European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes Money matters wednesday january 12,1994 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 Pound 1.53 dutch Guilder 1.89 greek drachma. 243.2q4 Noto the rates above apply within the hos 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 cies. ". Italian lira. 1,705.74 turkish lira 14,702.90 Spanish peseta. 144.90 portuguese escudo 177.16 austrian Schilling. 12.2325 saudi Riyal. 3.7495 Bahrain a Dinar 0.37675 kuwaiti Dinar. 0.29810 norwegian Krone. 7.5160 danish Krone. 6.749 British Pound 1.49 German Mark 1.74 Swiss franc. 1.4745 French franc 5.9165 dutch Guilder. 1.9432 belgian franc. 36.30 Canadian Dollar 1.319 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $384.35 an ounce Silver quote $5.02 an ounce new York Exchange new York up the 15 most Active stocks in Newyork Stock Exchange composite trading monday. Slock blockbuster Nett Elefonso of my Amer express co general motors Ford motor co Walt Disney co circuit it str Morck & co inca to company rite Aid  corp Chrysler corp Wal Mart stores us surgical co Citicorp Sain 9,121,7008.270.600 4,071,5003,801.300 3.275,000 3.177,5003,058,900 3,054,8002,759.400 2,746,5002,597,500 2,393,000 2,364,9002,361.200 2.313.900 ult28 65 ft-29 i 59 v67 v4 4.7 v 18 to 37 v455 19 3558 v4 24 ft25 to 38% Nitchy of of met up Tuple up 1 a putt up putt putt upttup1h up Jup 2 american Exchange new York up the 10 most Active stocks i american Stock to change composite trading monday. Stock Echo Bay mine Energy service atari corp Hanover direct Royal Oak mine Viacom inc b Cheyenne softer Tel i data sys greyhound lines Pegasus Gold Salet 1,207,600 1,188,500 936,500 890,600 822,900 595,100 453,600 376,700 340,400 327,900 list 14 37-16 7tt 7w 538 a 29 i 48 11 v4 22 % net chg. Unc Hunch up a unch up unch up Oliv Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages monday High Lew Clou china30 industrials 3874.52 3804.72 3865.51 up 44.74 20transports 1826.441789.34 1819.58 up20.3715 utilities 224.76 221.33 224.23 up 1.25 65stocks 1417.34 1391.25 1413.37 up 15.06 Nintendo plans to shift Assembly lines to Mexico Redmond Wash. A Nintendo of America is moving its .-based Assem Bly lines to Mexico to be closer to the mexi can and latin american markets it serves the company announced monday. The 136 Assembly line workers in red mond received Layoff notices monday morning spokesman George Harrison said. The shift is expected to be completed in mid March. Most of Nintendo s Home computer game systems and other products Are produced in and imported from Japan he noted. Group High on Home sales thanks to Low rates in .  the associated press Washington falling mortgage rates offset rising prices in much of the nation from july through september to keep the Cost of housing affordable for Many americans a Trade group says. Affordability conditions Haven t been this Good in More than 2.0 years the last time interest rates were so Low said j. Roger Glunt president of the National association of Home builders. The association reported monday that the National median Price of a Home Rose to $110,000 in the third Quarter from$109,000 during the april june period. The median income was unchanged at$39,?00. The median Means that half of the Homes Cost More and half Cost less or that half of the incomes were More and half were less. While Home prices were rising Mort Gage rates Slid to 7.04 percent from 7.27 percent in the second Quarter. As a result the association s National housing Opportunity Index remained unchanged at 65.1 in the third Quarter. That meant american households earn ing the National median income could afford to buy 65,1 percent of the. Homes affordability conditions Haven t Bee this Good in More than 20 years. J. Roger Grunt National association of Home builders feed for Sale nationally. The Index measures the ability of the Typ ical family to Purchase a Home in its own Market by comparing median family income with median Home Price. The Index was based on 600,000 sales of new and existing Homes in 188 metropolitan areas. Regional trends were Little changed. The most affordable markets were found primarily in the Midwest and South. The least affordable were in the Northeast and West particularly in California the Midwest placed 19 markets on the top 25 list. The list also had four areas in the Northeast and one each in the South and West. The Midwest Market is a Strong area of the nation for affordability Glunt said. But with mortgage interest rates still so shopping with rubles two muscovites look Over a Batch of