European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 10, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday june 10, 1994 Money matters the stars and stripes Page 15 i today a rates following arc fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for Persona use British Pound .1.55 dutch Guilder. 1.82 German Mark. 1.63 greek drachma .242.1168 Noto the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars 1� the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar. Following arc Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies. Austrian Schilling. 11.7475. Bahrain Dinar. 0.37698 belgian franc34.40 British Pound .1.5072 Canadian Dollar. 1.3745 danish Krone. 6.5183 dutch Guilder. 1.8732 French franc 5.6855 German Mark. 1.6695 italian lira 1,616.75 Kuwait Dinar. 0.29765 norwegian Krone .7.2305 portuguese escudo 173.65 saudi rial 3.75 Spanish peseta .136.51 Swiss franc. 1.4125 turkish lira. 32,500.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $332.20 an ounce. Silver quote $5135 an ounce sources merchants National Bank 8. Trust co., the associated press United fress International new York Exchange 1. New York up a the 15 most Active Sloe is in new York Slock Exchange composite Trad no on wednesday. Stock sales last net chg Compaq computer 5.332,000 34 i off 2 Foodman Kernc 4,414,700 5% off % Philip Morris. 3.963.600 50 i off a Wal Mart stores 2,879,300 24 your % Columbia Mca 2,774.900 40 % unch Tel Fonos de my 2,662,200 61 % off 1 Micron tech inc 2.417,000 32 i Oft 1 Pepsico inc 2,411,300 34 i. Com Rwjr Nabisco hid 2,364,100 5 i unch Chrysler corp 2,246,500 46% up 1 i Citicorp. 2,232,500 40% off % Motorola inc 2,129,000 45 % off or circus circus 2,017,900 23% Olf i Merck amp co inc 1.993,600 30 w Oft i am medical hide 1,970.000 25 i up 1 american Exchange new York up american Stock exch a the 10 most Active stocks in Nae composite trading wednesday. Stock sales last net chg expo rate co la 4,300,400 1 i off % Weatherford inc 960.200 11 % up i Cheyenne softer 621,200. 19 %. Up 1 Viacom inc b. 487,400 28% up i of tax corp a 369,100 16% citizens is tic 312,500 9 unch Amdahl corp. 308,900 6 a up % off % Hanover direct 283,700 5% Gaylord Cunt it Nabors Industry 273,000 3% off % 254,900 6 % unch l Dow Jones new York up a Daw Janes closing Range of averages  wednesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities-65 stocks High 3700.83 1624.15 107.93 1315.06 Low 3721.45 1599.21 1b5.61 1295.88 close change 3749,45 0 1 6.46 1612.90 Oil 1.10 106.46 oh0.53 1305.57 otll.99 shielding a from Job cuts could Zap other agencies by Mike Causey Washington Post Washington Twenty five thousand government workers with jobs they thought were Safe could wind up on the. Chopping Block if the Senate exempts the department of veterans affairs from mandatory culs spread out among Federal agencies. Letting one Agency off the Hook would prompt demands for equal Protection from others. It could mangle the president s plan to reduce Federal employment to president Kennedy Cra Levels. The House has voted to spare health functions of the department of veterans affairs from the government wide Job Cut. Over the next several years Uncle Sam Only Bigas Wall must eliminate nearly 273,000 jobs. The a unit would lose about 25,000 jobs according to the Federal government service task Force the congressional civil service caucus. Officials Hope buyout and Early retire ment orters will Clear the decks of Long service managers. But if there Aren t enough takers and attrition remains sluggish layoffs would be inevitable. During reductions in Force younger workers Are most vulnerable. All agencies Are supposed to take their share of the Job cuts but the House passed Bill now before the Senate would exempt the a unit. Other agencies would have to make greater reductions to meet the Overall goal. Exempting any Agency would prompt others who think their missions Are also vital to seek shelter from the cuts. The irs could make a Case that cutting people from the tax Agency Isnit Cost effective. Law enforcement agencies can Point to crime statistics and Public opinion polls to argue that  be spared. Most agencies involved in health safety National defense Law enforcement and the like have a constituency and Quot Angels a in Congress who would argue their cases. If a limited number of exemptions were granted that would mean More pressure on nonexempt agencies to fire More employees if a lot of exemptions were granted it could derail the presidents drive to downsize government while increasing the percentage of women and minorities on the payroll. Execs in Clover Job openings new York a Wall Street jobs Are harder to come by. But someone forgot to Tell the High paid executives who Are being snapped up nearly As fast As they can name their salary. The demand for specialists in still hot sectors such As asian markets and exotic derivative instruments signifies a new caution in Wall Street hiring that followed the Sharp plunge in financial markets this year. While outright hiring freezes arc rare Merrill Lynch amp co., Smith Barney inc. And other Large securities firms now say  think twice before adding new employees after four years of slowly but steadily increasing their work forces. Most Job seekers  become too alarmed yet but the pavement in the nations financial District is sure to get harder to Pound amid definitive