European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 08, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters saturday january 8,1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use German Mark 1.70 British pound1.52 dutch Guilder. 1.89 greek drachma. 243.06535 Noto Trie 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 Curren Cie italian lira 1,699.50 turkish lira 14,654.80 Spanish peseta 145.75 portuguese escudo 177.10 austrian Schilling 12.232 saudi Royal 3.749 Bahrain Dinar 0.3767 kuwaiti Dinar. 0.2982 norwegian Krone 7.50 danish Krone .6.765 British Pound 1.4835 German Mark. 1.74 Swiss franc. 1.4815 French franc. 5.9205 dutch Guilder. 1.9479 belgian franc 36.14 Canadian Dollar. 1.3203 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $390.70 an ounce Silver quote $5.09 an ounce. New York Exchange new York up York Stock Exchange Stock circuit qty sir k Mart corp Wal Mart stores borderline Amer express co at to company Merck & co inc Tole Lonos de my Brunswick corp Best buy co Texas utilities general motors limited inc coca cola co time Warner inc the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on thursday. Sales list net chg. Off 4v off in off off 29% 53v 7,599,7006,745,500 5,435,5004,627,200 4,098,0704,073,900 3,946,9003,929,600 3,474,7003.382.200 3,080,9002.974,000 2.805,1002.755,800 2,686,400 19 up in 2039% 40y4 1842 w 40vb off Uultt off 7v off 2% up up 7/fc off or of Lvi american Exchange new York up Tho 10 most Active stocks in american Stock Exchange composite trading thursday. Stock Sil last  cd res of 2,040,800 2v up /4 Echo Bay mines 1,369,900 14%. Up am exploration 1,041.200 1 7-16 unch Royal Oak mines 984,700 5v4 up 3-16 atari corp. 873,800 7% up m Cheyenne softer 728,400 27v4 up7/ Amdahl corp 666,200 7 unch Hasbro inc 515,200 35h off i hovnanian enter -443,800 15 up it Pegasus Gold. 394,900 23tt off/4 Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of a. Rages on thursday High Low close change 30 industrials 3843.84 3771.52 3803.88 up 5.06 20transport 1812.50 1777.11 1802.21 up 23.38 15 utilities 225.35 220.21 221.20 off 2.83 65 stocks. 1408.24 1380.66 1394.28 up 4.63 Dod c-17 builder of plan to bail out troubled program Washington a the Penta gon and Mcdonnell Douglas corp. Have settled their differences on the c-17 and agreed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to prop up the troubled cargo plane the Pentagon said thursday. The agreement which requires the congressional approval is part of a com Promise under which the c-17 program was Given a two year probation to improve its performance. The Deal was signed by undersecretary of defense John  and John f. Mcdonnell Mcdonnell Douglas chairman and chief executive officer. I have concluded that the current c 17 program is not viable without substantial change Deutch said in the letter of agreement. He said those changes include the two year probation during which six aircraft a year will be produced settlement of out standing business and management is sues and consideration of other alternatives to meet military Airlift needs. As part of the agreement Mcdonnell is to withdraw $450 million in pending lawsuits against the government and $1.25 billion in claims the company had said it might pursue. In Exchange the air Force will increase ceiling prices for the program by $237 million. The government also will waive claims for the failure of Mcdonnell to meet its delivery schedule for the first six planes. Mcdonnell is to extend the flight test program with the two sides splitting the estimated $123 million in costs whereas Mcdonnell will Bear the total Cost Esti mated at $32 million for redesigning the aircraft s wings. Total costs to the St. Louis based manufacturer have been estimated at $456 million while the government will put an additional $348 million into the project. The plane has been plagued by Cost overruns of about $1.5 billion delayed ready to Roll the speedy Bugatti eb110 it sits peacefully parked thursday at the greater los an Geles Auto show. The car which goes from 0 to 60 Mph in 3.4 seconds and has a top Speed of 212.5, is scheduled to go on Sale in the United states this summer with a Price tag of $359,000. Upbeat pm to hire engineers in drive to meet new demand of. We to it. / a to of a a i \ m pm n my n it Etc Cut i airlines latest offer special Elvis fares Memphis Tenn. A Elvis fans headed for Graceland for his birthday Celebration won t have to Wear out their Blue suede shoes getting there. Northwest and american airlines Are offering Elvis fares to Memphis today the 59th anniversary of Elvis Presley s birth. American announced $79 round trip fares from Dallas Chicago and Nashville Tenn. And there s a $20 re fund waiting for every Elvis Impersonator who shows up. Northwest is offering the fares from 32 cities. Tickets Range from $39 to $99 for round trip travel. Detroit