European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday december 19, 1992 Money matters the stars and stripes b Page 17today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use German mark.1.53 British Pound.1.61 dutch guilder.1.71 greek drachma .201.0848 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 .1,406.50 turkish lira .8,312.30 Spanish peseta.111.50 portuguese escudo.140.20 austrian Schilling .11.00 saudi rial .3.75 Bahrain dinar.0.37675 Kuwait Dinar .0.2997 norwegian krone.6.74 danish krone.6.045 British Pound.1.5655 German Mark .1.565 Swiss franc .1.409 French franc.5.346 dutch Guilder .1.76 belgian franc.32.22 Canadian Dollar.1.2750 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $337.25 an ounce Silver quote $3.78 an ounce new York Exchange new York up a the 15 most Active stocks in new York Stock Exchange composite trading on thursday. Stock Salei last Nat chg. Tucson elec per 16,197,500 2 unch ism corp 8,015,400 53 up 1 vie Hayes wheels 3,579,300 19 i unch limited inc 3,458,800 26% off % Philip Morris 2,939,400 76% up Glaxo holdings 2,358,800 24% off % Ford motor co 2,327,800 39% off % adv Micro docs 2,230,600 18 up1% at amp to company 2,054,800 49 up % storage techno 1,997,600 20% off 1 blockbuster ent 1,988,000 17% up Compaq computer 1,983,100 44% up1% Amaxine 1,906,200 15% off % student loan 844,600 18% unch Westinghouse Al 1,764,500 12 a off american Exchange new York up the 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading thursday. Stock Stela last Nat chg. Hill Haven corp 1,809,600 3 11-16 up Echo Bay mines 636,500 5% up % Energy service 414,900 1 off 1-16 Amdahl corp 397,800 7 unch expo rate co la 345,600 1 7-16 up 3-16 Bradley re est 309,600 7% up % Hasbro inc 268,200 33 up % Ivan corp 252,800 34% up % Cal Energy inc 238,600 16% us Chiles offshore 229,800 1 7-16 up 1-16 Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages thursday High Low Cloia Chino 30 industrials 3289.22 3229.79 3269.23 up 14.05 20 transport 1434.30 1390.79 1430.47 up 33 24 15 utilities 220.64 217.89 219.89 up 0.19 65 stocks 1198.04 1172.84 1192.52 up 11.55 Trade deficit drops sharply but experts expect trouble by the new York times Washington a in a surprising tally that conveyed mixed messages about the Economy the Commerce department has reported4kat the nations Trade deficit narrowed sharply in october to $7 billion. The improvement reported thursday was produced by a record Rise in exports and a moderate fall in imports. The $1.6 billion monthly improvement to the smallest merchandise Trade Gap since june was hailed by the Bush administration but greeted so optically by private analysts. Indeed there was widespread belief that fresh Trade deterioration was almost certain in coming months and that friction would intensify with Japan. At $5 billion in october the american deficit with Japan was the biggest in nearly four years. The figure was an increase from $4.4 billion in september. Commerce Secretary Barbara h. Franklin cited the latest figures As providing a Good reason to cheer this Holiday season As . Companies continue to Benefit from president Bush a efforts to open markets and promote  she issued the stat men from Beijing where she is leading a Large government entourage on a Mission to get the chinese to buy american goods. Private commentators however generally regarded the october Trade results As an aberration. A i think this is temporary a said Harald b. Malmgren a Washington Trade consultant. A exports can to continue to surge when the rest of the world Economy is .merchandise Trade deficit billions of dollars seasonally adjusted import figures exclude shipping and  n i i11 i i 11 ii 11 m in i in i ii i no ii i o and j foam Jaso 1991 1992 oct. �?T91 sept. �?T92 oct. �?T925.87 i i 8.58 i ijl03j source . Department of Commerce a really  Malmgren also said he expected that the Dollar would Rise in coming months reflecting greater relative Appeal of american interest rates. That would further erode the Trade position by making this country a products More expensive to foreigners while making imports cheaper. A a we be got the double whammy a he phone company seeks right to compete with Cable to Washington a a local Tele big Mac invades Bogart s territory Oak Brook 111. Up Mcdonald a corp. Planned to Cut the ribbon Friday on its first restaurant in Morocco the 65th country where the Golden Arches will stand. Mcdonald a said it placed its latest restaurant in Casablanca along a Beach a tear the Hassan ii mosque. Mcdonald a expects the facility to employ j 00 people and seat 300 customers. Earlier this year Mcdonald a opened restaurants in Monaco Brunei Czechoslovakia Guadalupe and Poland. Washington a a local Tele phone company asked a Federal court thursday to overturn a Law prohibiting regional phone companies from running television operations in the same areas they offer phone service. The lawsuit was filed by the Chesapeake amp Potomac Telephone co. Of Virginia and the newly formed Bell Atlantic video