colourful German made sweaters in a Moscow department store that is now required by Law to accept rubles for merchandise. In the past most stores Selling foreign goods demanded payment in hard currency or credit cards. Gatt Low Homes Are More affordable today unjust about every area of the  the most affordable Market was Jack son mich., which scored 94.8 on the Opportunity Index. It replaced the Champ ,.ill., area to reclaim the top position it held during the second quarterofl992. The most affordable markets in other regions were Nashua n.h., in the North East Brazoria Texas in the South and Pueblo colo., in . Sari Francisco remained at the Bottom a ranking it has held since the association began compiling the Index in the first Quarter of 1991. But lower mortgage rates improved affordability conditions even in the most expensive area. San Francisco s score on the Index for instance Rose to 17.5 in the third Quarter from 15.1 in the second despite an increase in the median Price to $280,000 from $275,000. Joining san Francisco As the least affordable markets in their regions were Stam Ford conn., in the Northeast Elpaso Texas in the South and Chicago in the Midwest. The association said the median income in Jackson during the third Quarter was $38,700. Democrat eyed for fed by the new York times Washington three of presi Dent Clinton s top economic policy aides Are advising him to nominate George l. Perry a Brookings institution economist and a Democrat to the seven member Federal Reserve Board administration officials said monday. Perry who has recommended caution in raising interest rates would replace Wayne d. Angell one of the Board s most outspoken advocates of raising rates in response to Early signs of inflation. Angell s term expires at the end of this month. Perry would first have to win Clinton s approval in an interview pass a Back ground investigation and be confirmed by the Senate. If he survives these Steps Perry would become the Lone democratic appointee on a Board filled with members chosen by Republican presidents Reagan and Bush. In recent writings Perry has called for some restraint in raising interest rates when doing so might Hurt Short term eco nomic growth. To Consumers forecast Washington a a recently completed global Trade Accord should save american Consumers More than $30 billion a year a research group said tuesday. The Institute for International economics estimated that . Border taxes quotas and other barriers to Trade Cost americans about $70 billion a year an amount equal to More than 1 percent of total . Economic output. However the Institute said this figure should be reduced by $32.8 billion annually based on the tariffs and other barriers to Trade the United states agreed to reduce As part of a global free Trade agreement reached among 117 nations in Geneva on dec. 15. That agreement negotiated under the auspices of the general agreement on tariffs and Trade is designed to reduce Border taxes on thousands of products and expand Gatt rules to cover Trade in farm products and services. The Deal requires congressional approval. Various studies have estimated that the Gatt Accord has the potential of increasing world output by $6 trillion Over the next decade a figure that includes a $1 trillion gain in the United states. The Institute s report was the first comprehensive look at pains expected to be realized by . Consumers. American Consumers will feel the biggest Impact in clothing and textile prices which the Institute termed the mount Everest of . Trade  the Institute estimated that consumer prices in the clothing area would drop by $15 billion annually and textile prices would decline by $2 billion annually with the elimination of quotas and the reduction in tariffs Over the next decade. C. Fred Bergsten an assistant Treasury Secretary during the Carter administration and the head of the Institute said the Gatt agreement did not achieve All the reductions in Trade barriers that had been hoped. But Bergsten said it still represented a significant achievement that would Cut by almost half what Consumers must pay in what Are essentially hidden taxes., some of these Trade protections have been on the books for 60 years. That is really outrageous and we Are trying to shed some Light on them Bergsten said. The report said High tariffs protecting such products As Frozen Orange juice concentrate Ball bearings rubber footwear and Luggage All Date Back to the Smoot Hawley tariffs passed in 1930. The tariffs were imposed to protect Domestic industries at the Start of the great depression