer agent. Finally after i became angry with the office manager he suggested i take my business elsewhere. I got in touch with a discount broker who forwarded a request for Transfer of the securities to my account at his firm. The five certificates were mailed to me within 10 Days. Can you explain the original delay a while it s impossible to pinpoint the exact cause apparently somebody at the full service brokerage goofed. When you a order out securities by asking for delivery of certificates they should reach you in reasonably Short order. Because of the record keeping paperwork involved you wont get them immediately. But any delay of More than four weeks is unreasonable. The Transfer agent for each Stock keeps a record of the name and address of each registered share owner and the number of shares owned. The Transfer agent also cancels certificates presented for Transfer and issues new certificates registered in the name of the new owners. A delay can happen if a certificate presented for Transfer is not in a Good delivery form to comply with the Sale. But that is supposed to be squared away by the broker for the person who sold the Stock. Transfer agents Are Handy whipping boys for brokers when delays run Long. Under securities and Exchange commission rules 90 percent of a routine items presented to Transfer agents must be turned around in three business Days. There is no indication from the Sec that Transfer agents Are falling Down on their Job. Q what is the difference Between a discount brokerage firm and a full service brokerage firm a As the terms indicate the Basic difference is discount brokerages charge lower commissions than fall service firms. Most still service brokerages also provide research reports Purchase and Sale recommendations and other services while discounters do not. However the line of demarcation Between the two types sometimes gets blurred. While some discount brokerages do nothing except buy and sell orders a number of them offer Many of the personalized services found at full service firms. It stands to reason that the More services a brokerage offers the higher commissions it charges. Investors who want to spend time talking to brokers generally use still service firms while commission conscious people go the discount route. Doyle Welcome written questions but he can provide a newer Only through the column King features Syndicate inc