European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 6, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters Friday january 6, 1995 a i today a rates a following arc fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.60 dutch Guilder. 1.70 German Mark. 1.52 Noto the Retos 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 currencies a a a austrian Schilling. 10.948 Bahrain Dinar .0.37675 belgian franc .31.985 British Pound. 1.5618 Canadian Dollar. 1.4024 danish Krone. 6.1115 dutch Guilder. 1.7433 French franc. 5.358 German Mark 1.5662 greek drachma. 241.59 italian lira 1,623.30 Kuwait Dinar a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 0.2996 norwegian Krone. 6.7875 portuguese escudo. 159.90 saudi Royal. 3.7508 Spanish peseta. 132.60 Swiss franc. 1.3085 turkish Lara. 39,000.00 note figures Are expressed in Dollar to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar. Gold quote $375.00 an ounce Silver quote $4.59 an ounce sources merchants National Bank amp Trust co. And the associated press new York Exchange new York a sales the 15 most Active new York wednesday a a Nam. A a telex aos a Rwjr Nab rep sol aos Walmart Gen motors a. Chrysler Pepsico a. A am Batuck r go televise for motor t . Yff soc aos get up Jeanw Tolse a a next cold 4 . Price and net change of Stock Exchange issues hading volume 12.573,300 0,433.800 5.220.600 3.681.600 3.773.500 3.481.100 3.338.100 2,939,700 2.703.800 2.509.400 2.487.500. 2,451,500. 2,330,500. 2,249,200 2,230,300 list pm. 371 v. 5% a h 27 it 21h v.431 1h 51 2 35h h 20 w a a 28h -1h 28% v. 59 1% 20v a i 301 a a 34 a 1% 20% -1h american Exchange new Vork apr sales closing Price and net change of the 10 most Active american Stock Exchange issues trading nationally wednesday. Name Viacom vat Lacomb Interpol gym Echo Bay Royal Oak Pegasus id _ tax up tubes mex Amdahl a a a a a us Blosel volume Lull Cha. 3.206,900 iv�?1/16 2,453.900 41% % 1,791,400 91 11 1,324,200 9vfc i 1,000,700 3 a 764,100 10% 1 607,100 19% 1 .564,100 4%-3/18 443,700 11 unch 424,200 3 1/19 Dow Jones new York up a Dow Jones closing Range of averages on wednesday High Lew Clete Chinee 30 industrials 3876 83 3815.26 3857.65 up 19.17 20 transport 1490.19 1462.95 1484.14 up 10.95 15 utilities 184.62 1 81.85 1 84.22 up 1.19 65 stocks 1294.65 1273,28 1269.09 up 7.63 preview cars improved but sticker prices Aren t by the Washington Post Detroit a a almost every car on display at the 1995 North american International Auto show is a new and  and almost every one has a new and higher Price. A who is going to buy these things a asked Dennis Virag waving a hand at the expanse of sparkling Metat on the showroom floor including a $25,000 version of the 1995 Chevrolet Blazer sport Utility vehicle. A who can afford to buy these things a the question by Virag co owner of the automotive consulting group a Market research group in Ann Arbor mich., might seem Odd in the current Boom Cycle of . Auto sales. Automakers after All Are Selling or leasing practically every four wheel drive vehicle they can produce. They arc celebrating the end of a Banner 1994 sales year in which they sold 15.3 million new cars and trucks the Best year since 1988, when they put 15.7 million new vehicles into Consumers hands. Also a group of Auto analysts who met in Detroit on wednesday forecast that the Good times could continue Well into 1997, and possibly into 1998. So what Are Virag and some of his dissident colleagues fussing about a a very real problem a said Jake Kel Derman executive director of Industry affairs for the National automobile dealers association. A we be been telling automakers for years that affordability is a very real problem and that its going to become a bigger Issue because prices keep going  Consumers indeed Are spending More and More of their annual incomes to acquire new vehicles at a time when their income growth is at Best sluggish. Consumers spent an average of $18,328 on each new car bought in 1993, enough to sop up 25.9 weeks of the an an Auto show worker dusts Oft a porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet on wednesday i Ond Day of the 1995 North american International Auto show in Detroit. Nual median family income of $36,764 that year. A decade earlier Consumers spent an average $10,640 on each new car requiring 22.5 weeks of the annual median income of $24,580, according to the american automobile manufacturers association. Preliminary estimates for 1994 indicate Consumers last year spent an average $20,000 for a new car costing a Little More than 26 weeks of an average annual income. Look at the 1996-Model Ford Taurus introduced this week and due to go on Sale this fall. The new Taurus is longer and wider than the current version and will come with a raft of new equipment such As improved traction