signs that the three year Bull Market in stocks and Bonds has ended. A the persistent downturn in business in the second Quarter  that suddenly people Are starting now to really think More strategically about what they do going Forward. The caution has manifested itself Only in the last two weeks a said Penny Simon a partner at Paul Ray Berndtson a Large Wall Street recruiting firm. You  know it from the scramble for a select group of Wall Streeter including five executives in the Lehman. Brothers inc. Derivatives department who last week were grabbed by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce of Toronto. The new employees in lib cd a new York office include Michael Rulle who headed Lehman a global equities derivatives1 opera Lions from 1992 until Early this month Lehman and c1bc declined to discuss tests Wall streets cautious hiring reluctant to repeat the Large scale layoffs that followed the 1987 Stock Market crash brokerage firms have shown caution in rebuilding their work forces these past four years. That cautiousness intensified after this years Market plunge. Total Wall Street workers at year end 249�?�so7 300 000 end of first Quarter 250.000 200.000 150.000 100.000 50,000 0 �?T87 �?T88 89 90 91 �?T92 93 94 source securities Industry association a Tracie Iso compensation. But executive recruiters said the rivalry for specialists in derivatives has driven up pay for top salespeople and traders to Between $500,000 and the Low seven figures. A tic joins other commercial Banks in trying to expand business in exotic derivative instruments currently dominated by securities firms and a handful of Commer Cial Banks notably Bankers Trust co. Derivatives Are investments derived from or based on an underlying Security such As equities or government Bonds. A a we re trying to be As competitive globally As we be been in Canada a a tic spokesman Robert Cole said. Also in High demand arc proven specialists in investment banking mergers and acquisitions and emerging financial markets in Asia and latin America according to recruiters and spokesmen at several Large Wall Street firms the hiring comes despite recent turbulence in global markets. Several Large corporations and trading firms have reported Large losses from speculative transactions involving derivatives. But growth in this sector is expected to match the continued allure of these instruments As Hedges against global currency and interest rate volatility. After soaring last year profits of new York Stock Exchange member firms dropped 43 percent to $852 million in the first Quarter from $1.5 billion a year earlier dragged Down by sharply higher interest rates and a plunge in the . Stock Market that eroded underwriting fees trading profits and other sources of income. The cautiousness was t yet discernible in the first Quarter when securities firms added about 6.000 jobs in a continuation of last years robust Pace according to the securities Industry association. But Merrill Lynch the nations largest brokerage said it is selectively cutting Back on , Mississippi land ship contracts Washington a the Navy has decided to Divide contracts for six new guided missile destroyers Between contractors in Maine and Mississippi it announced wednesday. Three destroyers of the Navy a Premier Arleigh Burke class will be built by Bath Iron works corp. In Maine three others will be built by Ingalls shipbuilding in Mississippi a Navy announcement said. Each ship including the Cost of the combat weaponry on Board costs about $850 million. The shipyard work is Worth about $240 million per ship the Navy said. Firms unite in bid to reduce Altitude of air fares new York apr fifteen companies have banded together with plans to negotiate lower fares from major airlines and drop frequent flier Perks to Cut the Cost of flying employees around the world. The companies which include general motors Merck and Bell Atlantic want to strip from their ticket prices the Cost of travel agent commissions frequent flier programs and other marketing efforts. The negotiated fares would be based on mileage. By dropping frequent flier awards for the companies employees the plan could save airlines some Money and the companies believe they can get More work from employees who might be taking circuitous routes to rack up More frequent flier Miles. American and United airlines said wednesday that their lop marketing peo pie Hadnot been approached by the companies which Are working through a suburban Philadelphia company business travel contractors corp. Delta air lines top marketing executive had been contacted a spokeswoman said. Kevin Mitchell president of business travel contractors said the company is seeking antitrust clearance from the , Justice department. The plan is similar to an Effort by ism to get deep discounts from airlines in Exchange for making employees ineligible for frequent flier awards when travelling Lor work. Airlines rejected the offer because the programs while costly instill customer loyalty and give airlines a Way of tracking the habits of their Best customers. An ism spokesman said the company is not part of the latest Effort. The business travel contractors plan is much broader and includes More companies than in my a Effort. Bui by cutting out costs for a portion of air travellers the plan risks forcing airlines to shift costs onto other passengers. /