The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 11

Page 10 New car cost rises to $23600 By JERRY DUBROWSKI Reuters DETROIT New car buyers beware Its harder to buy a new ear than at any time in 15 years based on a study released Monday that considers factors like family income and interest rates along with retail prices And costs are expected to go even higher in the months ahead ueled by higher interest rates increased costs for safety features and fewer rebate deals the aver age new car cost nearly $23600 to buy and finance in the third quar ter up almost $1650 from a year ago according to a study released Monday by Comerica Bank In recent years low cost financ ing and rising incomes have helped consumers afford those shiny new vehicles stuffed with air bags and cleaner exhausts But with the ederal Reserve Bank raising interest rates again analysts expect car purchasing costs to rise further as car compa nies boost finance rates to reflect the higher cost of money if the ed doesn't do anything more with interest rates auto loans might go up another half a point or so maybe even a full said Michael Luckey with the Luckey Consulting Group in Woodcliff Lake NJ auto companies have been intentionally holding them down particularly GMAC and ord Mo tor Credit in an effort to keep business going But at some point the rates will continue to go On average every one percent age point rise in the typical auto loan translates into an additional $7 increase in the monthly car payment According to the Comerica auto affordability study the average car loan rate rose to 935 percent in the third quarter of 1994 up from 885 percent in the second quarter and 878 percent a year ago Chief Economist David Littmann said the rise in in terest rates coupled with increased costs for new safety features has pushed the average number of weeks a family must work to buy a new car to 371 weeks of take home pay from 354 weeks a year ago and just under 30 weeks in the third quarter of 1986 a spectacular in crease in median income I know how going to get more affordable Littmann said adding car prices continue to outpace in come growth While interest rates have at tracted a lot of attention this year analysts say a big reason for the rise in auto purchasing costs can be attributed to increased content and smaller rebates companies have been cut back on incentives and dealers are not willing to discount cars as much as they used to Luckey said sticker price may have gone up only 2 or 3 percent but the transaction price is up a lol more than Lexus Division General Manag er George Borst said a big reason for the increase in prices is the volume of additional equipment being ordered on cars such as compact disc players leather scats and air bags find much more equipment today on he said are a lot of luxury features on non luxury CBS NBC trade some TV stations By CAL MANKOWSKI Reuters NEW YORK Television net works CBS Inc and National Broadcasting Co Inc said Monday they agreed to exchange TV sta tions and assets in Denver Miami Philadelphia and Salt Lake City Under the agreement NBC will acquire WCAU TV in Phil adelphia CBS will acquire KCNC TV in Denver on behalf of a joint venture with Westinghouse Electric Corp and will receive $30 million in cash from NBC a sub sidiary of Genera Electric Co CBS will also acquire on behalf of the joint venture television sta tion KUTV TV in Salt Lake City for $124 million consisting of cash and the assumption of the obligations In Miami NBC and CBS said they will exchange their current television broadcast towers and channel positions ollowing those transactions station in Mi ami WTVJ TV will be broadcast over Channel 6 and WCIX TV will be broadcast over Channel 4 CBS and Westinghouse subsid iary Group Broadcasting Co in July formed a venture to acquire new stations and produce pro gramming The deal also included affiliating their major market tele vision stations CBS said when the deals are completed the stations and assets acquired by CBS will become own ed by the joint venture with Group The venture also will control the station owned by CBS in Miami and one owned by Group in