European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 28, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters thursday april 28,1994 today a rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound .1.55 dutch Guilder. 1.83 German Mark .1.63 greek drachma 240.1669 note the 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 virtue of the . Dollar to foreign currencies a a a a a a a austrian Schilling. 11.7745 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 belgian franc a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 34.50 British Pound. 1.5062 Canadian Dollar 1.3752 danish Krone. 6.588 dutch Guilder .1.8817 French franc. 5.755 German Mark 1.675 italian lira 1,611.50 Kuwait Dinar. 0.2966 norwegian Krone. 7.274 portuguese escudo. 172.10 saudi rial. 3.7501 Spanish peseta. 136.80 Swiss franc. 1.43 turkish lira. 32,000.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $374.35 an ounce Silver quote $5.17 an ounce sources merchants National Bank amp Trust co., the associated press United press International r new York Exchange j new York up a the 15 most Active stocks in new York Stock Exchange composite trading on tuesday Stock Rwjr Nabisco hid Tel Fonos de my Rwjr Nabisco pop k Mart corp Philip Morris Merck amp co inc Motorola inc Uniss corp ism corp unum corp general motors american brands Chrysler corp can Gas amp Alec. Wal Mart stores sales 10,894,800 5.477.200 4.222.200 4,116,800 3.621.300 2,671,400 2.578.200 2.520.700. 2,217,200 2.204,500 1,998,100 1.984.700 1.955.600 1.906.300 1.728.600 last 6% 58% 7 16% 54 /. 31 46 11% 58% 50 /. 56v. 34% 49% 22% 25% Lay. Nat chg.1 up up in. Up Oft. Up 2 up % off i Oft /. Off. Off 4�?T/. Of up 2% off /. Off unch american Exchange 1 new York american Stock Stock expo rate co la enter Ditl comm Rhi enteral not Echo Bay mines Energy service Cheyenne Soltyr Iva corp Royal Oak mines us bios Clence Hasbro inc i a the 10 most Active stocks Hange composite trading tuesday. In sales 2,728,000 1,162,400 582.600 535.000 425,100 414,400 403.300 335.600 331.300 307,900 last 1 3-18 5% 35% 10% 3% 25 26 /. 4 /. 6% 34% Nat chg. Up 1-16 up 1% up 9% up /. Up 1-16 unch up % up 3-16 up 1% off r Dow Jones j new York up a Dow Jones closing Range of averages on tuesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks High Low close change 3733.15 3669.79 3899.54 off 8.24 1634.53 1606.72 1624.81 up 14.56 200.44 197.01 198.59 off 1.58 1320.10 1297.65 1309.48 up 1.21 report on labor costs backs signs of minimal inflation by the Washington Post Washington the Clinton administration received new evidence tuesday that the Economy is expanding robustly without producing any big boost in labor costs that would signal rising inflation. A. A Quot i a a a the labor department reported that its employment Cost Index the most comprehensive measure of . Labor costs available Rose 0.7 percent in the january March period Ana was up Only 3.2 percent in the past year the smallest annual increase since the Index was created in 1979. Since labor costs represent about two thirds of All business costs inflation is unlikely to Rise very much if the rate of in crease in labor costs is stable or declining analysts said. Meanwhile consumer Confidence continued to forge ahead an indication that consumer spending probably will continue to grow at a healthy Pace a fueling a continued economic expansion. The conference Board a new York business research group said its consumer Confidence Index Rose five Points this month to 91.7, a level 24 Points higher than a year ago and the highest since 1990. A latest consumer Confidence readings continue to be optimistic running at Levels which have historically signalled a Strong Economy a said Fabian Linden sex artificial rain project conducted by saudis Jidida saudi Arabia up a the saudi department of meteorology and environmental Protection was been studying the possibility of creating artificial rain Over the kingdom news reports said tuesday. The reports quoted by the saudi press Agency said that preliminary studies on the rain making project began in 1976 and that a report was prepared following an agreement with the International meteorological organization. The reports said meteorologists had been conducting studies of the Cloud formations Over the Southern Region of saudi Arabia. Double trouble Diana Bunic a 20-Ycar-old London student samples a new British cola that could prompt a soft drink War Between the coca cola co. Of Atlanta and Britain a biggest supermarket Chain j. Sainsbury pc. The . Company is finding Sainsbury a new product classic cola a Little hard to Swallow the British cola is sold in cans that look similar