a general motors corp. Plans to hire up to 2,000 engineers this year to meet growing demand for new cars and trucks. Chief executive officer Jack Smith said the upswing was improving morale at the company. I m feeling pretty Good about it. Hey the mood is better every where he said in an interview at the North american International Auto show. Just look around at this  Smith also indicated that pm made a net profit in 1993 on a consolidated basis including subsidiaries eds corp. And pm Hughes electronics its first since earning $4.2 billion in 1989. The company will report its fourth Quarter and an Nual results in Early february. Pm s goal of cutting 20,000 White col Lar jobs by 1994 was accomplished a year earlier than planned partly because of the popularity of generous Early retire ment offers. A number of engineers also participated in other special programs to Cut the work Force. Smith did not know the number. Competition and production schedules have taxed pm s design and manufacturing engineers to the limit prompting the automaker to begin hiring Smith said. The mood around pm is improving As wrenching changes forced by Job cuts and factory closings Are ending and the com Pany s Auto business is rebounding he said. Smith who took Over As pm s chief executive 14 months ago said layers of bureaucracy have been stripped. I like to think we re giving the folks More Freedom to run Smith said. There s certainly not a dictator at the  As the health of pm s key North Ameri can operations continues to improve Smith said he expects to name a president for that unit. He also said he expects the huge automotive components group to be set up As its own business. Smith acknowledged that pm s image was tarnished by its financial woes in re cent years. It s still the world s largest automaker though not necessarily the Industry Leader. I do think that we lost something along the Way Smith said. If i go Back in time really it was the japanese who  cars. And maybe because we were so Large we were the last to really  flight tests and wings that failed stress tests. In april defense Secretary Les Aspin fired an air Force general and disciplined two other generals for mismanaging the program. Aspin said last month that the Prospect of cancellation was tempting but unfeasible because of the High Cost of starting a new program. He said a study had determined that 40 of the giant aircraft would be a., Minir mum  initially the air Force planned to Pur Chase 210 c-17s, but in 1990 former de sense Secretary Dick Cheney scaled that Back to 120, at a Cost of $40 billion. The Pentagon on thursday also re leased a report from the defense science Board that concluded that the c-17 is basically a sound design and will be Capa ble of meeting most of the realistic operational requirements of the department of  proposal to lift airlines faces turbulent flying in Congress Washington a labor and management groups Are welcoming the Clinton administration s plan for revitalizing the airline Industry but difficult legislative hurdles lie ahead. Congressional leaders expressed mis Givings Over a Cornerstone of the Clinton plan that would create a government corporation to replace the Federal aviation administration As overseer of the nation s air traffic control system. Rep. James l. Oberstar d-mirin.,head of the House aviation subcommittee said the Faa has done a Good Job in maintaining a margin of safety. I Don t want to see that  administration officials in unveiling the plan thursday said they intend by april to draft legislation for overhauling the Faa. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said the administration without sacrificing safety is determined to operate the air traffic control system More like a business. Modernization has been snarled in intolerable delays and Cost overruns he said. The airline Industry and the Union that represents air traffic controllers endorsed the proposal. The airlines said More rapid modernization could save airlines billions of dollars by eliminating unnecessary flight delays. The administration endorsed 49 of 61 proposals to Aid the financially struggling airline Industry recommended last sum Mer by a bipartisan commission. Some of the key proposals include raising from 25 percent to 49 per cent the amount of voting Stock a foreign entity May own in a . Airline but Only if the Home country of the foreign com Pany reciprocates. Studying the easing of a 25-year-old Rule that limits flights at four of the nation s busiest airports Chicago s o Hare new York City s Laguardia and Juk and National in Washington . Toughening Federal bankruptcy Law to reduce what some claim is an unfair advantage for financially weak airlines. For example a Carrier that seeks to reorganize by declaring bankruptcy would be forced within 60 Days to assume or reject unexpired leases for Airport facilities