European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 04, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Money matters sunday. December 4,1994 Dollar watch shown below Are the highest Dollar Exchange rates for the week of nov. 30 dec. 3 compared with Dollar rates for the same period one year and five years ago. German Mark one Dollar would buy you 1.54 1.68 19941 1999 i 1989 military Exchange rat British Pound one Pound would Cost you 1.61 1994 belgian franc one Dollar would buy you 37.64 32.37 " 1994 dutch Guilder one Dollar would buy you 2.01 1.76 1994 French franc one Dollar would buy you 5.40 5.92 6-08 1994 greek drachma one Dollar would buy you 242.70 239-11 162.85i 1994 i 1989 italian lira one Dollar would buy you 1,611 1,719 1994 1,313 Spanish peseta one Dollar would buy you 141.18 one Dollar would buy you 36,450 1994 13,806 1993 2,305 1989 $51 million e pm avoid truck recall by the los Angeles times Detroit in an unprecedented settlement decried by consumer activists the . Government agreed Friday to drop a recall investigation of 5 million general motors pickup trucks in Exchange for a $51 million contribution from the company for safety programs. Transportation Secretary Federic Opena said he would abandon his earlier ruling that Gas 1973-87 cd pickup trucks had a safety defect because the agreement would avoid costly litigation and enhance safety programs that could immediately save lives. This settlement is a common sense outcome and a Victory for safety Pena said at a news conference in Washington. But consumer groups which prompted the government s safety investigation of the vehicles in 1992, harshly criticized the agreement As unprincipled and Irre  a multimillion Dollar conglomerate has essentially bought the government s silence for a pittance said Joan Clay Brook president of Public citizen and former administrator of the National Highway traffic safety administration under president Carter. She said her group and the Center for Auto safety another consumer advocacy group Are considering challenging the agreement in court on  of crash Vic Tims and their families. Pena s announcement was a surprising twist in an increasingly bitter arid emotional Battle Over the pickups safety that began in 1992. It came just four Days be fore a Nitsa Public meeting on a potential recall which could have been the largest and most expensive in the nation s history. The meeting was cancelled. On oct. 17, Pena made an initial ruling that pm pickups were defective and presented an unreasonable risk to con Sumers because their design made them More susceptible to fires in Side Impact collisions. The vehicle s fuel tanks Are mounted on the Side outside the protect Tiv  has adamantly maintained that the cd pickups sold under Chevrolet and Csc nameplates Are Safe and meet All Federal safety standards including those for Side Impact collisions. The pick  also have a better Overall safety re Cord than most passenger cars company and government officials said. Our position has never wavered that these trucks Are not unsafe and do not pose Art unreasonable risk to owners who continue to operate them pm spokes Man de Blechtzin said. A recall could have Cost pm More than $1 billion and the company had vowed to fight the Case to the us supreme court if necessary. The agreement which was signed by Pena and pm s chief executive John f. Smith requires the automaker to contrib Ute $51 million to a variety of programs identified by Nitsa. The contribution can be in the form of moneys facilities or labor but must be hew expenditures not already budgeted by pm. Drop in Stock values could put i " a.-.   on Economy/7 i new York a this year s de Cline in the Stock Market May accomplish what the Federal Reserve has apparently failed to do in six tight mugs of interest rates slow the Economy so argued inveterate Market Bear Michael Metz chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer co., Iri a recent research report.".  ".