European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday May 18, 1994 Money matters the stars and stripes Page 15 today a rates a following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. I .54 dutch Guilder. 1.82 German Mark. 1.63 greek drachma 240.5567 a note the rates above apply within Tho Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound  to the Dollar a following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren pics a v a v v a austrian Schilling 11.7565 Bahrain Dinar. 0.37675 belgian franc. British Pound 1.501 Canadian Dollar 4��?��?��?��?��?��?��?� 1.3741 danish Krone 6.54 dutch Guilder 1.881 French franc 5.7437 German Mark 1.6752 italian lira 1,608.15 Kuwait Dinar 0.2979 norwegian Krone 7-2435 portuguese escudo 172.30 saudi rial. 3.7501 Spanish peseta 138.50 Swiss franc 1.4285 turkish lira 4 444414�414 4 44444 31,000.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar a Gold quote $360.65 an ounce Silver quote $5.37 an ounces sources  Bank amp Trust co., the associated pres United press International new York Exchange new York univ a the 15 most Active stocks in new York Stock Exchange composite trading on monday. Stock a. Sales last net chg Wal Mait stores a 5,557,400 22% off 1 i o Sullivan kinds hid. .4.920,300 9% off 6 i great Lake c hem a 3,623.000 49 i off 5% Uniss corp at amp to company. 2.912,600 a 10 i. Off Vuk 2,769.400. 54 up 1 i. Pm corp. 2,386,100 14 m off 14 Bethlehem steel v 2,326,300 16 % off 1 % Philip Morris 2,050,300. 51 % off i Citicorp. A 1,934,b00 37 i up 44 St Wal airlines 1,888,700. 24% off % k Mart corp 1,857.300 a 15 via unch Genera motors 1,767,700 53 off i Dupont amp co. Quot 1,755,400 60% up % Tel Tonos de my. 1.710,50056 i. Up i. Oct Lintl petrol 1,707,100 18% up % c american Exchange 1 new York up american Stock Exchange Stock Cheyenne softer a a Echo say mines. Us alcohol stg Bowne amp co a a a. Royal Oak mines explore Tancola Hasbro inc Hanover direct Quot Viacom inc b Bush industries a. The ten most Active stocks composite trading monday. In sales 802,000 530.700 456.000. 416.000 406.600 365.600 362.700. 354,400 290.700 283.400. Last 184v 10 % 2 5-16 20 44 a 4 a. 1 i 32 i 5% 27 27 w net chg. On 1 up i up 7-16 a up. I unch off 1-16 off a unch off i off 3 i r Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages on monday. High Low close change 30 industrials 3694.21 3628.52 3671.50 up 11.82 20 transports. 1565.b9 1533.44 1546.69 off 11.03 15 utilities .100.4 6 176.90 178.55off0.73 65 stocks. 1277.30 .1253.06 "1266.20 off 1.32 fed hikes key interest rates to head off inflation in Washington a the Federal Reserve on tuesday increased two key interest rates sending a dramatic signal it was determined to prevent any inflationary spiral. In a Brief announcement the Central Bank said it is increasing its discount rate the interest it charges for direct Loans to Banks from 3 percent to 3.5 percent. It marked the first increase in this key rate in five years. In addition the Central Bank moved to boost the Federal funds rate by one half Point As Well sending the target for overnight Loans Between commercial Banks from 3.75 percent to 4.25 percent. Both actions were expected to drive up borrowing costs for millions of americans for everything from Home mortgages and Auto Loans to Short term business Loans. Many economists were predicting that Banks would waste no time increasing their prime lending rate. This Benchmark for Many business and consumer Loans has already been increased twice this year. The feds decisions which had been widely expected were announced in a Brief statement issued at the end of closed door meeting of the Federal open Market com Mittie the policy group composed of fed Board members in Washington and fed  Vional Bank presidents. A the Federal Reserve today announced two actions designed to maintain favourable trends in inflation and thereby sustain the economic expansion Quot the fed said in announcing the rate increases. Before the announcement president Clinton sought to minimize the Impact any further fed credit tightening would have on the Economy. �?o1 have every Confidence that we re still going to have another Good year this year and that we will be Able to offset any modest increase in intercut rates with increased growth Quot the president told reporters at a morning photo session. A tuesdays action marked the first boost in the fed s discount rate since feb. 24, 1989, when it was raised from 6.5 to 7 percent. Before tuesday the fed had lowered the rate seven times a beginning in december 1990 and enu Ingin july 1992 a As it struggled to. Combat a recession and cd try moly sluggish growth. \ in addition to raising the discount rate fed officials said another Section of the statement was meant to signal that the Central Bank was raising its target for the funds rate the interest that Banks charge each other by one half percentage Point As Well. Canadians reap Golden Opportunity thanks to heist of mine in Nevada Washington a. Worth billions of dollars the Gold strike mine in Nevada is among the richest in North America but it also May one Day be remembered As the Gold mine that got away a from the government. