European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 29, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters saturday october 29,1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.68 dutch Guilder. 1.63 German Mark. 1.46 Noto 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. 10.542 Bahrain Dinar .,.,.,. 0.37799 belgian franc .30.83 British Pound. 1.6348 Canadian Dollar. 1.3494 danish Krone. 5.8588 dutch Guilder. 1.682 French franc. 5.1258 German Mark. 1.497 greek drachma. 230.45 italian lira. 1,531.80 Kuwait Dinar. 0.2963 norwegian Krone. 6.512 portuguese escudo. 152.88 saudi rial  3.751 Spanish peseta. 124.58 Swiss franc. 1.25 turkish lira. 35,710.00 note figures Are do pressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $388.40 an ounce Silver quote $5.39 an ounce. Sources merchants National Bank & Trust co. And the associated press new York Exchange 30-year new York a sales 4 . Price and net change of Tho 15 most Active new York Stock Exchange issues trading nationally thursday. Name sprint. Ford motor s go motors Micron techs jul Meads -. Pinc Dowes re Nab. Phillp morals. Citicorp Yff scads we Stahel. Sep Accas Sarauer it Ilumin Lett chg. 5,402,000 32 a 4.524,400 28tt % 3,917.400 40vt h 3,463,100. 39 of a. 3,156,200 56v4-a 2,994,800 32v4 h 2,691,100 7 unch 2,598,300 64tt a 2,534,400 46h 1v 2,489,400 23 % .2.440,500 13h it 2,396,400 15 /4 a a Compaq s Merck. 2,379 900 25 1 2,266,900 38v4 Vic 2,210,300 35v4 1 american Exchange. New York a. Sales closing Price and net change of the 10 most Active american Stock Exchange issues trading nationally thursday. Name volume list chg. Viacom vat 5.427,200. 1h unch clud3,688,000 15/16 3/16 Echo Bay 920.900 12h it Viacom ,805.000 38v unch amdahl.671,200 10v Royal Oak. 516,200 4. Audr Crecos. -514.100 1 1/16 Ivan up. 508.300 21 Gaylord ont .429,300 9 of Nab Orsad 417,900 7vi Dow Jones new York a Ages on thursday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks Dow Jones closing Range of aver blah Low Dot change 3893.99 3834 44 3875.15 up 26.92 1504.87 1459.69 1495.32 up24.45 178.95 176.64 178.16 up 1.12 .1296.40 1271.03 128959 up 12,62 age level sin company Ros out new stronger toilet paper Richmond a a James River corp. Of Virginia is touting a new toilet paper As the first Brand not to Dis integrate when it gets wet. The company has launched . Quilted Northern wet or dry with a $5.5million advertising Campaign. Tony Morakis Brand manager for James River s consumer products office in Norwalk conn., said the tougher toilet paper still has the softness and Comfort people expect from a Premium toilet  the new White tissue comes in six Roll packs with a suggested retail Price of si.79 to $1.99. New York a rates on 30 year mortgages surpassed 9 percent this week the highest level in 2vi years and a striking reflection of How higher interest rates throughput the Economy Are Mak ing Home Loans More expensive. Housing experts who have expressed Surprise at the strength in Home buying despite the rate Rise this year said they weren t expecting a profound slump How. But some warned thursday that Home buying could suffer if mortgage rates hit double digit territory thirty year fixed rate mortgages reached 9.03 percent this week up from 8.85 percent last week said a National Survey by the Federal Home loan Mort Gage corp., a government Agency known by its acronym Freddie Mac. The last time the 30-year mortgage exceeded 9 percent was March 20, 1992, when the average rate also stood at 9.03 percent. Only a year ago the rate had hit a 25-year Low of 6.74 percent. For the consumer the rate increase represents a significant jump in monthly mortgage payments. A Homeowner with a $100,000, 30-year mortgage at 9 percent would pay $734 a month excluding taxes and insurance. That s $71 More than a similar loan carrying an 8 percent rate and $140 More than a 7 percent loan. That s a pretty sizable change in monthly payments arid could exclude some people who Are on the Edge of qualifying financially for a mortgage said David Seiders chief economist for the National association of Home builders a Trade group. But John Tuccillo chief economist for the National association of realtors said rising rates Haven t had a big Impact yet on Home sales this year. An estimated 3.965 million existing Homes Are expected to be sold in 1994, up from 3.802 million last year Tuccillo said. He forecast a slight dip in sales next year to 3.756 million. Interest rates have riot risen sufficiently to make a big Dent in the Market he said. Obviously they have some negative effect but they re not crushing the housing Market in the Way that you might think. The Home buyer can pretty much find something he can  he said that if rates on conventional mortgages moved above 10 percent something that he and other economists did t expect to occur this year de Mand for Homes would Likely suffer. Officials they in heeded Halcyon preparing for twist off Tom Coltman a member of the Budweis or Airship Bud one s ground Crew appears to be taking the twist Cap off the aircraft thursday in Burlington . He actually was releasing the Blimp from the Mast As it prepared to leave the Burlington municipal Airport. Washington a government regulators denied thursday that they had thwarted a probe of the sleeping Pill Halcyon by blocking an investigator from seeing records he deemed vital. Or. Sidney Wolfe of the advocacy group Public citizen released internal food and drug administration memos that he said strongly suggest a High level Fra  the documents detail How. The. Agency ended a probe of Halcyon on the eve of a chief investigator s picking up new re cords that his memo says were extremely important to the  what did the Fra fear was in those documents that the Fra did not want to see Wolfe asked Fra commissioner Davi Kessler in a  drug the world s top Selling sleep ing Pill has been the target of about 100 lawsuits in the United states. The suits allege that the medication can provoke violent psychiatric reactions. Britain banned Halcyon in 1991. Last Spring Kessler appointed a task Force to reopen the Halcyon investigation including a look at How the Agency handled it in 1992. We fully intend to cover the issues raised said Fra spokesman Don my learn. " -. At Issue in Wolfe s letter is a 1992 Fra investigation of whether the up John co  to Tell the Agency of safety concerns about Halcyon when it sought marketing approval in the 1970s. The Fra has taken no action against Halcyon. Halcyon is Safe and effective when used according to the. Approved Labelling Upjohn spokeswoman Kaye Bennett said. We will continue to work with Fra and will answer any  Pill choking incidents a headache for drug firm new York a Bristol Myers Squibb co. Is pulling the Tablet form of its quest ran cholesterol drug off the mar Ket after two people choked on the pills. No one was seriously Hurt but the drug maker asked patients thursday to Stop taking the pills and consult their doctors about a  should return the unused pills to their pharmacist. They either will get refunds or if medically appropriate their pills will be replaced with the powder form of the drug the company said. Quest ran powder has been on the mar Ket since 1959, but the pills were introduced in july As a More convenient form of the drug said company spokeswoman Jane Kramer the problems came up because of the pills Large size and the need to take the frequently. The number of tablets that the patients have to take to meet the prescription can be from eight to. 16 per Day. So the incidence of people swallowing pills is a lot higher try in Etc real she said. Several patients reported difficult swallowing the Pill and two choked. In All cases the patients either swallowed the pills or spit them out safely the com Pany  powder is dissolved in water and is usually taken three times a Day with  forms have the same average wholesale Price about $60 per month and Are usually taken for no More than three months. Kramer said the situation in t legally a recall because that would suggest a Viola Tion of food and drug administration rules which has not occurred