European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday june 19, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use through today. Some were unavailable because of Holiday closings thursday German mark.1.53 Bra blah Pound.1.91 dutch Guilder unavailable greek drachma unavailable 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 currencies italian lira .1,185.50 tur Clah  Span Lah Patata unavailable Peru guava escudo unavailable austrian Schilling a a a a epee unavailable saudi  Bahrain  Kuwait  norwegian Krona unavailable danish  British Pound .1.8645 German mark.1.5845 Swiss franc.1.4130 French franc.5.3000 dutch Guilder. 1.7620 belgian franc.32.22 Gold quote $341.25 an ounce Sliver quote $4.11 an ounce Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones doling rings of avenges wednesday High Lew Teie change 3347.94 3271.17 3287.76 off 41.73 1343.05 1313.34 1318.20 Oft 24.48 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks 214.88 1181.50 211.94 1156.33 212.82 0ft 1.81 1161.54 off 16.13 actives unavailable the lists of most Active stocks were not available for this edition. Top executives grow optimistic new York up the nations top business executives Are increasingly optimistic about economic conditions and their Confidence level Overall has hit the highest Point in eight years the conference Board said wednesday. In a separate Survey conducted by Dun amp Bradstreet coro., executives from major . Industries were found to be optimistic about business conditions in the third Quarter. The Board a private business research organization said Confidence among . Business executives continues to Rise a reaching its highest level since Early 1984.�?� the Board said its measure of business Confidence Rose eight Points to a Reading of 70 in the second Quarter. The gain comes on the heels of a seven Point gain in the first Quarter the organization said. Sundstrand to Cut jobs Rockford 111. A Sundstrand corp. Said wednesday it will eliminate 1,000 jobs Over the next year and take a second Quarter charge of $34 million for restructuring. The company based in Rockford blamed a decline in its military and commercial aerospace business. It will consolidate some plants and Cut expenses in All aerospace divisions spokesman Gary Hedges said. The Job cuts will come from attrition and layoffs. Trade Gap hits 17-month High As imports jump exports dive Washington a the . Trade deficit reached a 17-month High of $6.97 billion in april with exports falling sharply and imports at the second highest level on record the government said thursday. The Commerce department said its calculation of the Gap Between what the nation imports and what it Sells abroad jumped by 25 percent from a March deficit of $5.58 billion. The change was blamed on a big increase in Oil imports and a Sharp decline in exports of commercial aircraft. The april deficit was the biggest monthly imbalance since a $9.49 billion deficit in november 1990. Sales of . Exports fell 4.6 percent to $36.37 billion while imports Rose by 1.6 percent to $43.36 billion the most since a record $43.88 billion in products were imported in october 1990. The unexpectedly Sharp change rep resented a blow to Bush administration Hopes that Trade will help Spur the . Economy this year. The government also said the number of americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly to 407,000 during the first week of june. The decline came from a revised figure of 409,000 for the previous week the labor department said. So far this year the Trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $64.9 billion. Although that a slightly less than the reported 1991 deficit of $65.4 billion analysts said the april figures indicated the direction for Trade for the rest of the year. Many said they think the deficit for the year will be around $75 billion and will approach $100 billion by 1993. Such a development could become an Issue in this year s presidential Campaign. President Bush is already under attack from democrats in Congress who charge the administration has not done enough to fight unfair foreign Trade practices particularly in Japan. For april the deficit with Japan As usual was the largest for any country an imbalance of $4.21 billion that accounted for 60 percent of the total . Deficit. On the import Side americans foreign Oil Bill jumped by 16 percent to $3.97 billion As the number of barrels per Day Rose to 6.11 million up from 5.5 million in March. The Price per barrel climbed to $15.49, up from $14.46 the previous month. The drop in . Exports was paced by a $727 million decline in sales of commercial aircraft. Sales of communications equipment were Down by $105 million but sales of farm products Rose by $169 million to $3.48 billion. Northwest seeks 10% air fare hike new York a Northwest airlines found itself almost alone wednesday in its bid to increase the Price of All Domestic tickets by 10 percent following a bruising