European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 01, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes Money matters Friday september 1,1995 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 1.59 dutch Guilder 1.60. German Mark 1.43 note 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 10.3280 Bahrain dinar0,3769 belgian franc 29.26 British Pound 1.5520 Canadian Dollar 1.3430 danish Krone 5.7020 dutch Guilder 1.6468 French franc 4.85 German Mark 1.4674 greek drachma 236.32 italian lira 1,621.00 Kuwait Dinar 0.3020 norwegian Krone 6.4208 portuguese escudo 152.52 saudi Riyal 3.7506 Spanish peseta 125.64 Swiss franc 1.2050 turkish lira 48,090.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $382.25 an ounce Silver quote $5.31 an ounce sources. Merchants National Bank & Trust co and the associated press windows 95 sales 1 million in 4 Days Seattle a Microsoft corp. Sold 1 million copies of windows 95 during its first four Days of availability the company said tuesday. However the number of phone Calls from people who were having trouble with the new software from aug. 24 to sunday also was staggering leaving Many people who called Microsoft with a Busy signal. We re going everything we can to help customers Access the technical information they need and apologize for this in convenience Deborah Willingham vice president of support at Microsoft said in a statement Microsoft said it can handle 20,000 Calls. Per Day for windows 95 and has been at capacity since aug. 24, the Day sales began. It has 1,600 employees answering questions and contracted five other companies to Supply hundreds More technicians v ,.-.--.  to Telephone support help is available on the internet commercial. On line systems and a toll free fax service the company said. They expected in the Early Days that no matter what they did they would get More Calls than they could handle said Fred Langa editor of windows Magazine an Independent publication. Microsoft said the firs t four Days exceeded internal projections for both sales and trouble Calls. But the company never disclosed those projections before windows 95 went on Sale and declined to do so tuesday. Demand for the product could drop if the perception grows that getting help is difficult. Biggest jump in 6 Washington a led by summertime gains in such service industries As restaurants and retail Trade Ameri cans personal income jumped 0.7 per cent in july the biggest increase in six months. The Commerce department said thursday that the larger than expected Rise in income easily outpaced consumer spending which advanced just 0.2 per cent forthe month. In another report the labor depart ment said the number of americans filing first time claims for unemployment Bene fits was unchanged last week at 349,000. The less volatile four week average Rose to 342,000 from 335,000 a week earlier. The growth in income the biggest since an 0 8 percent increase in january followed a 0.5 percent Rise in june spending Rose at the slowest Pace since april when it was unchanged. The latest evidence of moderate eco nomic growth comes one Day after the government reported the Economy last Spring turned in its weakest performance in nearly four years expanding at a 1.1 percent annual rate. Still the second Quarter growth was larger than previously estimated co rash of a surge in consumer spending. Thursday s figures suggested Consumers were becoming More cautious even As income was on the Rise. Consumer spending represents two thirds of the nation s economic activity. Analysts said its strength in the Spring was the result largely of Steep discounts aimed at reducing excess business inventories. The Commerce department said Dis Posable income income after taxes Rose 0.6 percent in july on top of a 0.4 percent gain the previous month. The combination of incomes and spending meant that americans sayings rate savings As a percentage of Dispo Sable income Rose to 4.2 percent in july from 3.8 percent a month earlier. The Hist time the savings rate was this High was april. Income was $6.06 trillion in july and spending edged up to $4.89 trillion. Private wages and salaries the most closely watches component of income increased at a $29.3 billion annual rate in july compared with a $23.7 billion rate the previous month. Service Industry pay Rolls soared $18 billion nearly double the rate of increase in june. Government wages and salaries Rose at a $1 billion rate last month Matching the increase a month earlier on the spending Side outlays for big ticket durable goods such As cars and appliances fell 1.8 percent in july to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $622 Bil lion. Spent Fng on such nondurable goods As food and fuel Rose 0.3 percent to $1.459 trillion. Spending on services was up 0.6 percent to $2.809 trillion. When adjusted for inflation spending was up unchanged in july after rising 0.4 percent in june. Japan tries to ease Bank worries Tokyo a a Day after bailing out a failing regional Bank and moving to shut Down the country s largest credit Union the government sought thursday to reassure Consumers that the worst of the nation s banking crisis is Over. But some worried credit Union custom ers waited in line All night to make withdrawals and the Dollar buoyed by in Vestor worries about Japan s debt saddled banking system gained in Early trading thursday Topping 99 yen. Private analysts cautioned that other Bank failures could follow spurred by huge bad debts left Over after Japan s speculative Bubble of land and asset a inflation in the 1980s Buist in the Early 1990s. Financial Shock the yom Iuri Shim Bun Japan s largest newspaper said in thursday s editions. The biggest Post War financial crisis is  this situation must not be allowed to disintegrate the National Asahi daily wrote in an editorial. -. Banking authorities said wednesday that they would dissolve Hyogo Bank a major regional Bank based , and Kizu credit Union the country s largest  Union based in Osaka. The. Finance ministry said Japan s major Banks have at least $408 billion of nonperforming Loans Many related to soured read estate deals. Last week Japan s Banks failed to make the top category in a new ranking t of financial institutions by the . Cred it rating Agency Moody s investors serv ice inc. Of tie 50 japanese Banks rated one received a a or Strong rating and the average rating was a or  the analysts were encouraged by the authorities unusual decision to dissolve a weak Bank saying it could assure Japa Nese savers that future Barrk insolvencies customers try to withdraw Money from the Kizu credit Union in a Saks Japan after the government moved to shut Down the country s largest credit Union. Can be handled smoothly. This sets a Good precedent said Betsy Daniels a Tokyo based banking Industry analyst with Morgan Stanley. ,. The ministry of finance is starting to take action and that s very positive i definitely think there s going to be More of this but it s Good that it s being dealtwith.1, the announcements came three Days after the government announced a plan to dissolve Cosmo credit Union Tokyo s largest and the nation s fifth biggest. A. Bailout plan is under Way for two other credit unions that failed late last year. Banking authorities said they would Transfer the operations of Hyogo Bank to a new Bank that would be set up with capital from the private sector and help from the government. The Bank s presi Dent announced wednesday that he would resign and the rest of the Bank s top management  expected to be replaced. The new Bank will take Over most of Hyogo Bank s 790 billion yen in irrecoverable Loans but will get More than 400 billion yen from the Deposit insurance corp., a government institution set up to protect  Bank gov. Yasuo Matsushita said it would take several months to work out a plan to dissolve the Kizu credit Union. Bank Sci help connect customers to internet Charlotte . A first Union corp. And Sci communications Are teaming up to give custom ers free software that will Hook them up to the internet global computer network. In an 18-month Market test first Union s retail and commercial customers will receive software that will Hook them up to first Union s internet Home Page a starting Point that s like a table of contents to the Bank s services on the internet. The software called a browser Bec Fatse it helps peo ple find things on the network will also help customers navigate other services and information Sites on the in ternet. But it ensures that every time they get on the network the first thing they see is the first Union Home Page. First Union had netscape which makes the software customize a program especially for the Bank s customers. The Bank said the software is Worth $75. -. Netscape is sold for $45 in computer stores and is. Available free to internet users. The first Union internet package includes a Hookup to the internet for about $10 a month and software for using its Home Page. First Union is the nation s ninth largest Bank with $83 billion in assets and 1,300 Branch offices in eight South Eastern states. In june the Bank announced plans to merge with new Jersey s first Fidelity bancorp., which has 535 billion in assets. Sci is headquartered in Washington