Philadelphia NBC said its new affiliate in Denver will be KUSA owned by Gannett Co NBC also said it ne gotiating a long term affiliation agreement with KSL TV in Salt Lake City The NBC CBS deal is the latest in an unprecedented wave of reaf filiations that is not over yet in dustry officials said Chuck Sherman senior vice president for television at the Na tional Association of Broadcasters an industry trade group estimated nearly 70 reaffiliation agreements have been announced this year will eventually reach another 10 or 15 (stations) by the time all of this shakes he said In the deal that launched this wave of reaffiliations in May CBS lost 8 affiliates to the ox televi sion network owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch in a $500 million ox deal with New World Communications Businesspeople AD Construction Corp of Amherst has promoted Scott Castilone to vice president of the estimating de partment He has been employed as an estimator and scheduler with the firm for seven years Castilone holds a degree in engineering science from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering AD also has named Nicholas Hunt project manager He formerly worked at AJ Contracting Co Inc in New York City Hunt holds a degree in con struction management from New York University Ivoclar North American Inc a dental company headquartered in Amherst has named Alan Kor man general counsel He formerly was with the law firms of Hodgson Russ Andrews Woods Good year and Nixon Hargrave Devans Doyle Korman holds a degree from University of Arizona and a law degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law Damon Morey a Buffalo law firm has named Kenneth Africano a partner in the business litiga tion and insolvency department He formerly was a partner at Saperston Day Africano holds a bache degree from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law Curbell Inc of Orchard Park has appointed Ar thur Weibel general manager of finance He for merly was an audit mantiger for Dopkins Co Wei bel holds a degree in accounting from Canisius College 1 The Western New York Technology Development Center has named Jerry ahn manufacturing en WEr Ira Ml HM Jkl It Castilone Korman Africano gineer Previously director of procurement for Praxair Inc he will provide manufacturing assistance under the Western New York Manufacturing Extension program ahn holds a de gree in electrical engineering from Purdue University Levin Co a certified public accounting firm at 100 Lafayette Court has appointed David A Urban supervising staff accountant in the audit department He is a graduate of Niagara University CH Heist Corp of Cheektowaga has promoted Patricia Kehoe to accounting manager for Ablest Ser vice Corp She formerly was an accounting supervisor Ms Kehoe is a graduate of Niagara University The Park Lane Restaurant has named Sam Reda executive chef He formerly worked at in Pa sedena Calif Reda is a graduate of the Cordon Bleu Chef School in Paris OREIGN EXCHANGE Aigenl Australia Austria Belgium Brazi Britain 30 daylwd 60 daytwd 90 daytwd Canada 30 dayfwd 60 dayfwd 90 dayfwd Chile China Colombia CzechRep Denmark ECU Ecudr Egypi inland rance Germany 30 dayfwd 60 dayfwd 90 dayfwd Greece Hong Kong Hungary lnoia Indnsia Ireland Israel Italy Japan 30 dayfwd 60 dayfwd 90 dayfwd Jordan Lebanon Malaysia gn currency Dollar in in dollars gn currency Mon ri Mon ri 10010 1 0010 9990 9990 7619 7570 13125 1 3210 0912 0915 10963 10930 0312 0313 3208 3200 1 2048 12048 8300 8300 1 5670 1 5675 6382 6380 15669 1 5673 6382 6380 15670 15673 6382 6380 1 5668 15674 6382 63807300 7316 13698 1 36687298 7319 13702 136647295 7321 1 3708 136607295 7376 13708 1 3558 002486 002486 40223 402 23 1175 1152 8 5113 86790001210 001210 826 50 826 50 0357 0357 28 01 27991641 1643 6 0950 60878 122550 122720 8160 8149000440 000440 2273 04 2273 042947 2949 33930 339052102 2104 47565 475351871 1875 53440 533256423 6437 15570 155356425 6440 15563 1 55286430 6445 15551 15516 6435 6450 15540 15505004174 004182 239 60 239 101293 1293 7 7313 7 73100091 0091 109 69 109500319 0321 31 350 31140000460 000460 217202 2172 02 15469 15411 6465 64893298 3298 30320 