European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 28, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Money matters wednesday july 28,1993 today s rates following Are fixed rates a which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use German Mark 1.68 British Pound 1.53 dutch Guilder 1.88 greek drachma. 227.6428 note the rates above apply within the hos country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following arc Interbank rate that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies italian lira 1,604.45 turkish lira 11,378.70 Spanish peseta 138.42 portuguese pseudo 172.77 austrian Schilling 12.135 saudi rial 3.75 Bahrain Dinar 0.3768 Kuwait Dinar. 0.3015 norwegian Krone. 7.3535 danish Krone. 6.695 British Pound 1.4978 German Mark 1.7254 Swiss franc 1.5193 French franc 5.88 dutch Guilder .1.941 belgian franc35.73 Canadian Dollar. 1.2835. Note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $393.60 an ounce Silver quote $5.08 an ounce new York Exchange new York up the 15 most Kolve stocks in Newyork Stock Exchange composite trading on monday. Hoc Chase Manhattan ism corp Rwjr Nabisco hit Elefonso de my Amer express co Citicorp Merck & co inc Browning Ferris Sunshine mining Boeing co  sags by by Placer dome in blockbuster ent Yff Sociedade St Tot 4,524,2003,922,700 3,581,500 3.004.100 2,758,300 2,253,700 2,235,000 1,758,200 1.721,700 1,641,100 1,593,300 1,591,600 1,578,400 1.555,400 1.553.700 uli32v 42h5v 50 v34% 32v4  pvt. Unch 3v� 38h7v 6v4 19tt24v 20 up a on off 1h. Up putt  a putt american Exchange new York up the 10 most i calve stocks i american Stock Exchange composite trading monday Stock Royal Oak mines. Fruit of loom Echo Bay mines Energy service Jan Bell mtg Inte Ragnet Gen Olsten corp air express to talc common corp hath profess is Salei ust nut by 1,426,600 set putt 1,221,200 29 upv817,900 12v Vav 479,700 2v unch 413,600 10h up7/326,500. 15h Ulph 288.200 26v4 c 1v 278.300 20h up k277,200 24v up a 260,700 31-1.6 on Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones dosing rang of averages on monday Lohu Clou China 30 industrials 3584.74 3541.43 3567.70 up 20.9620 transport 160869 1575.56 1594.80 up 2.35 15 utilities 249.67 246.64 24889 up 1.78 65 stocks 1325.25 1305.71 1317.68 up 6.20 France Belgium try to repel attack by Money Ore by Mary Beth Sherida Nap business writer new York they overran the British. They bloodied the italians. Will that financial Scourge of modern Day Europe currency speculators. Now de feat the belgians and French an attack monday by speculators on the belgian franc and an assault Las week of the French franc showed the awesome Power of global investors to shake government Central Banks. European Central Banks have spent Bil Lions of dollars Worth of their reserves in re cent Days to buy Back currencies under siege. Both the belgian and French Central Banks were forced to take the politically unpopular step of raising interest rates. The speculators have one thing on their Side they made a Fortune this year already. They can take a much big Ger fling said Rudiger Dornbusch a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of technology. They can say is the Bank of France really that Tough global foreign currency trading has exploded in recent years with advances i technology and financial deregulation. The daily volume of trading in dollars yen francs and other currencies shot from $620 billion in 1989 to $880 billion last year the Bank for International settlements  buying and Selling currencies for commercial Banks and investment funds can run right Over a Central Bank said Matt Sprio a vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank. One financier alone George Soros reportedly made More than $1 billion last september by correctly betting that the German Mark would Rise in value and the British Pound and italian lira would weak  Are hammering at that theme once again this time gambling that Belgium and France will not have the stomach to maintain interest rates a High As Germany s. If they Are Correct the belgian an French francs will weaken and depositor Money will pour into Marks. That will raise the German currency s value vindicating the speculators strategy. The assault on the belgian franc came after speculators last week pounded the French franc the danish Krone and the Spanish  Felt that if the French and danish currencies were assaulted Why not include the belgian franc explained Stephen King economist at James Capel & co., a London investment  european countries however Are committed to keeping their Curren cies at a set value with the German Mark through the european Exchange rate mechanism which is intended As a Ste toward a single european currency. These countries have few options when faced with a speculative attack. The French Central Bank spent the estimated equivalent of $9 billion in other Curren cies on thursday and Friday to buy the franc. Its move helped prop up the franc s value by increasing demand for it. But a Central Bank cannot keep buying indefinitely. Unless it convinces speculators that they should Back off a Centra Bank eventually runs out of foreign currencies to use for the purchases. Britain and Italy