European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday december 21, 1992 Money matters the stars and stripes Page 17�? today a rates following Are fixed rates at which Community Hanking 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 limit on phone sales pitches put on hold by Oregon court Washington map recorded sales pitches Over the Telephone have been Given a reprieve a for the time being anyway. A Federal Law that beginning sunday would have prohibited recorded telemarketing Calls has been blocked by a . District court in Oregon pending the outcome of a lawsuit by the telemarketing Industry. Jane Mago an attorney for the Federal communications commission said a temporary injunction prohibiting the Agency from enforcing the Law was issued late Friday. Under the new Law recorded telemarketing Calls would have been illegal unless the company first obtained permission for the Call. Recipients could have collected $500 to $1,500 in damages if the Calls persisted. Quot but the ban was suddenly delayed late Friday in Portland. Ore., where the National association of telecommuter operators had filed a lawsuit against the acc challenging the Law. Charles Hinkle an attorney for the association said in an interview saturday that . District court judge James Redden orally informed lawyers involved in the Case of the preliminary injunction in Telephone Calls late Friday. A it Means the Law is not in effect a a Hinkle said in a Telephone interview late saturday. Mago acknowledged the order prevents the acc from enforcing the Law Mercedes expecting big loss report says Berlin up a Germany a Mercedes Benz a is suffering a slump in car sales and is heading for a $705 million loss in 1992, the influential news weekly Der Spiegel said. A the situation is serious and will not get better in 1993,�?� said an unnamed Mercedes executive quoted in the report. Mercedes is expected to run up losses of about $705 million in 1992 a the first loss in 10 years Der Spiegel said. A 12.4 percent slump of Mercedes car sales in Germany during the first 10 months of 1992 is the main cause for the expected loss Der Spiegel said. In 1991, Mercedes Benz made a profit of $385 million. Maiden flight Mcdonnell Douglas new explorer helicopter Flics for the first time during tests Friday in Mesa Ariz. The eight scat twin in inc advanced design helicopter is the first to Fly without a traditional Tail Rotor. Japanese scale Down merriment Tokyo apr in Good times Many japanese thought of Christmas eve As the ultimate Day for extravagance. Gourmet dinners and a night at a fancy hotel were often the Rule. Well the Good times Are Over. That Means less conspicuous consumption this year and More japanese spending the time at Home eating nothing fancier than stews cooked at the dining table. First class hotels that once were fully booked months in Advance of Christmas eve a Japan a no. 1 dating night a report plenty of free rooms. Popular magazines that in recent years touted $750 trinkets from Tiffany a and full course dinners at pricey French restaurants As the keys to winning hearts Are now telling How to arrange a cheap Date. A people seem to prefer a Thrifty Christmas compared to last year a hot dog a Magazine for Young men said in its annual guide to a successful Christmas Date. Although there Are few christians in this mostly Buddhist and shintoism nation japanese corporations promoted Christmas eve As a Holiday entered around lavish gift giving and partying. The Holiday Falls at a time of traditional end of the year merrymaking anyhow so during the Boom years of the Tate 1980s, everybody jumped on Board. Christmas Day itself is not a National Holiday. Japan admits its Economy is Cooling off Tokyo apr the government finally admitted sunday that economic growth this fiscal year will be far below its original forecast but undaunted predicted that 1993 will see a Strong recovery. Private economists have held for months that the governments target of 3.5 percent growth for fiscal 1992, which ends next March 31, was impossible to reach. The new official forecast approved at a Cabinet meeting sunday predicts 1992 growth in the Gross National product will be 1.6 percent the sharpest downward revision since 1974. However growth in fiscal 1993 will rebound to 3.3 percent the government said. Most private think tanks have pegged the figure at Well below 3 percent. This year Japan a economic Outlook is the worst it has been in More than five years. Many japanese have less work and less Money now that companies have Cut Back on bonuses overtime and expense accounts. Japanese began to tone Down their Christmas spending last year but the trend seems to have accelerated. A Survey of 300 hot dog readers found most planning to spend about $75 this year about half or one third what they spent last year on Christmas dates. Meanwhile the trend setting weekly women a Magazine Hanako has offered Christmas sections on budget gifts and a Complete guide to convenience stores that sell Christmas eve dinner packages. There also will be plenty of Christmas eve dinners that will feature the recession cuisine of Choice a a Onabe a or Hearty stews cooked at the table often using such Humble ingredients As cabbage and Chicken intestines. Sales of Nabe pots have soared 50 percent from last year and makers Are having trouble keeping up with the unexpected demand. Staying at Home is part of a trend that is not just restricted to Christmas eve. Fathers who usually made a habit of returning Home Only to sleep after a night out drinking with their colleagues Are now coming Home Early to have dinner with their families in a trend the Media Calls the a coming Home  until the lawsuit in Portland is resolved. A the judge issued a preliminary injunction. I done to yet have a copy of the order and i done to know the scope of it Quot she added. The Friday court ruling did not address the merits of the lawsuit attorneys involved in the Case said. The Law May still go into effect should the suit on behalf of the telemarketing association and Katherine Moser operator of a Chimney sweep company in Keizer ore., be rejected. The Law would ban any computerized recorded Telephone solicitation except those from nonprofit groups or political pollsters and special Telephone Alert systems notifying people about Community  game breakthrough attracts notice by the new York times san Francisco a a Small Silicon Valley company plans to introduce a High end video game system that is attracting extraordinary attention because it is backed by both japanese consumer electronics companies and Hollywood. The fledgling company 3do, of san Mateo calif., was started by trip Hawkins founder of electronic arts the computer software game company. It will introduce its new game system Jan. 7 at the consumer electronics show in Las vegas Nev. The company is trying to create a new Standard for video game hardware and has financial backing from Matsushita electric Industrial co. And time Warner inc., said an Industry executive familiar with 3do�?Ts plans. Mca inc., the Hollywood studio Matsushita owns is apparently one of the High powered companies that have been signed up to develop software for the system. 3do will not manufacture the game machines but will instead License the design to other companies. Matsushita will be the first company to make the new systems which Are expected to be priced As High As $800, according to the executive who spoke on condition of anonymity. The video game Market is now dominated by two smaller japanese companies Nintendo and Sega. But the executive said 3do apparently hoped to jump into the Market by offering a system with Superior graphics and sound As Well As by keeping a looser grip on software that is developed for its machine. While top of the line Nintendo and Sega systems use 16-bit microprocessors the 3do system will use the same 32-bit microprocessor that Apple computer is using in its Newton personal digital assistant. That Chip is being Dev loped by Vlasi technology of san Jose and Acorn computer of Britain. Each Box will come with a High Speed cd rom player and will be Able to play cd audio disks and display Eastman Kodak a photo cd digital picture images in addition to running game software. While it will have elaborate three dimensional graphics and animation the first version wont offer full motion video. The initial version of the system May face an Uphill struggle if it is priced substantially higher than competing Sega and Nintendo systems analysts said. A i can to see your average Middle american shelling out this kind of Money for something the kids will play with and break a said Andrew Seybold who publishes the Seybold Outlook