30320000626 000628 1596 50 159200010172 010163 9831 98 40010202 010225 98 02 9780010234 010255 97 71 97 51010268 010287 9739 97 21 1 4682 1 4682 68110 68110000641 000641 1559 00 155900 3896 3899 25670 2 5648 I LOCAL OTC STOCKS The following ore Notional Asso ciation of Security Deolers listed stocks that are not on the Nasdaq automated market: Close Change Cellular Prod 03 03 CPAC 1 37a Embrace Sys 3 Exolon ESK 19 Microtel 4H 'g Seneca oods 29' Toyco Dcvel 2 732 Taylor Devices 4 Village Green 4 On Boston Stock Exchange I GOVERNMENT INANCES WASHINGTON (AP) igures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated) The fiscal year runs Oct 1 through Sept 30 Total public debt Nov 18 $4 66381 4 Statutory debt hmrt 4900000 Operating balance Nov 18 12840 interest fiscal 1994 thru Sept 296278 interest same period 1993 292502 Actual deficit fiscal 1994 203 370 Actual defied fiscal 1993 254684 Receipts fiscal 1994 thru Sept 1257187 Receipts same period 1993 1153226 Outlays fiscal 1994 thru Sept 1460557 Outlays same period 1993 1408532 Gold assets thru Sept 11054 Mexico Zealand Nethrtnd Norway Pakistan Peru Philpms Poland Portugal a Russia Saudi Arab Singapore SlovaxRep So Africa 1 So Africa So Korea Spam Sweden Swilzerlnd 30 dayfwd 60 dayfwd 90 dayfwd 290444 289981 34430 3 4485 6224 6235 16067 16038 5722 5745 17475 1 7407 1467 1471 6 8180 6 8000 0327 0327 3060 3060 4630 4630 2160 2160 0413 0429 2420 2333 000042000042 23781 23828 006295006297 158 85 15880 000318000316 314300 3167 00 2666 2666 3 7506 3 7515 6821 6796 14660 14715 0322 0322 3107 3107 2826 2835 35390 3 5278 2442 2433 4 0950 41100 001257 001255 79560 79660 007710007753 12970 12899 1360 1367 7 3515 7 3160 7579 7583 13195 13188 7591 7595 13174 13166 7605 7609 13149 131427618 0076 13127 1310020 I TORONTO STOCKS Close November 21 1994 Canadian cents unless marked Total sales 43331145 shares $17 $9Vw 112 $6 $39 $12' $1 $15 $14': $30 $1414 $7 $74 $33 405 495 $15 $12 $19 $24 $11 $39 $10 $27" $30 $14 $16 $25 $6 $9 $71 $5 $21 $17 $26 $15 $78 $14 $29 $12 $20: $8 $18 $19 340 $18 $6 $45 $11 $23 $16 $7 $14 $15 $18 $19 $8 $7 435 $10 $23 $17 $6 $10 $24 $24 $15 $16 $19 2140 $22 $13 $17 395 $13 15 $16 180 $24 $25 400 480 $28 435 $22 $8 $18 $9'8 $18 $9'8 410 $25 $45 $13 $14 $11 $24 $26 $8 $43 230 $24 $9 $10 $12 $12 $29 $31 $15 $21 $20 NovaCor NS Powr Nowsco $18 OcelotE $13 UnexG Oshawa PWACor PgurmA PanCn PetroC Placer PocoPe PolyEr PtashCr QSRo Rayrock Redpath Renisa RogCn RogA RogB Roman Roth RoyIBnk Rytrco Sasko Saskol Sceptre Scotts SearsCn SHLSys Selkirk ShellC Shemfi Southam $14 sparAer SlelcoA Ston cn Tallsmn TCCBev TeckA TeckB TekisCo ThomC TorDBk TIPS TorStar TrnsMt TmAMa TrCPL TriIon Tnrpac Tnzec UEner Umcorp Wascan Westm Weston PILld ahnslk airfax edlnd inning lelCCn lelCInv SesnHI ranco GeacCo GCan GendisA $15 Genuine $61 GoldcorA $7 GoldcorB $8 GraftG $35 Hayes $11 Heeslnl $12 Hemiuio Hollgr Horsha HBay iSMIrrfA Imasco IorestA IPL eng IntrprvP ISemiTc InvGrp Iosco ISGTech $8 ivacoA tvocaR 310 Jannock KerrAd Labati La cans Loblaw Lumomc Mackenz Madelin MagnaA MLood Manlme Mclan MarkRe MDS Mmnova MolsonA MolsonB Morisn Mind Wy NomaA Norand Norandl Norcen NAmer NA Palid $18 49 455 $41 $11 $26V4 $6 $21 $45 95 $14 $20 $29 $42 $20 $19 80 $83 $27 39 $9 $9 $10 $7 $8 $6 $49 $43 $12 Abrtibi AgraldA AgnicoE AjrCana AltEn AJlaNat Andersn ABanck Atco AurRes Avenor BCEInc BCGas BGR A BlBNktv BnkMni BtBkNS Baton BCEMo Bramle BCTele CAE CCLA CCLB Cable Cambrid Cameco ClmBkC CdnNtRs CPorst CPLid CanTire cum Cantor Cara Celnse Celnsel Cmeplex Camdev CoSleet CocaB Conwesl CoronaA Crownx CrownxA Corel DY4svst DenisnA $20 uemsnb Delma Declan Dofasco Donohue $13 DundeAl $9 DuPontA $17 uyiex ELAN EuroN CAInl DIVIDENDS MONDAY DIVIDENDS DECLARED Pe Stk of piy riod rat record aWa IRREGULAR Cross Timbers Rfiy 074 11 30 12 14 Geo Putnm dB 434 11 21 11 30 includes 321 cap gams disi Keystone Cus! 1 130 11 21 12 6 Keystone Gust 3 83 11 21 12 6 Keystone Cusl 4 07 11 21 12 6 Pocahontas 13 12 15 1 3 Pope Resources 360 12 9 12 30 Putnm MgdicTrB 106 11 21 11 30 Torch Energy 764 11 30 1 2 1 2 STOCK Adv Plant Pharm 1121 11 21 1 lor 7 reverse spin Am Sensors 12 23 2 for 1 split