European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 30, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters saturday july 30, 1994 1 today a rate following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use. British Pound 57 dutch Guilder .1-74 German Mark. Note tie Rales above apply Wilf in the Host country.  expressed in dollars to the or . Following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies. A austrian Schilling. 111975 Bahrain Dinar .0.37675 belgian franc 32.77 grit fish Pound 1523 Canadian Dollar 1.3832 danish Krone. 6243 dutch Guilder .1.788 French franc. 5.4398 German Mark. 1.5945 greek drachma. 240.50 italian lira f .592.00 Kuwait Dinar .0.29795 norwegian Krone a. 6.9334. Portuguese escudo. 162.43 saudi rial. .3.75 Spanish peseta.130-97 Swiss franc. 1.3517 turkish lira .31,100.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies 1o the Dollar. Geld quote unavailable.  quote Navai  6�?~c-rchants Nasonal Bank s. Trust co. And the associated press z new York Exchange us a Yolk Ftp he 15 mss Active a alien july thursday Nairn. Ford voter s Pepsico is Iraq s Tolme aps cts cob a William cos s pm up Morris a will Poth. Gsnm-1d s Motorola s a a  Tau Chi n  r Jit Nab . A sales this. Price and net change of in Voik Srocki Cut Haig issues trading volume 3,969,800 �3.872.6 10 3,193. It 00 3.095.500 2,057.600 a 2 525,900 2.370.500 2,266,100 2.013.100 2.009.100 1,815.300. I,764,690 1.642.100 1,611,8001,591,200 last 31 23h 31 59 44 a 52 Ltd 54 it 25 50 a 52 4d 26. -47 6 29v. Ctr. Viv a it w m is -51 44 1 i hit it 44 c american Exchange Mew a amp rap Sale at uie 10 it Post a Ive am or aging valid r i by Tului iday. Nairn Poa a a a 5pttirav Quot so n superiors org  excl lib a f.1o3a.y Rya loan g a Ivascu  it Fri us  Price and net change re can Stock Exchange issues volume last 523.20-0 45 29/64 Chol -3/32 736.500 6e9 200 a 65 5.sco 600 60 0 563,300 543.700 535.500 452.700 4 06. V 00 7. -1/16 13 14 2114 -154 1 3/16 unch 11v. It a 414 a it 1514 1 Alt 1/15 2 3/16 1/ib r Dow Jones 1 new v0r.< apr Daw cd is Clos Gru Quot i a of aver age9 to i ii a. High Lour Altti change 33 incl so als 3757.05 370165 3730.83 up 10,36 20 Tran Sorl 1600.50 1572.31 1584.62 up 3.34 15  154.52 131,72 163.59 up 1.12 65 is news 12 62. Do 1281.4g 1232.22 up 3.07 roundabout routes used to avoid flying on Aeroflot by Dan Blake the associated press new York a James Glucksman is flying front Moscow to Vladivostok next month. For safety a Sake he a taking the Long Way. Rather than Fly direct on the russian airline Aeroflot the Washington based health care consultant will take austrian airlines to Tokyo ride a japanese Bullet train North to Niigata then catch the closest flight into Vladivostok. A eleven hours on Aeroflot is just too much of a risk Quot Glucksman said. Glucksmann a reticence to Fly Aeroflot Isnit unusual. Crashes and overloaded jews have become part of the perception of Aeroflot the monopolistic airline that to outsiders is perhaps the most visible vestige of the former soviet Empire. China a state run airline system carries a similar stigma Hurt by hijackings its own Fleet of rumpled russian jets an in. Ability to Cope with rising demand and a string of crashes that has raised Basic questions about safety and maintenance. As foreigners pour into both China and Russia to tour and explore business opportunities they quickly learn an important survival Rule done to Fly if you can avoid it. Earlier this month the . Government banned Federal employees from using russian airlines on flights within Russia except in emergencies. The government suggested using International carriers to get around the country. The gripes about Aeroflot Arentt Lim itch to fears of crashing. Passengers talk of bad food scats that Flop Back into the Lap behind you and even an occasional flight with a barnyard animal or two. A people hate to Fly within Russia and lately China a said Francis Goranin of Vega International travel service inc. In Chicago. Overcrowded smelly russian trains make rail travel an unacceptable alternative for Many he said. The International airline passengers association recommends that travellers Domestic flights by russians Aeroflot airline arc perceived by Many travellers As having bad food faulty passenger scats and maintenance  Fly out of China then Back in to avoid Domestic chinese carders. This can pose absurdly circuitous routes such As flying from Beijing South to Hong Kotwig then Hong Kong North to Shanghai. A if you have to Fly Domestic at least Fly Western Buill equipment a said David Stempler executive director of papa. A there seems to be bad chemistry Between russian aircraft and the civil aviation administration of China he said. The civil aviation administration of China which runs the state owned airlines has promised to lighten