European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 28, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes Money matters Friday october 28.1994 today s rates following arc fixed rates at which Community banking an credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for Persona use British Pound. 1.68 dutch Guilder. 1.63 German Mark. 1.46 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 value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies austrian Schilling 10.5215 Bahrain Dinar 0.37799 belgian franc 30.75 British Pound 1.6363 Canadian Dollar 1.3481 danish krone5.838 dutch Guilder 1.6761 French franc 5.1172 German Mark 1.4955 greek drachma 231.02 italian lira 1,527.25 Kuwait Dinar 0.2963 norwegian Krone 6.4985 portuguese escudo 152.55 saudi rial 3.7509 Spanish peseta 124.32 Swiss franc 1.2463 turkish lira 35,900.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to tha Dollar Gold quote $388.80 an ounce Silver quote $5.30 an ounce sources merchants National Bank 4 Trust co and the associated press new York Exchange new York a sales 4 . Price and net change of the 15 most Active now York Stock Exchange issues trading wednesday. Nit volume Lii Chi. Sprint / 7,94.5,200 .z2vt -1rjrnab 7,086,000 7 it for motors. 6,379,100 29h v4 team cads. 5.461.400 56h -1phlllpmorrls  4,139,700 ". 63v4 he re rpt .,.,"- 3,274,500. 6h it Gen motors. 3,260,100 40% a Chrysler. 2.836,200 48 i Compsy 2.690,600 Tovi to h ism. 2,400,300 74 /4 f h Fletch hon.2,399.800 26v4 a Compaq s. 2,332,200. 38h h int game. 2,210,100 17v in Geneles. 2,205,100 47 a us surgical2,179,000 23m 2v american Exchange new York a. Of the 10 most Active trading wednesday. Nit Clud Viacom vat Amdahl Lacomb . Audre recon us Blosl. Reyhn done Twa voting. Sales closing Price and net change american Slock -Exchange.issues, volume 994,000 947,600 789.600 581,900 418,800 391,400 378.900 369.900 311,300 278,900 Mil 10-_ chg. Unch 1h unch .1 5/16 71 zit 17/16 it h v. A h h h it Dow Jones new York a Dow Jones closing Nga of aver Ages on wednesday High Low close Chang 30 industrials 3891.97 3816.61 3848.23 on2.36 20transport 1486.93.1461.78 1470.87 off3.26 .15 utilities 178.88 176.31 177.04 off 0.59 65 stocks 1291.15 1267.97 1276.97 off 1.87 Southwest airlines extends fare cuts Dallas a Southwest airlines co. Has reinstated a one Day Advance Purchase fare Sale Selling tickets at least50 percent off to travellers in five cities for three More weeks. The Sale applies to All Southwest Desti nations from Baltimore Cleveland St. Louis Salt Lake City and Louisville by. Tickets must be purchased by nov. 15, with travel completed by March 2. Seals Are limited Ana tickets must be bought one Day in Advance. The move essentially is a limited Extension of a Southwest Sale that expired Friday spokeswoman Linda Rutherford said. I a m pm own on tax f Raud loan program Washington a a fraud crackdown announced by the Clinton administration on wednesday could severely crimp the ability of Many taxpayers to get refund anticipation Loans the Loans Are Maide by Banks and finance companies working with tax preparation services that file their clients re turns by computer to the internal Revenue service. The irs usually within 24 hours spits Back a notice called a direct Deposit indicator that the refund will be on its Way shortly and in t encumbered by a delinquent student loan or some other reason. The Bank then makes a loan deducting its fee from the refund amount. It s particularly popular program with people who live from paycheck to paycheck and want their refunds As soon As possible. However the ability to get refunds so speedily is an inducement for fraud particularly for taxpayers due refunds under the earned income tax credit program for Low income working people the govern ment said. The Crooks take the Money and run and the taxpayers and Banks get burned said Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen. So we re no longer going to Tell the elec tronic filing operations whether a refund is Likely to be coming. The taxpayer will still get any refund they re due but we won t be sending out that  encouraging taxpayers to file electronically is a key part of the irs modernization Effort. But tax preparers predicted the elimination of direct Deposit Indica tors will crimp the growth in electronic returns which totalled 13.5 million this year up from 7.5 million three years ago. It s what drives the electronic pro Gram people file electronically be cause they want their refunds quicker said Ozzie Wenich vice president of or Block inc., based in Kansas City to. Lenders probably will be much More cautious about the people to whom they lend Money he said. Four financial institutions make about 90 percent of the Loans nationally beneficial National Bank of Wilmington Del. Greenwood Trust a division of Dean Witter Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh and Bank one of Columbus Ohio. We re going to go on with the pro Gram said Gary Perkinson of beneficial. But Well probably have to increase the Price some and Well have to Cut out some of the Pepple who can least afford to be Cut  irs commissioner Margaret Miltier Richardson said she expected electronic filing to remain popular because it eliminates paperwork and cuts Down on mis takes. About 10 million electronic returns this year involved tax anticipation Loans and about 8.4 million of those were made on the basis of direct Deposit indicators. Electronic filing cuts the refund wait for Many taxpayers to about three weeks half the usual period for paper returns and refund anticipation Loans effectively Cut the wait to a Day or two. Of  a mess Ness chomp takes upside Down cake Claremont Calif. A when Clive Miller heard that a Magazine was looking for the messiest Home office in America he thought he had the contest in the bag. There was Only one problem. I called the Magazine and they sent me a copy that explained the contest he said. But of course i put it in Here somewhere and could t find it after a  eventually Miller found the contest rules and entered. The rest is for the books. The 56-year-old writer and former pro Fessor at literature at Stanford University won the dubious distinction from Home office computing Magazine beating out hundreds of entries. I Don t know whether to feel elation or shame at what i be done Miller said. His Home office is piled High with wobbly towers of old Bank statements and in vestment magazines his plastic in and out trays hopelessly crammed with paper work. The prize for Miller s mess a computer to eliminate paperwork and a four Day visit from a clutter control expert. I m worried that four Days won t be enough Miller said