European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 17, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                February 17, 1993 Money matters tic stall and 13 i Nodars rates following Are fixed rates a which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use str Ron of Smirk. 1.60 British Pound 1.47 dutch Guilder. 1.00 Grottk drachma. 214.0983 not the rate Abov apply Wlynn the to country. Al Gurmer War mid in Dollwet to the British Pound of few Cufre Nam to Tow Dot of following Are Interbank rate that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies Kalian lira. 1,546.74 Turkla lira. 9,074.00 Spanish Patata. 117.60 Portu guava Adarlo. 150.20 austrian Schilling. 11.58 saudi rial. 3.7495 Bahrain Dinar. 0.37678 Kuwait Dinar 0.3078 Norw Aglan Krona 7.002 danish Krona 6.92 British Pound 1.4472 German Mark. 1.634 Swiss franc. 1.512 franch franc. 8.8778 dutch Guilder. 1.837 Ballan franc. 33.74canadian Dollar. 1.2866 note figure a expressed in Dollar to the British Pound other eur Noi to the Dollar Gold quote $331 .50 an ounce. Silver quote $3.69 an ounce. Financial markets closed . Financial markets were closed monday for the presidents Day Holiday. Ism officials expect to announce first layoffs in company s history White Plains . Dpi in to National business machines corp. Said monday that it expects to soon announce layoffs in its huge North american sales operation the first time it has be enforced into such action. Ism did not say How Many employee would be Laid off. The company made the disclosure apart of an announcement of incentive package that will be offered to noncritical employees. While it is anticipated that some of the resource reductions will be resolved voluntarily involuntary reductions May occur in some geographic and business areas ism said. The announcement had been widely expected since last week. The figure for the number of layoffs Isa moving target at this Point depending on How Many people accept the package but it looks As if we will have to Nave Lay offs said ism spokeswoman Marcy Holle. Ism said the employees participating in the incentive program would leave the company by june 30, published reports had indicated that ism planned to Cut As Many As 7,000 jobs from its North american sales operation Well above the 4,000 and 6,000 that executives had targeted. The North american sales operation has More than a Quarter of ism s roughly 300,000 employees worldwide. It had87,000 employees at the Start of last year. The computer giant trimmed More than 40,000 jobs worldwide last year and its executives said two months ago that they expected to trim about 25,000 More jobs this year. But until monday ism had insisted that it had not engaged in layoffs because the affected employees either had left voluntarily or had been offered an alter native Job. Some analysts have said ism is plan Ning to Cut As Many As 40,000 Job slots from its worldwide operations this year. In Diccy but when the last cuts were announced As part of a massive cutback in operations ism managers reportedly indicated they would Only Cut above the planned level of 25,000 this year if Busi Ness conditions were worse than expected. Ism said monday that the incentive program is designed to balance its re sources to be More competitive and efficient. The program includes a salary payout of up to one year based on service. Company paid medical coverage provided for a year after leaving the company. Career transition service offerings. And up to $2,500 As a reimbursement for retraining assistance. Certain individuals and groups wit critical skills May be determined ineligible for participation the company said. Sears sets recall of dishwashers suspected of being fire hazards ., japanese business chiefs remain divided Tokyo up business Leader from the United states and Japan held their first major gathering monday uneconomic relations since president Clin ton took office but both sides remained far apart on major issues. The Japan-. Business Council Metto prepare for the annual conference in july. The . Delegation demanded slashing of Japan s $46 billion Trade sur plus with the United states the opening of the Long closed Rice Market to foreign imports expansion of automobile import Sand the implementation of a semiconductor Trade agreement. Shoichi Saba an adviser to toshibacorp., said the 20 percent share of the japanese Market for foreign semiconductor suppliers that was to be achieved by the end of 1992 should be regarded As a target rather than a  Stephen l. Levy of Motorola inc. Called the pact reached under a 1991 bilateral agreement a Promise. Ford motor co. Sent a written message urging Japan to reduce its huge surplus 75 percent of which is made up of car Sand Auto parts. Shoichiro Toyoda chair Man of Toyota motor corp., referred to efforts made by japanese automakers to redress the  e. Allen chairman of at to said it is premature to describe the Clin ton administration As being on a protectionist track despite its imposition of tariffs on foreign steelmakers and a ban on . Government purchases of european telecommunications equipment. The fact is those actions were Well under Way before or. Clinton took of fice Allen said. From