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt formally transferred title to the 1,791-acre mine to american Barrick resources inc., a Canadian company that has held a claim there since 1987. While calling it a the biggest Gold heist since the Days of outlaw Butch Cassidy a Babbitt said monday that under a 122-year-old . Mining Law he was required to give up the land and its Mineral riches for a scant $5 an acre. The government received a Check for $8,955 from the Canadian company. The mining company estimates that Gold strike contains Between $8 billion and $10 billion Worth of Gold but under the mining act of 1872 a which was designed to promote the West and help develop its resources a the Treasury will not collect a dime in royalties losing perhaps As much As $640 million. Last year 1.4 million ounces of Gold Worth roughly $600 million were taken from the surface mine. Legislation being considered by Congress would require Royalty payments perhaps As much As 8 percent in future cases. A a american Barrick resources while acknowledging that it will make a hefty profit from the mine said the numbers cited by Babbitt Are misleading. The figures done to take into account the More than $1 billion the company has spent on mine operations and on developing tech Aptilon Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Forced to sell land for $5 an acre. Ology used to separate the microscopic traces of Gold from thousands of tons of Rock it said. A through the use of innovative new technology and risk of our own capital we created value where previously it did no to exist a Pat Garber Barricks general counsel said in a recent interview. A critics nevertheless Call the Gold strike mine in the Ore Rich Hills of Central Nevada a prime example of what a wrong with How the government deals with the vast Mineral riches on Federal land across much of the West. Babbitt said it demonstrates Why Congress should press ahead with changing the 1872 Law and require mining companies to pay fair Market prices for the land excluding Mineral rights and then pay a Royalty on any minerals that arc extracted. The 1872 Law allows anyone to stake out a claim and mine Federal land. If economically recoverable minerals Are found the Interior department must Grant a a Patent Quot that turns the land Over to the claim Holder. Barrick did just that filing for a Patent in the Spring of 1992. Using a a fast track Quot regulatory approach introduced at the Interior department late in the Bush administration Barrick obtained a critical interim certificate of title from the Bureau of land management within five months assuring ownership certificates previously have taken on average nearly a year to obtain. When Babbitt moved to Block the final Patent shortly after becoming Secretary Barrick hired politically connected Washington attorney Lloyd Cutler a now the White House counsel a and went to court. The company sued Babbitt and won in March a Federal court directed the Interior department to Issue a final Patent for Gold strike by june 20. Barrick considered a Model in the mining Industry both in its use of technology and environmental Protection maintains that it is not getting an unfair wind fall considering the risk and its own investment in the mining operation. N by Edward a. Gargan new York times Atlanta a three years after Delta air lines stormed into the trans Atlantic and european air Market with the Purchase of the bankrupt pan american world airways the Atlanta based Carrier says it May finally be heading toward Success in Europe. At the same time Delta acknowledges that it is struggling to compete profitably a against cutthroat american rivals and heavily subsidized european airlines both across the Atlantic and within Europe itself. A your financial improvement Over the North Atlantic is really impressive Quot said Robert w. Coggin Delta s senior vice president for marketing a but it is not where we want it to be Quot the airline which  no visibility in Europe before acquiring pan am and repainting its planes has battled to establish an identity in a Market swarming with european and american airlines. The company has had particular difficulty recognizing that the ways of Atlanta Are not necessarily the Best ways for Paris or Frankfurt Germany or Warsaw Poland. Delta has advertised aggressively in Europe and made agreements with some european airlines to coordinate flights. Delta also has purchased $150 million Worth of seats on Virgin Atlantic airways to get a toehold at Heathrow Airport in London the busiest in Europe. Delta has been shut out of Heathrow under aviation agreements Between the United states and Britain which let in american Continental and United airlines. Still in the last three years Delta has lost nearly $1.3 billion Overall. The company declines to detail the losses of its european operations. The airline recently announced that it would slash $2 billion a year from its operating expenses within the next three years and reduce its work Force by 15,000 jobs or about 20 percent. Analysts suggest that much of Delta a loss stems from difficulties in competing profitably on routes across the Atlantic and within Europe. Della recently said its traffic across the North Atlantic was up 13 percent in the first Quarter of the year