European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 19, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 b the stars Aid stripes Money matters tuesday january 19,1993 today a rates a following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use Gorman Mark 1.58 British Pound 1.50 dutch Guilder. 1.70 greek drachma 211.7174 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 Kalian lira 1,490.62 turkish lira .8,742.40 Spanish peseta 115.40 portuguese escudo 146.33 austrian Schilling 11.460 saudi rial. 3.75 Bahrain Dinar. 0.37675 Kuwait Dinar. 0.3047 norwegian Krona 6.b75 danish Krona 6.2685 British Pound 1.5487 German Mark 1.618 Swiss franc a a a a  1.484 French franc. 5.493 dutch Guilder. 1.8125 belgian franc. 33.40 Canadian Dollar 1.2764 note figures Are expressed in dollars to he British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $328.25 an ounce Silver quote $3.63 an ounce the Little things add up to put a Strain on household budget California hit hard by defense cuts lawmakers told by John Cunniff the associated press new York a if you have the feeling that your household budget is More strained than it was a year or so ago you May have lots of company no matter what the consumer Price Index says. That Index seems to have settled in at about a 3 percent annual Range not perfect but a Mere fraction of the double digit rates that households adjusted to in the 1970s. Why then Are some families feeling More stress than a year ago because of lots of Tittle things that add up such As rising taxes and the Price of a cup of Coffee and Little things that done to add up such As the failure to obtain a pay raise and the shrinking yield on savings. Nothing big just a lot of Little things the tax rate on your real estate a tiny increase in sales taxes bigger deductibles on your health insurance a Bridge toll where there was t one a costlier Candy bar. Most taxes Don t show up in the consumer Price Index because that s not what a the Chi is supposed to measure. Consider this the social Security tax base rises this year by $2,100. At a tax rate of 7.5 percent that s $157.50. Insignificant As it might seem Coin operated machine inflation adds up because of the great volume. A commercial washing machine fee May go from five quarters to six. A parking meter that once took one Quarter now takes two. While fast food hamburger prices might drop to 99 cents from $1.10, Coffee or a soft drink sneaks up. Your local Delicatessen equally stressed by the times might now charge you extra for the lettuce or Tomato . Consumer Price Index percent change from prior month seasonally adjusted 0.6% -0.1 -0.2  and 1991 1992 dec. 91 nov. 92 dec. 920.2%l 0.2% 0.1% Ziying a Sacramento Calif. A California has lost 126,000 jobs since 1988 because of defense cuts and the state will lose an additional 81,000 defense jobs in the next five years a legislate Tec has been told. A a we be a can through a lot but vhf still have a lot ahead Quot said executive director Kevin Scott of the commission on state finance. Scott predicted that defense spending in California which has dropped from a High of $60 billion in 1988 to $51 billion last year will decline to $37 billion by 1997, a the defense budget is now about one half of what it was expected to be just a few years ago a Scott told the Senate budget and fiscal review committee which is studying the Impact of those cutbacks on state Revenue. Those defense cuts a have fallen disproportionately on California because we Lave a disproportionate share of the do Ense budget which benefited us in Good times Quot Scott said. He noted that California accounts for 12 percent of the nations population and 13 percent of its economic production but it gels 21 percent of the nation s Domestic defense expenditures. But Scott said the Impact of defense cutbacks on California should be less severe than the cuts after the Vietnam War he said 12 percent to 14 percent of californians Economy was dependent on the defense budget in the late 1960s and Early 1970s, compared with 6,5 percent today. His report to the Senate committee noted that while Only 22 percent of the jobs lost in California during the recession Are tied to defense spending cuts the defense jobs Are concentrated in just a few industries and areas. Aerospace accounts for 117,000 of the 126.000 defense jobs lost so far and 60.000 of the 8j,q0g defense jobs that California is expected to lose in the next five years the report said. Most of the rest of the Job losses were caused by base closings it said. Source us. Dept of labor a once came automatically with your tuna salad Sandwich. The Pickle and chips might add to the Price. Not All stress is coming from higher prices. Equally stressful is the habit of expecting to do better than a year ago and then realizing the raises you used to get Arentt coming anymore. Personal incomes have barely risen. For Many people especially the elderly a substantial amount of income came from yields on certificates of Deposit which now arc a Small fraction of what they were five years ago. Back then Many elderly couples based their living standards on a return of 8 percent. Thais hard to get these Days. Meanwhile