Security measures at airports and triple Pilot training. But seasoned foreign travellers remain sceptical. Kent Morrison a China scholar and Dean of the graduate school at the uni varsity of Rhode Island in Kingston said he tries to Fly at Odd hours in China to avoid traffic delays. A i have been in hold Over Shanghai or Beijing and said More than a few prayers. If i have a reasonably Short Jaunt or the time i take the train Quot Morrison said. Many people looking to get around Western Russia or other former soviet republics take Lufthansa to Frankfurt before flying Back in or use finn air to Helsinki Goranin said. A. A Domestic air travellers must often Cope with unpredictable schedules and difficult conditions a the state department said in an advisory this month. The government said centralized maintenance efforts and service Quality have deteriorated and that passengers often run into overloading. Aeroflot said the state department advisory is misleading. In a statement issued through the russian embassy in Washington the Carrier said the majority of russian flights Are a Safe and reliable. A the statement did no to further identify which flights were Safe. Gate agents in former soviet states Are frequently open to bribes to Book a seat even if it is already filled leaving passengers sitting in aisles papa says. Crashes have been blamed on planes burdened with too much cargo. In one highly publicized instance a pilots child said to be in the cockpit crashed a plane. Help wanted ads drop in june panel says new York apr Job advertising in american newspapers fell last month an indication that the demand for labor is weakening the conference Board said. The business funded research group said its help wanted advertising Index fell to 117 in june from 121 in May. A year ago the Index was 98. A a the recovery in labor Market activity has slowed a said Kenneth Goldstein a conference Board economist. Still Goldstein said the recovery a has hardly run out of  in attaining by Mike Mckesson the associated press a Detroit a a record profit usually is a reason to rejoice but general motors corp. And Ford motor corp. Executives arc Reading deeper into this weeks quarterly reports Ana they re not com Pletchy Happy. A we still have a lot of work ahead to improve our earnings Power and achieve target earnings margins a pm president Jack Smith said thursday in a release. The release reported the Best Quarter Ever for the worlds largest Industrial company a three month profit of $1.9 billion. A we feel Good about these improvements but we Are by no Means satisfied a Ford chairman Alex Trotman said a Day earlier after the no. 2 automaker posted second Quarter profits of $1.7 billion also a record. Both chief executive officers Are talking about the return on sales a the profit margin of their Core business Buik Jing cars and trucks. The Margii statement of profit As a Percer sales and it is a measure of a mat Turere a efficiency. To the Case of Ford and pm quarterly profits Are records in an absolute sense but in a margin sense at pm margin Smith Trotman they still have a very Jong Way to go and Ford folks acknowledge the same Quot said Joseph Phillippi automotive Industry analyst for Lehman Brothers in new York. Gmys profit margin on its North american vehicle business was 2.7 percent for the Quarter a substantial improvement Over a year ago when it was minus 0.1 percent a loss. But Lhatt a nowhere near where it should be for the company to thrive and be prepared for the next trough in the business Cycle Gmys chief financial officer j. Michael Losh said thursday. Losh believes the current growth of . Industry will continue but that pm must a act with a sense of urgency like that downturn could come  a we should have our net margin Here in North America at 5 percent or better on an annualized basis a he said. To get there he said the company will continue to focus on cutting costs and improving productivity and efficiency. A i think they re doing the right things a Phillippi said. A the question is How fast can they execute the plan a Ford which reported a second Quarter profit margin of 4,2 percent on its automotive business is shooting for a similar target of 5 percent said Fords vice president and treasurer David Mccammon. Ford has begun a major restructuring of the Way it plans designs and gets ready to build cars and trucks. It is creating a vehicle program centers that will have worldwide responsibility for design development and engineering of vehicle lines such As Small a cars Large cars or trucks. Hand wringing about profit margins was notably absent two weeks ago when Chrysler announced its $956-million quarterly profit also a record. The no 3.automaker is the acknowledged Leader in leanness. Its second Quarter profit margin on automotive operations was 7.2 percent