European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 17, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday november 17, 1993 _1. Money matters the star3 and stripes Pago 15 it today s rates following arc fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel i for personal use German Mark. 1.65 British Pound. 1.53 dutch Guilder. 1.85greek drachma. 236.9673 no the rates Abov apply Wootin the country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Doday following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies. Italian lira. .1,667.20 turkish lira. 13,347.00 Spanish peseta. 137.40portuguese escudo. 172.20 austrian Schilling. 11.916 saudi Royal. 3.7505 Bahrain Dinar. 0.3767 kuwaiti Dinar. .0.2983 norwegian Krone 7.359 danish Krone. 6.746 British Pound. 1.488 German Mark. 1.6955 Swiss franc. 1.4949 French franc. 5.8875 dutch Guilder. 1.902 belgian franc. 36.03 Canadian Dollar. 1.317 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $375.25 an ounce Silver quote $4 56 an ounce new York Exchange new York up the 15 most Active Stock in new York Stock exc Iange composite trading  Texas utilities Merck & co inc. Tel Fonos de my or Nabisco hid Philip Morris am Back res Paramount comm Mitel corp blockbuster Netwal Mart stores  Pic at to company general motors Ltd corp Silt 6,412,800 5.680,5004,635,600 3,627,600 .2.966,900 2,701-,0002,698,200 2,205,1002,174,400 2,133,0002,028,400 1,905,500 1,892,1001,856,500 1,801,300 list42v. 32 v54 to 3080 631 v4 29 vk.23 h 3h 56 i 14 v4 nit  i Atlon 1 % on i on t a on1/ up 1 a. Unch Otto my on i putt up a american Exchange new York up the 10 most Active stocks i american Stock Exchange composite trading monday. Stock Sal omon a Nitro Echo Bay min Samdahl corp Royal Oak mines new you times  comr Energy service Bergen Brunswig fruit of loom sales lilt Necta. 987,700 4 3-16 unch664,100 13v up 645,400 5 unch592,800 4h up 1-16 464,600 24 Vuk up%388.400 6h off 351,800 6vi of 321,200 3v unch294,600 17 to up 248,100 37 i off it Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages on monday Hurt Low close Chafit 30 industrials 3705.74 20 transports15 utilities 225.35 65 stocks 1370.81 3705.7 3653.49 3677.52 off 6.99 1772.38 173498 1753.14 up 1.07 22153 222.45 off 2.50 1347.76 1357.91 off 3.19 German Economy May dip advisers say Bonn Germany a Western Germany s Economy could dip again and joblessness will hit a new Post War re Cord economic advisers say. Chancellor Helmut Kohl s government has said officially that Germany s Long re cession appears to be Over and that the Western German Economy might grow by 1.5 percent in 1994. But an Independent Council that advises his administration said monday that the Western German Economy will be Flat and could even dip by half a percent Dur ing the year. Paramount directors push. ". / for Viacom s takeover bid new York a directors of Paramount communications inc. Have called on shareholders to ignore a Sweet ened takeover offer from ivc network inc. And stand by a bid from Viacom inc., Paramount s chosen merger partner. Paramount said monday that its Board regarded the ivc offer As highly conditional because of Legal and financial  in contrast it said Viacom offered established terms and i  ivc spokesman Mike Rourke declined to comment on the Paramount announcement. The nearly 2-month-old Battle for Par amount Between Viacom and ivc Wasto reach a turning Point tuesday As the fight moved to chancery court in Dela  is asking the court to nullify some expensive concessions that Viacom won As part of its original merge agreement with Paramount. Viacom and ivc  to acquire Paramount which owns a vast entertainment Library and one of the last in Del scr dependent . Film studios in preparation for the information High Way and its huge television offerings. Viacom owns mtg and other Cable television net works. Ivc is a Home shopping net work based in West Chester a. Ivc headed by one time Par amount pictures Boss Barry Diller raised its hostile bid late Friday. The ivc offer was Worth $10.76 billion in Cash and Stock at monday s closing Price. Viacom s offer was valued lower at about $9.63 billion As of late monday. But the Paramount Board was not confident that ivc could fund its new offer Paramount spokesman Carl Folta said. It s not an established fact that they have this financing he said. Further Folta said a pcs offer is con Tingent on court rulings including the Deci $10 million Eye Catcher a