Bennington Banner from Bennington, Vermont • 5

I I I Tuesday, February 12, 1985 Itrnnington Banner Iage 5 Consumer loan rates falling cent but unsecured personal loan charges ranged from 16.5 percent to 23.5 percent. In New York, auto loans ranged from 14.9 percent to 17.5 percent; personal loans 16.5 percent to 18.5 percent. Other cities: Philadelphia: average new auto loans 13 percent; personal Joans from 13.25 percent to 15.25 percent. Chicago: auto loans, 12.5 percent to 14.25 percent; unsecured personal loans, 15.05 percent to 19.5 percent. Detroit: Auto loans, 12.75 percent to 13.25 percent, personal 14.9 percent to 15 percent.

Many banks offer lower split rates, with lower rates to customers of the bank. Some banks also offer rate differentials to customers who allow payments to be deducted from their checking accounts. Chase Manhattan Bank, the third largest, said it had no immediate response to Chemicals move but a spokesman said it intends to remain competitive. Manufacturers Hanover Trust, fourth in size, said consumer loan rates are under review. The banking industry has been dragging its heels for months, Heady said.

While deposit account yields have been plunging, few major institutions have lowered their auto and personal loan rates and in some instances banks and thrifts have actually raised them since early 1984. A Monitor survey of large banks in five major markets on Jan. 16 showed a wide variation in consumer rates, indicating again that it pays to show around. In Los Angeles, for example, new automobile loans averaged 14 per NEW YORK (UPI) Chemical Bank lowered its lending charges on several key consumer loans Monday in what may be the first break for consumers since banks began lowering deposit rates last year. Chemical, the nations sixth largest bank, lowered its lending rates on fixed-rate home equity loans from 14.9 percent to 13.9 percent plus three points; for new auto-marine loans of more than $6,000 from 14.9 percent to 14.5 percent and on unsecured personal loans from 17.25 percent to 16.5 percent, effective immediately.

Chemicals move is welcome indeed and there is 'ho reason why other financial institutions should not follow immediately, said Robert Heady, publisher of the Bank Rate Monitor, a Miami Beach publication that tracks consumer deposit and lending rates. Stocks lower in active trading U.S. Trade Representative William Brock (left) and Japanese Foreign documents in Tokyo yesterday, agreeing to bilateral elimination of 4.2 percent and the U.S., effective March 1. Reuters-UPI Minister Shintaro Abe exchange tariffs on semiconductors in Japan Trade ministers hold Tokyo talks Industry Minister Keijiro Murata said the officials this year will establish a special committee to put services and high technology into the agenda for 1986 trade talks. The year of 1985 is a crucial year to maintain and strengthen the free trade system, Japans top trade official said.

We all agreed to effectively roll back protectionism swiftly this year when the world economy is performing favorably, he said. At the talks, trade officials will discuss ways to ensure the copyright of computer software and to help developing countries purchase agricultural equipment, Murata said. The talks will also try to improve for Christmas 85 NEW YORK (UPI) The stock market finished sharply lower Monday after the rally that began five weeks ago ran into a wall of profit-taking. Bellwether IBM led the decline, skidding after some analysts lowered earnings forecasts. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.91 to 1,276.06.

For all of last week, the Dow gained 12.25. The New York Stock Exchange index fell 0.89 to 104.50 and the price of an average share decreased 29 cents. Standard Poors 500-stock index lost 1.68 to 180.51. Declines topped advances among the 2,041 issues traded. Big Board volume totaled 104,000,000 shares, down from 116,460,000 traded Friday.

Composite volume of NYSE-listed issues on all U.S. Exchanges and over the counter totaled 128,737,530 shares, down from 152,276,630 Friday. The American Stock Exchange index fell 1.52 to 229.53. The price of an average share decreased 9 cents. Declines topped advances 356-239 among the 828 issues traded.

Composite volume totaled 11,620,000 shares, down from 17,088,645 Friday. The National Association of Securities Dealers index of OTC stocks dropped 0.92 to 287.43. On the trading floor, Unocal was the most active NYSE-listed issue, gaining 1 to 49 34. The stock has fluctuated in recent weeks with gains coming on takeover rumors. IBM was second on the active list, dropping 3 34 to 133 L.

Some Wall Street analysts said they were looking for first-quarter results to be about even with the 1984 first quarter. Eastman Kodak was third, falling 3 lk to 69 34. The company reported fourth-quarter net of $1.32 per share vs. 70 cents in the same period a year earlier. Kodak said earnings will not grow as fast in 1985.

Mart, which fell 3 last week, rebounded 34 to 37 b. On the Amex, Dome Petroleum was the most active issue, rising Vs to 2 Commodore GM announces DETROIT (UPI) General Motors Corp. Monday announced a $150 million plan to consolidate 15 service parts distribution centers which would involve closing seven eastern facilities, including operations in Buffalo and Long Island. J. Wayne Cagle, general manager of GM's Warehousing and Distribution Center, said the move involves modernization of parts processing and distribution facilities at its Flint, Pontiac and Drayton Plains, plant and at its Martinsburg, W.Va., plant.

