European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday june 19, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 17money matters 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 Graak drachma. Unavailable not the rats Abov apply within tit Host country. Flour a apr my m Dollar to the Bra blah Pound Ctm Cutrond to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies Tianan lira. 1,194.75 turkish Era. Unavailable Span Fah peseta. Portuguese escudo a a a a a i austrian Schilling. Saudi rial. Bahrain Dinar. Unavailable Kuwait Dinar. Unavailable norwegian Krona. Unavailable danish Krone. Unavailable British pound.1.5545 German mark.1.5765 Swiss franc.1.4245 French franc.5.3100 dutch Guilder 7050 belgian franc.32.61 Gold quote $340.90 an ounce Sliver quote $4.00 an ounce Dow Jones new York up now Jonn doting rang of mongol wednesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks he 47.94 Lew Cotese Onego 3347.94 3271.17 3287.78 Oft 41.73 1343.05 1313.34 1318.20 0 124.48 214 88 211.94 212.82 Oft 1.81 1181.50 1156.33 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 corp., 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. Northwest airlines announces 10% hike in Domestic fares by Dirk Beveridge the associated press 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 s. Northwest and other airlines then responded by Matching the american offer. Northwest had hoped to make $20 million through its two for one 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 Trou ble because you just had mayhem Quot Northwest spokeswoman Amy Srecman said. Amr corp., the Parent of american announced wednesday that it expects to St a loss for the Quarter ending june 0, 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 they simply sold a lot of cheap tickets to people no would have bought them later at higher prices. Northwest said its fare increase statement issued tuesday was not aimed at any specific airline. But others in the Industry said Northwest seemed to be telling american it would shy away from tampering with fare restrictions and instead change Only ticket prices. Aircraft company lays off workers As f-15 production winds Down St. Louis apr Mcdonnell Douglas corp. Has begun the shutdown of its f-15 Eagle fighter production line signalling the first of what could be thousands of layoffs. The St. Louis based defense contractor said wednesday that it was laying off 122 workers As the last of the fighter jets purchased by the air Force began working their Way through production. Company spokesman Lee Whitney said that without foreign sales the aircraft a production line will be shut Down in 1994. By this time next year As Many As 3,500 workers at Mcdonnell aircraft co. In St. Louis could be Laid off. A your options Are very very limited a Whitney said. A with no further orders coming in we really done to have any other Choice but to begin shutting Down the production  he added that with defense spending declining and the commercial aircraft business soft a your options for being Able to retrain and reassign people arc going to get narrower and  the company its subcontractors and its unions have been lobbying president Bush and Congress to allow saudi Arabia to buy 72 f-15s in a $5 billion Deal. But Whitney said the company had seen no action on the Sale. A a we be been told its undergoing senior level review but that no decision has been made a he said. About 7,000 of Mcdonnell aircraft a 23,000 employees in St. Louis work on the f-15 program. Mcdonnell Douglas said the saudi Deal would be Worth $5 billion immediately and $13 billion Over 20 years in replacement planes parts and munitions. In april Mcdonnell Douglas began laying off 273 workers at its Tulsa olda., Plant. It said then that it might have to close the Plant entirely if the saudi Sale failed. Fuel tanks and part of the f-15�?Ts fuselage Are built at the Tulsa Plant where More than 2,000 people work. About 750 of them work on the f-15 project. The jets engines arc built by Pratt amp Whitney of Hartford conn., and final Assembly is in St. Louis. Whitney said congressional opposition to the Deal could Only Hurt . Businesses. He noted that in 1986, the United states refused to sell saudi Arabia 48 f-15s, and British aerospace Ltd. Put together the largest arms Deal in history Worth $29 billion. The saudi air Force already has 98 f-15s, Whitney said. 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 say on wednesday How much lower their net earnings would be