quit the Exchange rat mechanism last fall after their currencies came under relentless attack. Spain has de valued its peseta three times and briefly imposed currency controls to limit  part of its Effort to fend off speculators France on Friday raised its inter est rate for overnight Loans from 7.75 per cent to 10 percent. On monday Belgium followed suit raising its Central rate for Money Market lending by 1.35 percentage Points to 8.50percent and its emergency lending rate by two percentage Points to 12  moves were designed to discourage a favorite speculative strategy Bor rowing a weak currency repaying the borrowed currency after its value drop further and Locking in a profit. Higher interest rates for the borrowed currency make that strategy less profitable notching up interest rates however carries risks. The most serious is the possibility of plunging an Economy into re  Why bother France and Belgium could bail out of the Exchange rate mechanism. Or they could seek to devalue their currencies set new Exchange rate Stan Dards that make the currencies Worth  devaluation could discourage for eign investment. Nobody wants to put Money into a currency that May lose value in the future. More important if a powerhouse such a France devalued the franc or left the Exchange rate system it could have dire con sequences for the prospects of a single european currency something that leading nations have been seeking for years to enhance economic growth and Unity. Volkswagen accuses pm of mudslinging Hamburg Germany a Volkswagen a is the target of an International smear Campaign the giant automaker s chairman was quoted As saying tuesday. General motors corp. Has accused a s Cost cutting expert Jose Ignacio Lopez do Arr Ortua of taking company secrets with him when he left the Detroit car maker to join Volkswagen in March. With German prosecutors investigating and vow s reputation on the line the company s chairman Ferdinand Piech went on the offensive in the interview with the weekly Stern newsmagazine. An International economic War is being waged to ruin vow he was quoted As saying. This is a mudslinging contest he said. And if we re attacked with mud we have to defend ourselves in an equivalent  pitch said that if it s proved l6pez engaged in Industrial espionage and he is forced from his Job that certainly would have serious consequences for me. But that won t  the Hamburg based Stern provide excerpts of the interview in Advance of its publication thursday. Vow needs the services of Lopez who has a reputation As a Tough manager to help Lead the company out of its slump. It lost $732.5 million in the first Quarter of this year. At a crisis meeting Friday vow executives decided to keep Lopez and his aides to oversee restructuring of the automaker the Welt am sonntag newspaper reported. Friedhelm Ost chairman of the parliamentary economics committee and a former spokesman for chancello Helmut Kohl said Volkswagen should fire l6pez to avoid further tarnishing of its image. Jos Ignacio l6pei de Warrior Tia capitalism brews up storm with czech Beer maker Prague czech Republic a As czech Indus try rushes toward privatization even the brewery that made Budweiser famous has to change. Whether new czech capitalists or the american Brewers of the Bud have the most say in the transformation of the Budvar brewery remains to be seen As the trademark of the czechs Rich Beer tradition move ahead on two fronts. The government is preparing to auction off a minority stake in the brewery and let Ordinary czechs become shareholders through its voucher scheme to privatize czech  the same time Budvar managers Are negotiating a possible merger with Anheuser Busch the producer of the czech Beer s american namesake Budweiser. Privatization minister Jiri Skalicky said in comments published monday that a government stake in Budvar not exceeding 34 percent would be sold at auction to the highest bidder. The Sale of Only a minority stake reflects the fear of tradition bound Beer drinkers that the prize Budvar brewery could be sold out to foreigners. Budvar located in the Southern Bohemian town of Ceske Bude Ovice known As Budweis in German has brewed its namesake Beer since the 19th Century. Adolphus Busch a native of the Southern German state of Bavaria acquired the rights to sell Beer under the Budweiser name in North America in the Early 20th Century. The Beer s Success soon made his company Anheuser Busch the world s largest Beer producer. Budvar by comparison is Small and czechs fear its Home brewed Quality known throughout the world could be lost to mass production. Budvar employs 348 people and produces 136.5 million pints annually. Under privatization rules a portion of shares in Testate owned brewery would v e distributed among czech citizens. After the minority stake is auctioned itis not known if the government plans to retain any Stock in the brewery. Budvar managers meanwhile Are talking to Anheuser Busch and other foreign Brewers about a possible merger. We talked to Busch and also a number of other major Beer producers Budvar s director Jiri Bocek said in a Telephone interview. It is too Early to say any thing but the Fate of the brewery is being decided