European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes Money matters sunday december 19, 1993 shown below Are the highest Dollar Exchange rates for the week of dec. 13 dec. 17 compared with Dollar rates for the same period one year and five years ago. German Mark one Dollar would buy you 1,87 1.51 1-73 1w3 i 1m2 i 1�m i Mem Mumm a military Chang fit. Ltd British Pound 1.52 one Pound would Cost you 1.63 i�3 rms 1686 belgian franc one Dollar would buy you 3576 31.95 3375 1992 1988 1.86 dutch Guilder one Dollar would buy you 1.97 1993 1.69 1992 1988 French franc one Dollar would buy you 5 85 5.29 5 97 1992 greek drachma one Dollar would buy you 238.57 a 201.08 145.50 1993 1992 italian lira 1989 j one Dollar would buy you 1,694 a a 1,288 1989 1,395 1999 Spanish peseta one Dollar would buy you 141.25 110.75 113,60 1993 1992 1986. My turkish lira one Dollar would buy you 14,045 Quot 8,266 1993 retailers getting mixed bag a. 1 a a. A sales new York a with Christmas less than a week away its ready get set go for Holiday shoppers who have yet to buy gifts. And merchants Are anxiously watching to see if shoppers buy enough to make this year a retailing Success. So Lar apparel sales have been weak at specially stores while items for the Home including electronics fared better. Many shoppers following a pattern of recent years seemed to be putting off the bulk of their buying until the last minute. Retailers have Given mixed reports with some saying business has been Good and others categorizing it As soft said Jeffrey Edelman a retailing Industry analyst with cd. Lawrence inc. A knowing How the week before Christmas is so important. You really can to Call it a he said. Another analyst Jeffrey Feiner of Salomon Brothers inc., described business As  but he saw positive signs that the season would turn out All right for Many merchants noting that customer traffic in stores and malls has been brisk. Industry analysts say a series of Posi Tive economic reports and moderating inflation have made Consumers feet More secure. But apparently not enough to help clothing sales at some specially and department stores. Some retailers have been Hurt by Consumers general dissatisfaction with current women a fashion. Limited once one of the leading apparel retailers has been suf tying from lacklustre sates for several years. The division has undergone several management changes but has been unable to find a fashion look that really works. Less expensive clothing however was1 Selling Well at such places As Sears Roebuck and co. And . Penney co., said Joseph Ronning an analyst with Brown Brothers Harriman inc. Shops such As limited and express both owned by limited inc., have been discounting merchandise but Ronning said Consumers May perceive Sears and Penney As offering better values. Retailers have reported that so far Many shoppers seem More interested in Home furnishings including electronics and appliances. Sears reported its strongest sates in those areas. A to a certain extent its a big ticket durable Christmas a said Peny Chian a Sears spokesman. Shelf life Anna Sorokina left and Victor Bui along with other officials from the largest confectionery and textile companies in St. Petersburg Russia react As they tour Bjes wholesale club in Stoughton mass., on Friday. The russian delegation is seeking to learn about the wholesale club phenomenon from the Large Northeast wholesale Chain. Ranks no. I in restaurants new York up Philadelphia took top honors thursday in a poll conducted by Condi Nast traveler Magazine of the City of brotherly love served up the top two finest places to Dine in the county. Famed for. Its French cuisine Philadelphia Sec Bec Fin was named the nations top dining spot. The top 10 restaurants in the country after Lebec Fin were the Fountain also in Philadelphia the Grill room in new Orleans be fran Ais Wheeling Iii. The inn at Little Washington Washington a. The dining room at the Ritz Carl ton Buckhead in Atlanta which tied for he sixth Slot with la orangerie in los Angeles la Provence Lacombe la. The restaurant at the Ritz Carlton Phoenix and Aureole in new York City. Unshaken by witches stocks Rise again s4s. New York up Wall Street lucked out last week when the three witches final visit this year turned out to be Friendly. Investors get apprehensive when the witches pay Wall Street a visit every third Friday of each Quarter because nobody knows exactly How the visitation wifi come out. The three witches of course represent the quarterly expiration of Stock Index futures and options and options on individual stocks on the same Day. The event is popularly referred As the a triple witching  a Edward Nicoski chief technical analyst at Piper Jaffray amp Hopwood in Minneapolis echoed other analysts View that a a it a hard to read the Market Quot when a triple witching Quot comes around. A most people institutional investors done to want to get involved during a triple witching because things could get quite volatile Quot he said. A a so when the Market rallied Friday with the help of computer guided buy programs tied to a triple witching Quot analysts pointed out that the result did not reflect the markets fundamental strength. Michael Metz chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer amp. Co., said he thought the rally a signified nothing. Options and futures people dominated the  new York Exchange new York up York Stock Exchange Slock merry go round Tew Coro. Merck amp co inc Wal Mart stores Philip Morris Eastman Kodak at4t company fruit of loom Uniss corp. Boeing co genl electric coca cola co Phillips petrol Tel Fonos de is Amer express co a the 15 most Active stocks in hew composite trading on Friday. Sale list net chg. 12,018,700 a off 5.765,800 59% up 2% 4,692.300 33% up 3,613.300 27% up % 3,450,200 55 up % 3,411,600 55% up 1 3,274,300 54% off 2,981,300 23% off h 2,929,100 13 up % 2,756,100 44% l a 2717.000 105% Puth 2,<j45,400 42% Orf 2,637700 27% up % 2,609,500 62% up 1% 2,572.000 30% up a Gene Seagle technical research director at Gruntal amp co., agreed that the markets performance had been a distorted by programs related to  he said some investors even a hugged the sidelines waiting for that monstrosity to get out of the  for the week the Dow Jones Industrial average a which climbed 36.60 Points or 0.99 percent the previous week a edged up 10.90 Points or 0.29 percent to 3751,57 for a three week winning Streak. The new York Stock Exchange composite Index inched up 0.86 Point to end the week at 257.79. The Standard amp poor a 500 Index Rose 2.45 Points to z american Exchange 4 new York up the 10 most american Stock Exchange com it self Energy service 1,897.200 am exploration 834,300 air investments 833,400 1% Echo Bay mines 640.800 13% genl kinetics 507.600 2% Amdahl corp. 423.800 6% Road master ind 358,200 4% Jari Bel mtg. 349,300 9% non  335,100 10% inter Tel common 279,600 15% Active stocks in Friday Teit Nitcho. 215-16 off 1-16 1% up 1-16 up 1-16 off % up to unch up 3-16 off i up up 2% r Dow Jones rages on Friday Quot a a Wjt nes cosin8 a a 30 industrials 37680 3706.30 20 transport 1767.46 1737,22 15 utilities a 228.25 225.42 65 stocks 1384.33 1361 96 foie Chang 3751.57 up 25.43 1754.17 up 3.65 227.66 up 1.59 1377.07 up 7.25 466.38, declines outdistanced advances 1,3 1,193 among the 2,844 issues traded 1 snr7e77nqqig Board volume total 707 up shares up Froin m 1 7qs 470 a a week ear Ier and Felt i,,479,422 in the same week a it ago. On the american Stock exch an the amex Market value Index fell 2 .7n7r/� declines led adv am 557-306 among the 1,008 issues Trad for the week