European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 2, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Kronas ? november 1991 Money matters the stars and stripes Page 17�? h tallow my Are fixed rates at Winch com Munro banking and credit Union facilities will sell for Kei currencies to . Personnel Orue tonal use win it a Marl 1.50 1.60 4 bad i Ivo .193.9689 he Tim ii min fir in the Host a a is sort Ltd Domara to the Mih will it my following Are Interbank tates Tea fluctuate and should be re fit Fried a the approximate value of ice Dollar to foreign Curren Oes ass Heihn ism wow. 1.312.50 ame Binia 7#834.00 108.75136.70 .10.785 .3.7495 0.37675 .0.2964 6245 5.8921.562513422 1.373 .5226 1.7364. 31.7712397 in voters to the Urmano Turkl to the Dollar ounce Siwwi Aunon x3.7s�n ounce waive Jan Iron or banking troubles not a repeat of a amp a disaster experts say Bitite new York times r jew York a . Macy amp co. Re no Tea an annual loss of $1.25 billion re it Cong not Only the huge one time expenses of bankruptcy reorganization and store closings hut Aiso weak sales and High Oner Aung costs. 1/espue the stunning figure analysts said int pact of Macy a losses was slowing enough to assure that the company could teen operating through the Spring. Beyond then they said Macy a future depends on whether it can demonstrate to suppliers Ana creditors that it can turn itself around. A a can any firm keep going losing that Kunu Imaney a asked Richard Posner executive Voce president of credit Exchange int., which monitors retailers health. A the answer is no. Will they be available for the immediate future the answer is int Rita fiefs results since its fiscal year Claeo on aug 1 suggest that its deterioration is slowing. The company lost $35 million m August and $50 million in septem or. Out sales recovered somewhat. To icon of Macy junk Bonds most Al Icar trading at pennies on the Dollar snowed Huie reaction to fridays report a sign inc news was no worse than expected. Int company said that because of Cut Naco in television advertising and other expenses and unproved sales m the South an Hasus performance More than met is promises to lenders Mao now recognizes us problems Stem no oni from us onerous debts but also Iron Lauin operations said Myron e. 1 Mitt Ulman one of two co chairmen in too Over Macy earlier this year. A Evv e re taking an entirely new direction in int company a he said cutting expenses and Ouy Uig merchandise More Wise he no added mat the rebuilding Tempo it run nun proms Mac i Seuer prepared for the rest Raj season this year he said than it a i i 99. Wner some suppliers feared i in Renauer comic not pay for goods me san Picl but Ohmar. Said Consumers a a. Us arms Yoou int Economy. Esp a me Vest by Steven greenhouse the new York times Washington the savings and loan mess was swept under the Rug during the 1988 presidential Campaign Only to explode immediately after Waro. Whether the nations commercial Banks Are a similar time bomb has emerged As an Issue in this years Campaign. Ross Perot says both republicans and democrats Are trying to hide a crisis in which commercial Banks May require a huge taxpayer bailout. President Bush and gov. Bill Clinton say the banking system is fundamentally sound despite some problem Banks. As politicians wrestle Over How Large the problem is and who is to blame Federal banking regulators insist they have nothing to hide. They like to recall that months ago they stated their intention to step up the Pace of closing weak Banks on dec. 19, when Bank regulations required by Congress last year take effect. The closings will certainly make the situation appear More dire. But More than a dozen banking experts in government Industry and Academia said in interviews they did not see a crisis Akin to the savings and loan bailout which will Cost taxpayers More than $200 billion. Yes the commercial banking Industry is fragile. But it is far stronger than the Haemorrhaging savings and loan Industry was four years ago., a to assume the commercial banking Industry is the savings and loan Industry in sheep a clothing is terribly mislead a Gonn Vram Imu Nuiry Industry is the sovinet and loan Industry in a Hasps Tot him is str Rwy mists Swip banking Artt tryst Jamaa j. Mcdermott ing a said James j. Mcdermott a banking analyst with Keefe Bruyette amp Woods in new York. And l. William Sci Man the former chairman of the Federal Deposit insurance corp., said a the disaster scenarios we re seeing Are based on a total collapse in real estate markets in the future. The real estate markets Are terrible and will stay terrible but i done to think they will get a lot like the savings institutions the ailing Banks Are usually plagued by problem Loans for commercial real estate including office buildings or shopping malls. Unlike most savings institutions some Banks also Are saddled with soured Loans for leveraged buyouts Oil and Gas exploration and third world nations. Still Federal regulators insist the worst of the commercial Bank crisis is Over. They project they will shut 100 to 125 failing Banks with combined assets of $76 billion in 1993. That compares with an average of 175 failures annually during the last four years. But the amount of assets of failed Banks at $76 billion would be a record amount for one year. As for the Cost the government says it will put up about $13 billion to protect depositors in those failed Banks. Regulators say these costs will be covered by the Deposit insurance premiums collected from the banking Industry. These premiums go into a Bank insurance fund that already is Short of Money. Banking experts Are leery of the governments estimates. Regulators systematically underestimated the costs of the savings and loan bailout. Some experts say they arc certain that taxpayers will be called on to make up the difference Between what the Bank insurance fund takes in from premiums paid by Banks and what is needed to finance the bailout of commercial Bank depositors. The of Dick a latest estimate of the Overall costs of Bank closings through 1996 a $45 billion a could be underestimated by tens of billions of dollars these experts say especially if the nation Falls Back into recession or if real estate values continue to Niove downward. A a they re giving a very Rosy projection no matter How you Cut it a a said award j. Kane a professor of finance at Boston College. He predicts the government will need $69.7 billion to protect depositors at failing commercial Banks in the next few years. Smashing Success about 250,000 pirated videos confiscated by the mexican stator More than 40 operations this year the mexican government has Ney general a office Are destroyed thursday in Mexico City. In rounded up approximately $161 million in pirated videos russian Deal a major coup Peoria 111. A the Sale of 295 Large bulldozers to a russian natural Gas company by Caterpillar inc. Sends ominous signals to its primary competitor Komatsu Ltd. Of Japan analysts say. Tobias Levkovich of Smith Barney in new York said the Deal could be Worth More than $200 million to Caterpillar. But he finds it More significant that the Deal was arranged by Mitsui amp co., a Japan based trading company. A that shows Caterpillar is clearly the Leader in their marketplace a Levkovich said. A Komatsu has been a threat. But when you see a japanese trading company arranging a Deal for Caterpillar that tells you something. Its a pretty Good signal for analyst Frank Manfredi of the Buffalo Grove Manfredi and associates said Caterpillar enjoyed near total dominance of the russian Market before a Reagan administration Trade embargo a decade ago turned the territory Over to Komatsu. A Caterpillar had nearly 100 percent of their business and then Komatsu went in and began Selling their products a Manfredi said. A this has to Hurt Komatsu. This is a slug of Caterpillar agreed its on its Way to reclaiming old markets. A in the 1960s and �?T70s, we were Selling thousands of machines in the soviet Union a said Caterpillar spokesman Jeff Hawkinson. A due to the Trade embargoes we were Down to Zero machines. A a we re Well on our Way to re establishing our position there