Brilliant Cut Diamond weighing 10036 carats is the highlight of a rotheby s auction scheduled for today in Geneva. The flawless rectangular Gem expected to fetch at least $10 million is one of the largest diamonds Ever offered in a Public Sale. Baby Bells can continue in information services Field Washington a the nation s regional Telephone companies got the supreme court s Green Light monday to continue offering information services such As Home shopping and Stock reports. The court without comment turned Down arguments by consumer and information groups that the seven baby Bells should not have been allowed to enter the lucrative and growing Market. Those groups say the regional Bells  the phone lines will give them a monopolistic advantage Over their competitors. The regional Bells formed from the breakup of the Bell system of american Telephone & Telegraph co. In 1982 have been allowed since late 1991 to offer information such As traffic and Stock reports electronic yellow pages and transmission of medical records. . District judge Harold Greene reluctantly let the Bells enter the Market that year saying that he believed it would harm Competition but that an appeals court ruling left him no other Choice. Bradley Stillman of the consumer federation of America one of the groups that challenged the regional companies said he was disappointed by monday s action. Now it is up to the Federal communications commission and state regulatory authorities to make sure the regional companies do not take unfair advantage of their ownership of the phone lines Stillman said. But John Thorne attorney for Bell at lactic corp., said i dare anybody to name a Market we be monopolized. There have been dire predictions about every Market we be entered and we Haven t harmed Competition in any of  sign from tuesday s hearing before Vic Chancellor Jack Jacobs in Dover Del. Ivc has argued that the Paramount Board failed to give its unsolicited buyout proposal a fair hearing. Ivc made i Sid after Paramount and Viacom reached their merger agreement sept. 12. Ivc wants the chancery court to nullify Paramount s Poison Pill anti takeover defense which the company could use to flood the Market with new Stock. It also wants the court to void two con Cessions Paramount gave to new York based Viacom. Under the initial agreement Viacom would get a $100 million fee if Paramount is bought by another firm. Viacom also could buy nearly 24 Mil lion Paramount shares at its original offer of $69.14 a share and pocket the differ ence Between that and the final Price in the bidding War. Ivc is offering a combination of $90 Ashare in Cash for 51 percent of Par amount s Stock and ivc shares for the remainder. Viacom is offering $85 a share in Cash for 51 percent and Viacom Stock for the rest. Factory output for october takes big jump Washington a Industrial production in october recorded its big Gest increase in nearly a year and bust Ness inventories remained lean through september raising Hopes that the Long decline in manufacturing employment May be ending. A surge in Auto manufacturing helped boost output at the nation s factories mines and utilities by 0.8 percent last month the Best since november 1992, the Federal Reserve said monday. Most industries Are increasing steadily and that s better than we could say six months ago said economist Priscilla Trumbull of the wefa group a fore casting firm in Bala Cynwyd a. Growth has become much More de  the gain in the Industrial production Index was the fifth in a Row. It followed a 0.4 percent Rise in september. The Federal Reserve said Auto production jumped 7.3 percent in october and 3.9 percent in september after four months of either declines or no change. Excluding motor vehicles production still Rose 0.3 percent in september and 0.4 percent in october. Trumbull said the consistency of the advances eventually should help per Suade manufacturers to Start hiring per manent employees. Fearing a relapse since the recession they be relied on overtime and temporary help to keep production up. Car truck sales Rise Detroit a sales of cars and trucks made in the United states Rose 12.4 percent in Early november extending the momentum seen else where in the Economy. Car sales Rose 13.1 percent and tight trucks were up 11.4 percent. Ford motor co. And Chrysler corp. On monday each reported single digit improvement in the nov. 1-10 period. General motors reported a gain of 16.4 percent