wire reports Sears Roebuck and co., which has been trying to Brush up its image has is sued a warning that certain models of it Kenmore dishwashers could experience timer failures that May result in a fire Hazard. Monday s warning was sent to More than 300,000 Sears customers who bought the dishwashers Between february 1990 and october 1992. It asked them to Stop using the appliance and Socall Sears immediately for service. Whether the voluntary recall becomes headache for scars could hinge on How Long affected customers have to was their own dishes. The Way Consumers will react really depends on How aggressively Sears acts on seeking them out said Joel Evans co director of the retail management Institute at Hofstra University i Hempstead . If they Are looking for Brownie Points they should be calling the  Sears is in the midst of a major restructuring in which it is shedding Many of its financial services businesses and refocus ing on its merchandise group. The retailer is touting customer service As a Cornerstone of its efforts to court moderate income Consumers. Our goal is to within a week Send out Sears trained technician to a customer s our goal is to within week Send out a Sears trained technician to customer s Home and repair the dishwasher in their Kitchen Perry Chlan Sears spokesman Home and repair the dishwasher in their Kitchen said Perry Chlan a spokesman for the Chicago based Sears merchandise group. He said 4,000 repair personnel have been trained to do the work. Chlan stressed that Sears was eager to keep its customers Happy and that the Chain wanted to be known for its products reliability. Sears made the recall announcement i conjunction with the . Consumer product safety commission in washing ton a Federal Agency that monitors products used in and around the  dishwasher problem was caused by internal leaks that could cause timers to Short circuit and overheat creating a fire Hazard Chlan  Frigidaire co., which manufactured the dishwashers for Sears had received complaints from customers and Las fall contacted an Independent Laboratory to test the machines Chlan said. On dec.28, the lab reported to Frigidaire that the problem was caused by potential  reported those findings to Sears on Jan. 5, and Sears sent out letters to customers beginning feb. 6. Chlan said that about 30 of the Esti mated 400,000 Kenmore units sold have had timer failures and that four of those caught fire and caused smoke damage to kitchens. There have been no injuries re ported. A spokesman for Frigidaire based i Columbus Ohio said monday that the problem was limited to the Kenmore  of the Model numbers affected should discontinue using the dishwasher and turn the Power off or unlatch the dish Washer s door until serviced. Consumers arc being told to Call a Tollfree Telephone number to arrange for free repair. Scars said it will install new part Sand inspect and replace other components As needed. The models affected Are 587.1400090,587.1400190, 587.1400890, 587.1400990, 587.1440590,587.1510590, 587.1540590,587.1574590, 587.1641590, 587.1440090,587.1469589, 587.1530590,587.1550590, 587.1640590,587.1651590. The toll free number is 800 998-8470. 587.1469089,587.1511590, 587.1541590,587.1630590, 587.1650590, sales of Domestic vehicles Mark increase Detroit a sales of domestically built cars and trucks Rose 6.3 per cent in Early february with Light truck again leading the Way. General motors corp. Said monday that its truck sales were up despite publicity about the safety of some of its older pickups. Only seven of the 10 major . Mak ers including an estimate of Chrysler corp., were included in the feb. 1-10sales figures because of the presidents Day  sales strength was in pickups min Ivans and sport Utility trucks. Overall truck sales were up 20.6 per cent while car sales were Down 2.7 per  sales not counting american built hondas Subaru and Mitsubishi sold Ata projected annual rate of 6.4 million. That is Well off the 7.6 million Pace oblate january the Industry s Best in two years. The projected annual rate in Earl february 1992 was 6.5 million. Pm continued to see its car sales slide Down 22.3 percent in part because of its decision to Cut Back on the number oscars it Sells at discount to daily rental companies. Despite negative publicity surrounding $105 million jury verdict feb. 4 in a product liability Case against its older pickups pm s Light truck sales Rose 6.1 percent. Ford motor co. Continued Strong Sale momentum that led it to have five of the top Selling cars and trucks in the United states lust year. Car sales were up 16.4percent, and truck sales were up 19.1 percent. Chrysler which reports its sales Only monthly had 24.7 percent higher car sales and 40 percent higher truck sales according to estimates by Ward s Auto motive reports. Mazda Nissan and Toyota All reported higher car sales in the period which had nine Selling Days compared with eight Selling Days in 1992. Isuzu truck sales were also higher. Combined sales by the four reporting japanese companies were up 46.9 per cent but wide swings in percentages occur because of their relatively Small share of the Overall Market. American Honda Subaru and Mitsubishi did not report their sales monday