services co. Their suit if successful would enable phone companies to compete directly with local Cable companies. Although both Congress and the Federal communications commission have said Competition is preferable to regulation As a Means to control Cable television rates the Cable communications policy act of 1984 prevents phone companies from being that Competition in areas where they offer phone service. A we could provide programming in California a said Jay Grossman of Bell Atlantic an East coast company. A obviously there Are great advantages to providing programming and Telephone services in one  Grossman said that if the lawsuit is successful phone companies will provide interactive television services and All the programming now on Cable television. Interactive programming would enable viewers to take classes play video games and participate in other activities that require two Way communications. Bell Atlantic also envisions a variety of sports and entertainment programs that Consumers could watch any time they wanted simply by selecting from the phone company a menu. Grossman said that if Bell Atlantic wins it will build a state of the Art net the . Supreme court has ruled that video programming is a Type of speech protected by the first amendment.1 a John Thorn of Bell Atlantic added. A stronger Domestic Economy a will continue to suck in imports without any place to  both Germany and Japan major trading partners Are generally considered As having now slipped into recession. Barry Rogstad president of the american business conference a group of rapidly growing midsize companies also played Down the record october exports which climbed $1.3 billion or 3.4 percent to a total of $39.2 billion. He noted As did others that nearly 75 percent of the increase came from civilian aircraft a sector in which big ticket items Are delivered at irregular intervals and from shipments of non monetary Gold. The october totals a cannot disguise a world Economy that is dead in the water a Rogstad said. Nor is expected american legislation Likely to help said John e. Silvia economist at Kemper financial services in Chicago. He said that one third or More of american factory equipment is imported and that adoption of an investment tax credit proposed by president elect Clinton to increase business investment in equipment would raise demand for foreign goods and exacerbate the Trade imbalance. Clinton advisers have ruminated about denying credit for imports but this plan various specialists said could probably not be done without violating International agreements. Imports during october cased to $46.2 billion or five tenths of 1 percent below the record september level thursdays report showed. Work mostly Likely in Alexandria va., to produce programming. New Cable probably will have to be Laid to Homes. But Grossman said the court Case will take several years making it impossible to predict what technology will be the Best for implementing the service when the time comes. A the . Supreme court has ruled that video programming is a Type of speech protected by the first amendment a said John Thorne assistant general counsel of Bell Atlantic. He said the government will have to show a compelling reason for continuing to enforce the 1984 Law. The court agreement that broke up the Bell system had prohibited the regional phone companies from getting into information services such As video. But that part of the agreement was struck Down in Federal court More than a year ago. Furthermore the acc has said the prohibition no longer serves the Public interest Grossman said. Bell Atlantic video services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Atlantic corp., which is the Parent of new Jersey Bell Bell of Pennsylvania Diamond state Telephone in Delaware and a amp a which serves Maryland Virginia the District of Columbia and West  most costly for housing Washington a people looking for affordable housing  look to California. A Survey by the National association of Home builders found that 19 of the 25 least affordable housing markets Are in the Golden state including san Francisco the least affordable. Instead shoppers might look around the Midwest where the Survey found 21 of the most affordable markets including the top ranked Champaign iii., area. The Index measures the ability of a typical family to buy a Home in its own Market. For example the median income in the san Francisco area was $49,900 and the median Price of a Home was $285,000. The median is the Middle figure of both groups. According to the indexes standards a family could afford to Purchase a Home costing 3.15 times its annual income or in this Case $157,185, at the prevailing interest rate of 7.93 percent. On the other hand the median income in the Champaign area was $41,200, and the median Price of a Home was $62,000. Ranked just above san Francisco in the third Quarter were the California areas of Santa Cruz Salinas Santa Rosa and Oxnard. Champaign replaced Jackson mich., at the top of the list