European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 26, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 1.4 the stars and stripes Money matters saturday november 26,1994 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. 1.60 dutch Guilder. 1.70 Goren in a Nark. 1.52 not 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. 10.957 Bahrain Dinar. 0.377 belgian franc 32.00 British Pound 1.5637 Canadian Dollar. 1.3743 danish Krone 6.0935 dutch Guilder 1.745 French franc. 5.3437 German Mark. 1.5578 greek drachma. 239.80 italian lira. 1,614.25kuwait Dinar. 0.29895 norwegian Krone. 6.8355 portuguese escudo 159.05 saudi rial. 3.7506 Spanish peseta. 130.09 Swiss franc. 1.3190 turkish lira. 36,480.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Odd quote $384.53 an ounce Silver quote $5.16 an ounce sources merchants National Bank 4 Trust co. And the associated press a stocks financial markets were closed thursday in Observance of thanks  rebounds from Park s losses Burbank Calif. A the Walt Disney co. Posted record profits for its fourth Quarter and its full fiscal year a year after losses at euro Disney resulted in disappointing results for the company. Disney earned $225.9 million or 42 cents a share in the three months that ended sept. 30. That performance com pared with a loss of $77.7 million or 15 cents a share a year ago. Last year s loss came after Disney agreed to bail out euro Disney the theme Park and resort Complex near Paris in which it is a major owner. The move resulted in a $350 million charge against fourth Quarter earnings a year ago. The Park has been trying out a new name Disneyland Paris in an Effort to capitalize on its links with the French capital and boost attendance. . Institutions banking on business in Germany for their Money american firms find Frankfurt pays off by Ferdinand Protzman new York times Frankfurt Germany . Banks have grown so much in Frankfurt the stronghold of German financial might that even the directory assistance operator has caught on. The operator now answers a request for . Morgan s Telephone number by saying the Bank a rather than asking on which Street Herr Morgan lives. .,-.in the last five years american Banks and particularly new York investment Banks with underwriting experience have quietly expanded their operations in this German City on the main River. With Little fanfare they have become a Force in the German Bond Market and overtaken european rivals to become the most important foreign participants in Frankfurt s evolving financial scene. . Banks have been attracted to this bustling City by debt a commodity not traditionally associated with germans. Since its reunification in october 1990, Germany has been keen to borrow Large sums of Money from the Public markets. The . Banks Are betting that they can use their expertise As world class underwriters to ride the Boom in Public Bor rowing.  has been a shrewd bet. Faced with the staggering task of rebuilding the Economy and infrastructure of what was East Germany a task that by some is. Timotes could Cost nearly $1 trillion by2000 the government in Bonn turned to the capital markets to borrow much of the Money. Other newly democratic countries in Eastern Europe also began tapping the Frankfurt Market for Money by issuing Bonds denominated in German Marks. As a result total trading of German Bonds on Frankfurt s Bond Market soared to 733.126 billion Marks $482.319 Bil lion last year from 253.262 billion Marks $166.619 billion in 1989. While the Tor rid growth has slowed somewhat Finan Cial experts said the trading volume May total at least 650 billion Marks or roughly $427 billion this year. As far As new Bond issues go the Ger Man Banks still dominate. But the Ameri Apelle Bank buildings Mark the Skyline of Frankfurt Germany where in the last five years american Banks have quietly expanded their operations. Cans hold three of the top 10 rankings. Morgan Stanley fifth in Market share had 5.5 percent of the Market for new Bond issues in 1993 ninth ranked . Morgan had 3 percent and loth ranked Salomon Brothers had 2.1 percent according to the International financing review Sec Omni base in London. Whitel Anks compete they also Coop Erat by co managing Bond issues and participating in issuing consortium what . Banks offer in the German Market that Many of their european rivals do not is unparalleled Access to institutional investors worldwide. With a big German Mark Bond Issue one needs an american As co Leader said Siegfried Gutermann a spokes Man for Deutsche Bank a the coun try s largest commercial Bank. When it is such a huge volume he added you have to find big institutional investors such As the pension funds in the . And great Britain. You Nee Strong lines to those buyers. The Ameri cans Nave  some other foreign Banks and broker age firms believe that their German Busi Ness can be handled As easily from Lon Don Europe s leading financial Center or from Paris. Frankfurt s detractors cite the Cost of doing business in the City where office rents and the costs of telecommunications and support staff Are among the highest of any european financial Center. Even Deutsche Bank appears less than bullish on Frankfurt. The Bank recently decided to move its investment banking activities to London and merge them with those of Morgan Grenfell. A truly european Bank must have an integrated pan european management operating from its largest Market said Hilmar Kopper the head of Deutsche Bank s managing Board. Even so theban still has its Headquarters in Frank Furt. .,-." Frankfurt ranks As the world s biggest Market for trading German Marks As a currency As Well As for trading in Mark denominated Bonds and securities. The City is also the biggest european Market for trading Stock options. Germany s potential As a Market for broader banking services has also drawn International Banks to Frankfurt. The country has Europe s highest per capita personal income its most powerful econ omy one of the world s highest sayings rates and a Large Pool of wealthy individuals. ,.the More than 400 foreign and Domestic Banks Here include the Bundesbank Germany s Central Bank and the european monetary Institute the fore runner of an eventual european Centra Bank. Economic worries finally hit cyclical stocks by Floyd Norris new York times new York the Stock Market is suddenly getting worried about the econ omy s health. The plunge in prices this month and particularly in the last few Days has hit the cyclical stocks the issues most de pendent on a Strong Economy the hardest. At the same time the battered Bond Market has suddenly gained strength. What the cyclical stocks Are telling us is that a slowdown is imminent said de Goldfarb a strategist at Altus invest ment management. I think that is what broke the Back of the Market this week without any real confirming economic Abe Goldstein of the new York Stock sex data  keeps an Eye on Early trading whether the plunge continues or Mim wednesday a Day after stocks took their is this year s earlier slides and reverses worst Tumble in More than nine months. Depends in part on whether investors re turn from the thanksgiving Holiday less pessimistic about the Economy. A string of important economic data next week including reports on the Gross Domestic product unemployment factory orders and the leading indicators might help convince them that they Over reacted. So far this month the Morgan Stanley Index of cyclical  plunged 10.4 percent while a similar measure of con Sumer stocks companies that make products far less sensitive to Overall eco nomic data has slipped just 1.2 per cent. During the same stretch the Dow Jones Industrial average has lost 6 per cent. What you have seen is fear that the Economy is headed into a recession said Abby Joseph Cohen co chair of the in vestment policy committee at Goldman Sachs & co. There has been a notable rotation away from stocks whose earnings Are economically  for much of the last two years cyclical stocks had led the Stock Market. Their strength predated most economists Dis covery that the Economy s growth was surprisingly Strong. Now they Are turning Down reflecting worry that the Federal Reserve which has raised Short term interest rates six times this year will go too far. The most recent Rise was last week when the fed pushed up the rates that Banks pay on overnight Loans from other Banks by 75 basis Points or three quarters of a percentage Point. With the move to 75 basis Points by the fed in effect what they Are telling us is that we re going to do whatever it takes to Dampen your enthusiasm about the Economy said Robert Barbera an economic consultant in Greenwich Conn