subject to shareholder approval CPAC Inc 12 22 1 12 5 for 4 spin Ionics 'Inc 12 14 1 6 2 for 1 spin Mid Amer Sep 3pc 12 12 12 29 PhyCor Inc 12 1 12 15 3 for 2 split Westwood Corp lope 12 1 12 22 INCREASED CORRECTION sl Citizens BkStk 12 12 15 12 30 Hormel Geo A 145 1 21 2 15 Lancaster Col Cp 14 12 9 12 30 Nall Income Rlty 18 12 2 12 21 Park Natl Corp 30 12 9 1 3 REDUCED Northrop Grumman 40 11 28 12 10 corrected record pay dates INITIAL Webster City ed 10 1 3 1 19 Wireless Telecm 04 12 23 1 3 Res Mtg Capll Inc 16 12 15 12 30 SPECIAL Amer Media 7 00 12 21 1 3 sl Citizens BkStk 15 12 15 12 30 sl edl Svgs(Co) i 00 12 5 12 12 OMITTED CPAC Inc EXTRA Mid Amer Bep 05 12 8 12 29 REGULAR ACE Limited 11 12 30 L19 ANB Corp 21 12 2 12 19 Alex Alex 0 025 12 1 12 30 I MONEY RATES MM NEW YORK (AP) Money rates for Monday as reported by Telerafe Systems Inc: Prime Rate' 8 50 Discount Rate 4 75 Broker call loan rale: 725 ederal funds market rate: High 5 50 Low 5 4375 Last 550 Dealers commercial paper1 30 180 days: 560 6 09 Treasury Bill auction results average discount rate: 3 month as of Nov 21: 540 6 month as of Nov 21: 5 85 annie Mae 30 year mortgage commitments 30 days' 9 25 60 days: 9 33 Money market fund: Merrill Lynch Ready Assets 30 day average yield: 4 53 CANADIAN EXCHANGE Buying Selling Currency 6950 7500 Coins 6650 7500 Checks Drafts 6953 7403 Brenco inc 06 12 16 1 2 Chemical inl 0 21 12 2 12 16 Chicago Rivet 0 30 12 5 12 20 Circle ind 0 12 12 9 12 19 Colonial Hilnco 05 11 30 12 16 Colonial Interm Hi 050 11 30 12 9 Colonial Mumlnco 0465 11 30 12 16 Commerce Group 0 05 12 2 12 16 Community BkSysl 30 12 15 1 10 Compass Bcshs 23 12 15 1 2 EMC Insurance 13 12 1 12 16 Expedrlors Inti 05 12 1 12 15 st Commerce Corp 30 12 16 1 2 uton Co 06 1 13 1 27 Gap Inc 12 12 2 12 27 Jacobson Sirs 0 125 12 16 1 10 Kleinwrt Ben Aus 06 12 1 1215 La Quinta Inns 025 12 6 12 16 Umrted inc 09 12 2 12 13 Maple Leal foods 095 12 10 12 31 Mesa Offshore 009 11 30 1 31 Mesa Royalty 2 1 11 30 1 31 Mid Amer Bep 0 15 12 8 12 29 Midland Bk ADR A 554 11 30 12 15 apptox amount per share Perkin Elmer 17 12 1 1 3 Permian Bastn 027 11 30 12 14 Putnm GIGvIcTrB 068 11 21 11 30 Rauch Ind 0 02 12 2 12 16 Realty loco 15 12 1 12 15 Republic Bep 08 12 9 1 6 Salite Mae adjpf A 625 12 15 12 30 San Juan Basin 029 11 30 12 14 Texas Ultl 77 12 7 1 3 US Bancorp OR 0 25 2 9 1 3 Venture Stores 0 145 12 1 12 15 Vital 'Signs 02 11 28 12 5 Xtra Corp 14 11 30 12 15 Payable in Canadian unds I METAL PRICES MM NEW YORK (AP) Spot nonfor rous metal prices Tuesday Aluminum 902 cents per lb London Metal Exch Mon Copper $140 Cathode full plate US des tinations Copper $13700 per lb NY Comex spot Mon Lead 44 cents per lb Zinc 5891 6016 per lb delivered Tin na Metals Week composite price per lb Gold $38380 Handy Harman (only daily quote) Gold $38320 troy oz NY Comex spot month Mon Silver $5160 Handy Harmon (only doily quote) Silver $5151 per troy oz NY Comex spot month Mon Mercury $21500 per 76 lb flask New York Platinum $4 1 575 S4 1 700 troy oz NY (contract) Platinum $41160 NY Merc spot per troy oz Mon nq not quoted na not available I COMMODITIES Chicago commodity markets Monday Nov 21 tnange uose 035 69 lb e0 02 74 82 lb 040 32 251b 090 3690 lb Live cattle Dec eed cattle Jan Live hogs Dec Pork bellies eb Wheal Dec Com Dec Oats Dec Soybeans Jan Crude oil Jan 325 374 bu 100 $216bu 425 118 bu 700 5 63bu (100 $1756 bl NORTH EDITIOI1 I The Buffalo NewsTuesday November 22 1994 Staying Ahead Credit card users will see higher rates on January bills for Attention holiday shoppers: The cost of your Christmas just went up The interest rate that most credit cards charge on unpaid balances varies with the bank prime rate the bench mark rate for many business and consumer loans) The prime jumped three quarters of a point to 85 percent last week after the ederal Re serve hiked short term rates across the board Depending on who issued your credit card you may owe anywhere from 39 percentage points to 11 percentage points over the prime At the high end that comes to 195 percent on unpaid bal ances Most cards adjust quarterly so you normally see the higher rate until January just