Many families have been forced to spend Large amounts of Money on projects they had hoped to postpone such As fixing that Little leak in the roof or trading in the old car for a new one. Leaks grow As everyone knows and old cars collapse presenting the owner with an expensive Choice throw Money into the old car and risk throwing in even More Money a month later or by new car with a big Price. Already stressed Many families have had to face that decision. The average age of cars on the Road is High about 7.9 years indicating that Many thousands of families Are still facing it. Once again that a Little Quot Price increase comes into play. The Price of a new car might have risen Only 2 percent but 2 percent can mean $200 or $300. What these Little things add up to arc some conclusions difficult to repudiate a the Chi valuable for economic analysis cannot easily be applied to specific household budgets. Each household has its own some of the items in your budget Arentt even listed in the Chi. A financial stress is not always the result of rising prices. Expenditures that can to be postponed can be More destructive. So can anticipated increases in income that never happen. Technology issues giving a spark ti55sp6mmitr. #. # _ twi to otherwise so Maaish Stock Marke new York a technology stocks Are hogging the headlines on Wail Street these Days setting what some analysts think might be a new theme for the Market in 1993. While stocks in general Are off to a sluggish Start on the new year Many technology issues have been jumping. If this keeps up some observers said the group could become the focus of activity the Way consumer growth stocks did i 1991 and cyclical Industrial companies did in the first half of last year. Intel a leading producer of Micro pro pcs scr for personal computers and other equipment has been the most celebrated example. The shares of the Santa Clara Calif., company have soared past $100 for the first time More than doubling since last summer Riding the Crest of a Boom in the pc business. R the Stock climbed More than $8 in a single session last week when the company reported quarterly earnings that outstripped analysts expectations. But Intel and some of its fellow semiconductor companies a like Motorola and Texas instruments which both have been hitting record or multiyear highs of late a Are Only one part of the Story. Recent Days have also seen heavy buying of stocks like Cisco systems a supplier of products for linking computer networks Apple computer and Microsoft. In thursdays session alone enthusiasm Over earnings reports prompted Multi Point jumps in digital equipment Xiling a manufacturer of computer devices and Parametric technology which specializes in computer systems for engineering and design. Faced with such developments analysts Are scrambling to divine whether the tech stocks represent a new wave of Market leadership or just one of Wall Street s passing frenzies. Quot we believe the . Economy is on the threshold of a major technological revolution led by the personal computer a said Edward Yardeni chief economist at . Lawrence inc. A this revolution will continue to boost productivity Well above the anaemic growth of the 1970s and 1980s. A High tech equipment spending now accounts for 44,7 percent of spending on All capital equipment up from 17.6 percent 15 years ago. A the Stock prices of personal computer and semiconductor manufacturers Are soaring. These May turn out to be among the growth stocks of the 1990s.&Quot at Salomon Brothers inc., analysts Are talking about a the big Trade of the 1990s a Swap expensive real estate into cheap  their thesis holds that advances in communications a exemplified by such tools As fax machines and cellular telephones As Well As computer networks a arc giving both business and individuals a kind of Long term mobility they did no to previously have a Mobile communities of interest rather than fixed geographic neighbourhoods have become the Means by which people identify themselves Quot Salomon said. A the big losers in the process will be owners of expensive real estate on both coasts. The winners will be the telecommunications service providers and equipment  Chrysler sales in Japan planned paper says Tokyo up1 a Mitsubishi motors corp. Will Start marketing Chrysler corp. Autos in Japan As Early As the Spring of 1994, a leading business daily said monday. Mitsubishi will manufacture two door coupes with v-6 engines and three door hatchbacks at its . Manufacturing unit in Illinois this fall with both sold under the Chrysler name in Japan the Nihon Meizai Shimun said. Toyota motor co. Also has similar plans. It will import passenger cars manufactured at its Plant in Kentucky in a bid to reduce Japan a huge Trade surplus company sources told the Kyodo news service on saturday. A spokesman with Mitsubishi said Mitsubishi and Chrysler Are negotiating Over the models the number and the starting time of the sales. A Mitsubishi announced the sales o Chrysler s cars in Japan at the beginning of 1992,�?� when president Bush vis Ilei Japan with an entourage of american corporate executives including the presi dents of the big three automakers that spokesman said