-. " despite the fact that Blue Chip stocks have held up Well Many investors have experienced a 5 percent to 10 percent drop in the value of their Stock portfolio this year. Stock investors feel poorer and they Are poorer than they were last Jan. 1, Metz Saidi a they will assess their losses or the year and alarmed about the erosion of their net Worth put a tight lid on discretionary spending. That in turn Wilt finally put the brakes on a seemingly unstoppable Economy he said. _ w the decline in Stock values and the drop already seen in the Bond Market this year is expected to have a tangible wealth effect on householders who now have their highest exposure in decades to stocks and Bonds As a percentage of their assets Metz wrote in a nov. 23 report titled will the Stock Market do the fed s work the result .,.," Metz wrote is a slowdown in personal consumption spending generally in 1995, and a growth recession by the second Quarter of 1995." Metz turned on its head the conventional Wisdom that the fed s credit tighten Dow Jones new York Dpi Dow Jones closing Range of averages Friday High Low Clou citing i 30 industrials 3755.04 3680.68 3745.62 up 44.7520transpott 1446.411421.73 1436.40 up 5.38 15  179.61 176.44 179.41 up2.37 65 stocks 1255.54 1232.11 1250.92 up 12.00 american Exchange new York a of the 10 most Active trading nationally Friday nit Royal Pafco Viacom vat  -. Engy secs styles id spor ". Chess its -. Ivan up Amdahl sales closing Price and net Chang american Stock Exchange issues Tut cd. -845,800 .33/16- 14 1tt a 10v4 -. W 3854 a. 790,300 732,900 486,800 413,600 338,700 v4 7vi Moo 45 9/16 27/64 284,400 12h v4 270,700 18v v4 259,500 9h unch new York Exchange new York a sales 4 . Price and net change Olathe 15 most Active new York Stock Exchange issues trading nationally Friday., a plump. 4,589,000 4.398.600 4,387,800 4,256,300 3.548,400 3,427.700 2.961,200_/._ _. .2,565,000 2,419,9002,355,600 2 132,100 " \ 2.103.000 2,092,500 2,083,300 Walmart Jenab  i bes Buyat to corp Ford motor .  i lit Cogene Leci Merck merry Lynch Utt Chi. 2214 unch 6v4-1/16 24 w h 16t4 33% 481/4271 52h48v 4v439i1,941.700 v4 he v4 Vik my 16t/4 v�46 /4 1v4 37% 1 36h  Ings should by themselves slow the Economy lie got some support from re cent economic reports that show the Economy continues to chug along despite better than 2 percentage Point increase in Short term interest rates since Las february. The most recent of these was a report Friday that the nation s nonfarm payrolls added an impressive 350,000 jobs in no ,.-.pisning the unemployment rate Down by 0.2 percentage Points to 5.6 per  initially stalled on the news Fri Day but then posted some respectable Gams As Bond prices surged pushing in Erest rates lower. The Dow Jones Indus trial average finished Friday s session at3,745.62, up 44.75 for the Day and up 37.35 for the week. Analysts said Friday s rally occurred for largely technical reasons however and they remained cautious. We have gotten through a week of news and the Market has for whatever it s Worth held together said hug Johnson Market strategist at first Albany corp. _ jobless rate hit 4-year Low in november is by the Washington Post Washington the nation s unemployment rate fell to 5.6 percent last month the lowest level in four years As businesses added 350,000 workers to their payrolls the labor department re ported Friday. Strong growth in demand for goo Sand services from both Consumers and businesses has led . Companies to hires Many workers this year that the jobless rate has dropped  percentage Point since january. Analysts said the surprisingly Strong report is further evidence that the . Economy is closing 1994 on a health note with inflation adjusted growth of More than 3,5 percent and moderate inflation. Nevertheless a number of analysts see increasing evidence mostly in financial markets that growth is Likely to slow in1995. The fourth Quarter will be Ery Strong but. Growth will slow Down modestly in Early 1995., As higher inter est rates Dampen spending said economist Jerry Jasinowski president of the National association of manufacturers at the White House Clinton. Adminis ration officials focused on the Economy strength this year. Noting that More than 5 million new jobs had been created since president Clinton took office in january 1993,labor Secretary Robert Reich said manufacturing employment has grown for 11 straight  Laura d Andrea Tyson chairwoman of the president s Council of economic advisers noted that this year s Strong growth which has been running Well above what forecasters expected at the beginning of the year has been accompanied by restrained inflation