The seven facilities to be closed towards the end of the three-year project are located in Baltimore; Buffalo and Bethpage, N.Y.; Newark and North Brunswick, N.J.; and two in Pittsburgh. GM spokesman Mike McCurdy 1 I TOKYO (UPI) Trade ministers from the United States, Japan, Canada and the European Common Market pledged Monday to launch high-level talks next year aimed at boosting world trade. The four ministers, representing nations responsible for 60 percent of world trade, called for a full meeting of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, composed of officials responsible for global trade, to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers. The pledge concluded the Ninth Quadrilateral Trade Ministers Conference in Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital about 300 miles southwest of Tokyo. Japans International Trade and Killer dolls NEW YORK (UPI) The toy industry unveiled its 1985 wares Monday, proudly introducing what appeared to be the Year of the Killer Doll.

Squeeze the feet of UN Toys doll and a nasty little lizard tongue pops out. Watch the Thundercats do battle with the evil Mutant doll. For the public, the first look at next Christmas toys did not offer many surprises. The tone was pretty well set by Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, who gave a speech calling for more innovation in the toy industry and then introduced his new companys first offering a line of trivia games. Trivial Pursuit imitators Almost every dollmaker appeared to have a squashed-faced baby with yarn hair and names like Flower Kid or Fruit Kid or Namesake Baby.

Chris Haney, creator of Trivial Pursuit, said he had counted over 100 imitatators of his 22-million game seller. Selchow Righter, the Scrabble makers, unveiled Alfreds Other Game, created by Alfred M. Butts, who had invented Scrabble 54 years ago. Its sort of been a long time between drinks, a Selchow Righter executive said repeatedly. The tiny 85-year-old Butts, meanwhile, was happily playing his new word game for the cameras while a nubile young thing in a slinky black dress draped herself over his shoulders.

Having beaten back the dreaded videogame challenge, and enjoyed a banner 1984, the traditional toymakers are expecting great things in the years ahead, as the baby-boom generation produces its own little baby boomlet. The yuppies youngsters are often only children, which means their parents will be able to shell out $100 for a Street Hawk motorcycle, or $200 for a lifesize stuffed Afghan Hound or $35 for Voltron, hero of the 25th century. Ucensed characters appear as popular as ever. But the Dune debacle has left its mark on resistance to the dollar, but some dealers remain remain nervous over the potential for concerted intervention. A Ixindon dealer said the U.S.

Lincoln's Birthday bank holiday "could be an opportunity for central banks. Since U.S. banks account for much of international volume, the authorities theoretically could get more bang for the buck" when they are out of the picture. But Holland said the intervention fear has lessened for U.S. traders.

Most of the activity has been day trading, no one is going home with positions that have to be covered. In these circumstances intervention is less effective. In Ixmdon, the embattled pound closed at $1.0960, down from $1.11 Friday. In New York it was $1.0976, down from $1.1051. The Canadian dollar fell to 74.82 U.S.

cents from 75.05. Treasury bill yields were mixed Monday at the regular weekly auction after two previous weeks when both three-month and six-month bills went up. The government sold $7 billion in three-month bills at an average discount of 8.20 percent, up from last weeks 8.16 percent and the highest in 10 weeks. The government also sold the same amount in six-month bills at an average discount of 8.28 percent, down slightly from last weeks 8.30 percent and the lowest in three weeks. The discount rate understates the return to the investor.

The investment rate on three-month bills is 8.49 percent at an average price of 97.927, with 100 representing par or face value. The investment rate on six-month bills is 8.76 percent at an average price of 95.814. I havent opened my 1984 IRA yet. Is it too late? No, in fact you have until April 15th, the day your tax return is due! And the nice thing is, an IRA at First Vermont Rank can save you hundreds of dollars in taxes. The Deposit Counselors at First Vermont Bank are answering every possible question about Individual Retirement Accounts.

If you have a question, stop by and get it answered. Then open your 1984 and 1985 IRAs as soon as possible. First fermont Bank And This Compaq ml i HiR Bennington Sot) Mam Street Manchester Center Bonnett Street MARKETS Corp. was second, off to 1 4. TIE Communications was third, off a to 9 34.

The dollar, meanwhile, finished at record highs Monday despite a minor selloff sparked by nervousness over the high levels and reports of a beginning shift out of the dollar into the British pound. Gold rallied. The British pound dipped below $1.10 for the first time ever and the dollar hit all-time highs in France, Britain and Italy, where it finished above 2,000 lire. In West Germany the dollar was at its highest since December 1971 when it was effectively devalued. In Switzerland it was at a 10-year high against the franc.

After closing above 3.26 West German marks in Frankfurt, the dollar hit 3.28 marks in New York where very stiff resistance caused it to retreat slightly. Dealers attribute the latest surge to a few buyers. Dealers willing to sell are making them pay through the nose, a dealer for a major bank said. But theres a lot of caution and nervousness at these high levels and reports that capital inflows to the dollar from abroad may be slowing exacerbated the concern, said Daniel Holland, vice president at Discount Corp. of New York.

