European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 30, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters Friday. December 30,1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates a 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 German Mark. 1.52 note Tbs rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rate that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies   -,., austrian Schilling. 10.9900 Bahrain Dinar. 0.3770 belgian franc .32.0900 British Pound. 1.5595 Canadian Dollar. 1.4075 danish Krone. 6.1285 dutch Guilder. 1.7347 French franc. 5.3490 German Mark. 1.5487 greek drachma. 241.900 italian lira. 1,635.1500 Kuwait Dinar. 0.2996 norwegian Krone. 6.8160 portuguese escudo. 160.500 saudi Royal. 3.7507 Spanish peseta. 132.3300 Swiss franc. 1.3085 turkish lira. 38,410.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar vol quote $382.90 an ounce Silver quote $4.89 an ounce sources merchants National Bank & Trust  the associated press new York Exchange new York a salts and net change of the 15 mos Active new York Stock Exchange issues trading wednesday.   fur  empires la Kmart.     volume 11,315,500 4,628,900 3,736,600 3,184,600 2,352,300 2,316,500 2,214,400 2,157,300 2,089,100 2,085,200 2,081,700 2,035,500 1,912,600 1.905,600 1,808,900 last chg. 41 h 3 to 30 -314 21v of v4 5w 20k h 16v4 v 12w a 41 h i 2214 2k h 4h a 40v4 of h 57h 1 32h 2tt 4bh v. American Exchange new York a sates and net change of the 10 mos Active american Stock Exchange issues trading wednesday. Nan Viacom vat us  Echo Bay. Royal Oak g up Lope Lacomb  a Neysht a votemr2,052,900 last ctit.114-1/18 1.421,900 29/165/16 704,500 7tt h 607,100 11 i h 536,400 35/16 1/18 408,400 21v� -1v4 364,700 40 w i 363,000 18tt 358,200465/84-15/64 353,500 13% w Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones dosing Range of aver Ages wednesday. High Low close change30 industrials 3871.4j 3816.94 3839.49 22.20 20 transport 1447.81 1424.76 1435.00-5.5915utilities 182.90 180.68 181.72 -0.39 65stocks 1280.65 1262,22 1270.18 -5.99 Casino Industry gambling future on new strategies troubling signs prompt efforts to sustain growth by Barry Meier Newyork times. Rock and Roulette anyone twanging guitars and clattering wheels of Chance might once have sounded like a weird combination. No longer. In March the hard Rock cafe and Harvey Casino resorts plan to open a youth themed Ca sino and hotel in Las vegas Nev. The Casino will feature touch screen style video machines designed to let gamblers play a variety of games and gaming tables in the shapes of musical instruments. Attracting younger gamblers is just one strategy on which the Casino Industry is betting to try to keep its business grow chemicals dumped in ., ruling says Washington a steel strengthening chemicals made in Russia Are believed to have been dumped in the United states according to a preliminary Commerce department ruling that could Lead to punitive duties. The department s International Trad administration said wednesday that the of Lemicals ferr Vanadium and nitride Vanadium were being sold at Jess than fair Market value. It said it expected to Issue a final Deci Sion May 19. If that affirms dumping has taken place the . International Trade commission will have until july to deter mine whether . Companies Are being injured or threatened. After years of aggressive expansion gambling companies face the Prospect that the capacity of casinos eventually will exceed the number of players to fill them. So companies Are looking to at tract new customers. They Are also looking to bigger attractions like the upcoming Mirage re sorts Casino in the Middle of a Man made Lake and Mem grand s new York new York project to pull in the Cas Ual tourist. Finally they Are considering new markets in the United states and in nations from Greece to South Africa. At the same time Casino companies Are attracting corporate suitors. Last week for instance itt corp., which operates hotels and casinos internationally through its itt Sheraton subsidiary agreed to acquire Caesars world inc. In a Deal valued at $1.7 billion. The Deal will Benefit tit by bringing it Caesars gambling management experience and linking the Caesars operations with itt s hotels worldwide. The itt move followed its acquisition of Madison Square Garden in new York and coincided with the Sale of some of its financial service operations. It is seen by Many analysts As an Effort by itt to concentrate on the entertainment and Lei sure Industry. By purchasing Caesars itt already the owner of the desert inn Casino in Las vegas is also Able to scrap its plans to butt the desert kingdom Casino a three year project with an estimated cos of $1 billion. Speculation about other acquisitions i looming said Naomi Talish an analyst with Morgan Stanley. And the number of riverboat style casinos and gambling operations on Indian reservations is also expected to grow in the next year. For the moment there is Little need to find new gamblers. Last year americans wagered about $297.3 billion on Casino games and $393.3 billion on All forms of Legal gambling including parimutuel and lotteries according to a recent Smith Barney report. That figure has Bee growing at about 10 percent annually in recent years. But for All the current interest in Gam bling deals there Are troubling signs on the horizon. The average age of those playing Slot machines is 46. And younger people raised on a diet of video games have Little interest in spending hours building their biceps pulling one armed bandits. Some smaller gambling companies have been hit by bankruptcies. And even after years of aggressive expansion gambling companies face the Prospect parity of casinos eventually will exceed the number of players to fill them. Maw York time that the Ca. ,. The average age of Slot machine players is 46, but casinos now Are trying to attract younger gamblers to sustain business. Among larger and healthier concern such As promus companies which oper ates Harrah s casinos the Cost of borrow ing to finance new operations is becom ing More expensive. Promus recently agreed to pay More than 21 percent on borrowed funds to finance the construction of a Casino inner Orleans. Coupons on the Bonds pay a Heady interest rate of 14.25 percent the company also agreed to give bondholders 7.25 percent of the Casino s Cash flow up to $350 million a year according to a Harrah s new Orleans official. This was the year that investor Learned that risks involved in casinos were higher than originally perceived said Jason Ader an analyst with Smith Barney a the gambling Industry also recently has taken its share of lumps politically. Despite a War Chest of $10 million an Industry led Effort to bring casinos to Flor Ida was Defeated in the fall by that state s voters. -v.x"-. And while a few smaller states such a Missouri and Indiana have opened their doors wider to gambling the Industry s prospects in larger More lucrative state such As new York Pennsylvania Texas and California remain clouded. A recent wild card was the election of a new crop of state governors. In Newyork for instance governor elect George Pataki has indicated he might consider legislation permitting casinos. And in Pennsylvania where gambling advocates believed they were on the verge of Victory governor elect Thomas Ridge said he would probably permit a statewide referendum on the Issue. Ridge s comments May sound positive for Industry interests. But in the past Ca sino companies have had greater Luck in getting gambling Bills approved inside Legislatures than through the ballot Box. Still even in an Era of uncertainty leading Casino operators Are developing plans to expand their reach. Caesars world which already has linked two Casino operations to plane Hollywood restaurants plans to open a third soon. The two companies also Haven agreement to develop additional restaurant and Casino concepts together. The name of the game these Days is to get the walk in business said Josep Coccimiglio a gambling Industry analyst with Dean Witter Reynolds