control to help reduce spinning wheels on wet highways. Some analysts predict it will come at a Price that is at least $1,000 higher than the base $17,585 Price on the 1995 car. Ford chairman Alex Trotman conceded that pricing on the 1996 Taurus a will probably be North of what it is on the 1995 models. But he said his company intends to build at least 300,000 Taurus cars for he 1996-Model year. A and we expect to sell or lease every single one of them a Trotman said. Midwest has most affordable Home site Nintendo form video game venture by the new York times get corp., which operates local Tele phone and cellular companies around the United states is joining with Nintendo of America to develop video games. Get interactive Media a subsidiary in Carlsbad calif., that operates a Large Washington a the Midwest had 15 of the 25 most affordable housing markets in the nation during the july september Quarter. _ _ California alone had 14 of the least affordable. The National association of Home builders reported wednesday that its quarterly housing Opportunity Index found Little change in regional trends in housing the most affordable markets Are in the Midwest and South the least affordable in the Northeast and West particularly California. Lima Ohio jumped to first place As the most affordable Market from 11th in the second Quarter Index. San Francisco remained mired in last place a position it has held since the association began the surveys in the first Quarter of 1991. Joining the 15 midwestern markets on the most affordable list were five areas in the Northeast and five in the South. The West had 18 of the least affordable a the 14 in California and one each in Hawaii Nevada new Mexico and Oregon. Four More were in the Northeast and three in the South. _ the Index measures the proportion of Homes sold in a Market that a household earning the median income in that Market could afford to buy. The median is the midpoint meaning that half of the Homes Cost More and half Cost less. The Survey included about 500,000 sales of new and previously owned Homes in 185 metropolitan areas. A a there a no doubt that higher interest rates Are affecting housing affordability conditions in every Region of the country a said association president Tommy Thompson a builder in Owensboro by. A but rates Are still in the single digits making affordability relatively  interest rates As measured by the Home builders group Rose to 7.72 percent in the third Quarter from 7.42 percent in the second. The rate is a National weighted average of adjustable and fixed rate Loans. I it. Lima posted an 87.4 on the Index meaning that a family earning the areas median income of -$38,600 could have purchased 87.4 percent of the Homes sold in the area during the Quarter. But san Francisco had Only a 17.8, meaning a family earning the median income of $57,600 could afford to buy just 17.8 percent of the Homes available. In addition to Lima in the Midwest the most affordable markets by Reg for were Albany n.y., in the Northeast Houma la., in the South and Pueblo colo., in the West. The cast affordable markets besides san Francisco in the West were Des Moines Iowa in the Midwest new Yore in the Northeast and Laredo Texas in the South. The nation As a whole posted a 61.7 or the third Quarter Index up from 60. From april through june. The median in come was $39,900 in both quarters at though the median Price in the third period Rose to $117,000 from $1 4,000 in the second. A. Company recalls playpens after 2 babies deaths digital production Center to develop fames and other programming will col borate with Nintendo. The companies did not say How much Money they were committing to the venture. Washington a a California company has voluntarily recalled 100,000 portable playpens of a Type that have collapsed unexpectedly at least four times killing two babies. To the consumer product safety commission said wednesday hat two other babies were revived after they stopped breathing when their Home and roam or baby express playpens collapsed. The playpens can appear to be set up properly even when their top rails Are not locked completely into place the commission said. Unless the rails Are locked a baby can be caught by the neck and strangled. The playpens made by baby trend inc. Of Pomona calif., come in a variety of colors and three sizes. The words a Home and roam a a baby express or a a baby trends appear on two of the four top rails. They Cost from $60 to $130. About 100,000 were sold from 1992 to 1994 by several retailers including Kmart the commission said. Consumers were being advised to Call the company at 800-234-1879 to have the top rail Cocks replaced free with locks designed to prevent collapse. A Telephone card is needed to make such Calls from Europe and a fee is charged