These factors caused some profittaking, especially at the close in Chicago (the International Monetary Market currency exchange), he said. Although money still is flowing in from abroad, some investment houses report what could be the beginnings of a shift from U.S. and Canadian investments to the British pound because of the high U.K. interest rates. Asked about how this reconciled with the pounds dip Monday, one dealer called the drop mostly all dollar-related.

The Bundesbank offered small consolidation said there are 570 workers on the payroll at those locations and, after normal attrition rates between now and 1988, the remaining workers would be placed in new jobs at nearby assembly plants or be relocated to other cities. McCurdy said details of such relocations would have to be ironed out with the United Auto Workers when the time came. McCurdy said the project will mean an additional two million square feet of floor space it its Flint, Pontiac and Drayton Plains plants. Cagle said the modernization project is needed to provide increased capacity to handle future business and provide a state-of-the-art materials handling system to improve service to GM dealers and AC-Delco distributors. da mi' MEN'S UNDERWEAR 'Jy on ntou-n the management of flagging industries that inhibit world trade and help bolster up-and-coming high technology sectors, Murata added.

U.S. Trade Representative William Brock, Canadian International Trade Minister James Kelleher and European Community External Affairs Commissioner Willy De Clercq also joined in the conference. Brock told Murata that Japan would imperil friendly U.S.-Japan ties if it doesnt open its markets to American high technology products. Brock said he hopes Japan will honor its pledge to open the lucrative telecommunications market to U.S. firms when it transfers the national communications monopoly to private ownership in April.

toymakers who were burned when the movie flopped and left them holding their man-eating worm franchises. Precious few movie characters lined the fair racks this year. The Worldwide Wrestling Federation has licensed out several of its most prominent hero and villain wrestlers, and boys 6-9 are being invited to pit the virtuous Hulk Hogan or Andre the Giant against the nefarious Iron Sheik, an alleged Iranian admirer of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Andre the Giant is the second most famous athelete in the world next to Mohammed Ali, said the young woman demonstrating the wrestler dolls. She declined to reveal her sources.

marketed mans game, a standard accouterment of wealth, the study says. Now they are being mass-marketed to factory workers, school teachers, truck drivers and bank pliers. But, the study found, more than 80 percent of the savings from the $49 billion invested in shelters in 1983 went to taxpayers with incomes topping $100,000. It is scandalous that our tax system is handing out more than $20 billion in tax subsidies for wealthy taxpayers at a time of $200 billion (federal budget) deficits, Claybrook said. Investors in tax shelters sometimes reduce their taxable ncome by many times the amount of their investment by acquiring a share of the ventures expenses.

For example, Attorney General William French Smith announced in May 1982 he would not claim an estimated $176,400 in tax deductions from a controversial shelter in which he invested $58,800, although he insisted the deal was completely legal. Burlington cooks up airport plan MONTPELIER (UPI Controversy is already brewing about the proposed sale of the Burlington International Airport to a regional authority. The Burlington Airport Commission, which oversees the city-owned airport, met Wednesday with lawmakers to discuss the possible sale. The Legislature would have to approve creation of a regional airport authority. But commissioner William Thompson said the change of ownership is possible only if Bemie doesnt get too greedy.

He was referring to Burlington Mayor Bernard Sanders, who said in response that the airport is extremely valuable and he intends to do everything he can to insure that the people of Burlington are treated fairly. Tax shelters said being mass Saudis selling gasoline to U.S. NEW YORK (UPI) Saudi Arabia, OPECs most influential member, has begun selling gasoline to U.S. oil companies to circumvent the cartels official oil pricing policy, an energy trade journal reported Monday. WASHINGTON (UPI) Tax shelters, once a rich mans game, now are being mass-marketed to the middle class and their use and abuse will add about $300 to the average Americans income tax bill, a study concluded Monday.

Tax shelters, ranging from legal real estate investments to bogus oil exploration, will cost the Treasury about $24 billion this year, according to the study by Public Citizen, a group founder by consumer activist Ralph Nader. Congress would be irresponsible if it did not move to abolish tax shelters during the current debate over tax reform and budget deficits, said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. She said total revenue loss in 1984 from tax shelters nearly equals the total the government paid for food stamps, student loans and Aid for Families with Dependent Children. The study, "Running for Shelter: Tax Shelters and the American Economy," says, Technically, tax shelters are easy to get rid of. Politically, the battle is much tougher.

On the one side stand the vast majority of taxpayers who have an average of $300 a year to gain, it says. On the other side are legions of syndicators, brokerage houses, financial planners, lawyers, accountants." Tax shelters include such longtime favorites as oil drilling, equipment leasing and real estate, as well as new faddish ones involving Arabian horses, gold doubloons and even duck farms. The study says illegal tax shelters, those involving bogus or phony deals, are probably the biggest financial swindle in America today, costing the federal government at least $3.6 billion a year. Legitimate tax shelters, which the study describes as legal but unproductive, costs the country another $20 billion, with the figure rising. Since 1976, the study said, the amount of money poured into tax shelters has increased about 50 percent each year, reaching more than $49 billion in 1983.

Tax shelters use to be a rich IS ON YOUR SIDE! i.