to coca Colas and for a cheaper Price. Sainsbury a cola even boasts an a original american  Bunic also holds a can of diet Coke a product of coca cola. Subic Bay gets shipshape for new role As free port the top investors Are three . Firms that have accounted for 67 percent of the total capital infusion into the Subic Bay Freeport. Those companies Are Enron Subic Power corp., with $115.4 million coastal Subic Bay terminal inc., with $115 million and Federal express with $100 million. But Federal express the worlds largest express transportation company has been blocked from completely implementing its plan to make the Subic Bay Freeport its Hub in Asia. The plan hit a Snag last year when two local firms philippine airlines and philippine East asian cargo claimed to have the exclusive rights to operate express freight services in the Philippines. More than 60 percent of the total number of investors Are filipinos. Other investors include companies from Taiwan Hong Kong Australia Switzerland and Canada. The master plan for the Subic Bay Freeport has identified Light to medium industries As the preferred investments. Environmentally unfriendly industries Are banned. Manila Philippines up a former . Naval base that the philippine government Hopes to transform into a Hong Kong style free port has attracted 54 investors with projects valued at $476.5 million officials said wednesday. The former Subic Bay naval facilities 50 Miles North of Manila was converted into a special economic zone in november 1992 when the last . Military personnel sailed out of the Philippines. Nearly a year and a half later More than 75 percent of the projects Are operational and employing 7,065 former volunteers who had helped with the conversion the Subic Bay metropolitan authority said. The Agency is charged with converting the former base into what government officials envision to be a a self sustaining in. Dust rial commercial financial and tourism investment area that could rival Hong Kong. Ramon Alikpala a Deputy administrator for the Agency said that a a lot of weight is placed on the number of jobs the project can provide when evaluating an investors proposal. Ecu Tive director of the boards consumer research Center. The Survey of 5,000 american households showed a big jump in Consumers assessment of the current state of the Economy and a smaller gain in How they expect it to be performing six months from now. Consumers also Are More positive in How they View the current Job situation with substantially fewer complaining that jobs Are hard to get Linden said. The employment Cost Index covers changes in employers costs for wages salaries and benefits with most of the slower rate of increase in the past year attributed to a marked slowdown in Benefit Cost increases. . Hoping proposal will compute to big business new York a the Clinton administration plans to spend up to $1 billion to help . Companies compete with Japan in making advanced Flat panel computer display screens the new York times says. A a \ a Quot a athe White House has approved the proposal which would constitute the biggest government assistance to private Industry since efforts to assist computer Chip makers began seven years ago the times reported in wednesdays editions. Flat panel displays Are used mainly in Laptop computers and other portable devices and Are increasingly used in military equipment Purchase by the Pentagon. A few tiny . Companies hold less than 3 percent of the world Market in the screens while several big japanese corporations led by the Sharp corp., control the rest of the Market and have been reluctant to sell to the Pentagon. The administrations plan Calls for heavy defense department spending to build up Domestic suppliers the newspaper said. The strategy goes beyond the Golem ment Industry consortium sem tech which was set up in 1987 to bolster the computer Chip Industry. It develops and shares production techniques but does not sell chips. With Flat panel displays the White House wants to help not Only research and development but also construction of commercial factories and marketing the times said. The idea is to Back a promising Industry by subsidizing it according to officials who reviewed an inter Agency report summarizing the plan the times said. Companies that invest in research and production of Flat panel displays would receive Matching Federal Grants. Markets closed new York american financial markets were closed wednesday the National Day of mourning for former president Nixon. Markets affected by the closing were stocks corporate Bonds government Bonds commodities futures options Mutual funds and Money markets