fare War. America West airlines said it would match Northwest a Price increase but other carriers said they were studying the proposal unveiled late tuesday. Northwest will have to abandon the plan if More airlines done to match it. Airlines generally make Public announcements on fares Only when they lower them. But Northwest issued a statement saying the increases would a return some rationality to pricing  a the 10 percent increase will affect All fare categories equally a excursion full fare and first class a Northwest said. Last month Northwest set off a fare War with a Sale that let an adult and a child Fly for the Price of one ticket. American airlines the Industry a pricing Leader previously said it would offer no such deals targeted to special classes of travellers. Instead it responded by cutting the Price of its cheapest summer fares in half through june 5. Northwest and other airlines then responded by Matching the american offer. Northwest had hoped to make $20 million through its two for on Sale but said americans response will end up costing it $40 million. A when american came in the next Day and slashed prices to two for one for everybody that a where everybody got into trouble because you just had mayhem a North West spokeswoman Amy spec can said. Amr corp., the Parent of american announced wednesday that it expects to Post a loss for the Quarter ending june 30, although it did no to say How much. Amr made $10.3 million in the same period last year. Meanwhile airline officials said it is too soon to say if the fare War generated any new business or if the airlines simply sold a lot of cheap tickets to people who would have bought them later at higher prices. Northwest said its fare increase statement was not aimed at any specific airline. But others in the Industry said Northwest seemed to be telling american that it would shy away from tampering with fare restrictions and instead change Only ticket prices. Firm advises Boomers to step up their savings new York up a Merrill Lynch said wednesday that the nations saving habits Are in desperate need of a tuneup. The fourth annual Merrill Lynch retirement planning found that baby Boomers who will reach retirement age Between the years 2010 and 2030, Are doing less than people in the 45-64 age bracket to prepare for retirement. Only 38 percent of baby Boomers Are saving compared with 61 percent of the  but for both groups the average percentage of income allocated for savings dropped to 11 percent in 1991 from 14 percent in 1989. If that pattern continues the report said More than 30 million Boomers will not be saving anything for retirement. A this poses a threat to one of the Cornerstones of the american dream a the Freedom to build a better life for ourselves and our children a that could diminish our Quality of life for generations to come a said John l. Steffens executive vice president of Merrill Lynch private client services. Both Boomers and pre retirees pay lip service to the need to save but done to do much about it the study found. A More pre retirees Are saving but they re saving less a said Fred Yager a Merrill Lynch spokesman a and nearly half of both groups said they knew they could save twice As much As they would if they put their minds to  today a average 50-year-old has $2,300 in savings not including his or her Home the report said. The aging of the baby Boom generation and longer life expectancy could swell the retired population to 65 million in 40 years. By 2010, each person older than 75 can expect to pay about $10,000 a year for health care. Yet during the late 1980s, half of retirees went into retirement with less than $10,000 in savings the report said. Business Sizzler International reports increased profits for Quarter from wire reports los Angeles a Sizzler International inc., citing foreign operations that offset lower earnings from its California restaurants on wednesday reported profits of $4.9 million or 17 cents a share for its fourth Quarter that ended May 3. That was up 96 percent from $2.5 million or 11 cents a share in the year ago Quarter. Fourth Quarter revenues for the Chain which operates or franchises 721 restaurants were $133.5 million compared with $121.2 million in the year ago Quarter. Nec to increase production Tokyo a Nec corp., the worlds largest maker of semiconductor chips will boost the capacity of its California Plant in anticipation of rising demand in the United states. Nec said wednesday that it plans to invest an additional $200 million in its Roseville calif., Plant to increase production of advanced memory chips. Upjohn offers Early retirement Kalamazoo Mich. A the Upjohn co. Said it was offering Early retirement packages to 1,100 workers in the United states and puerto Rico to offset an expected drop in profits for the second Quarter. Officials at the Kalamazoo based pharmaceutical company would not Sav on wednesday How much lower their net earnings would be