in time to raise the cost of your Christmas bills The cost isn't going to break your back This rise in the prime since 6 percent low will add $92 annually to average $3900 balance Consumers in general however have paid an extra $47 billion in credit costs so far this year according to RAM Research in rederick Md You may also be paying on a larger revolving balance Credit card issuers have been raising the amount that customers can charge and in De cember many shoppers charge the max Consumer installment debt (mainly auto loans and charge cards) now accounts for 175 percent of disposable income up from 162 percent last year Mortgage rates have jumped to 96 percent for 30 year fixed interest loans with no points up front (a point is 1 percent of the loan amount) says HSH Associates in Butler NJ irst year rates on no point adjustable rate mortgages arc running at 675 percent (or 64 percent assuming 12 percent in points) But an older ARM adjusted to the current cost of one ycar Treasury bills could jump to 925 percent although your rate normally can't climb by more than 2 percentage points in a single year The rate on revolving home equity loans will rise to around 101 percent immediately Average auto loan rates at banks are 9 percent up only 1 point in the past seven months the Bank Rate holiday purchases Monitor reports This interest rate hikes will slow econom ic growth next year from 43 percent over the past four quarters to around 25 percent predicts Allen Sinai chief global economist for Lehman Brothers in New York That means slower growth in jobs But not predicting a recession In his view the ed could raise rates another point or so without tipping the economy over enduring the slowest US business up turn in modern times But the creeping expansion is now widespread reaching even the laggards such as New Yprk and California Sinai predicts that moderate growth will last for years disappointing those who yearn for a boom but also avoiding another painful bust boombust cycle was a he says is better than the old Maybe so for business profits and stocks But not for wages at least not yet Buying power from wages hasn't increased since the start of last year which is probably why six out of 10 Ameri cans think the recession over also why they now believe that Republicans can do more than Democrats to repair the economy (the oppo site belief is what elected President Clinton in 1992) This recovery has created 5 million new jobs Still corporations keep announcing layoffs it takes longer to find a new job today than it did at the end of the recession and most households contin ue to rely on a second earner or exhausting over time Median family income has dropped 8 per cent since 1989 says Irwin Kellner chief economist at New Chemical Bank Michael Metz chief investment strategist for Oppenheimer Co thinks that high interest rates will persist for some time because of the sturdy worldwide demand for investment capital In this environment he says US stocks could move lower perhaps for an extended time even if business profits go up That would hurt ba by boomers who are just now starting to accumu late capital for retirement Allen Sinai offers a cheerier view If investors see that higher rates mean recession and slow but steady growth continues he thinks respond by bringing the bull market back right now we're in the middle of the he says know which way it is going to '1 wj Jane Bryant Quinn Vix chain purchases Pete Pete the area's pio neer deep discount drug store will become a Vix Deep Discount early next year Tops Markets Inc the parent company of the Vix subsidiary an nounced Monday that it will pur chase the 4101 Transit Road store remodel it and reopen it as part of the Vix chain Nick Mastorides Vix director of operations said his firm has been in negotiations with Pete principals for several weeks to reach a purchase agreement are happy to have Pete join the Vix group of Mastorides said The pharmacy and other services will remain in operation while the transition is being made and Pete associates are being encouraged to become Vix staffers Pete was founded and operated by Larry Boni and Peter Spallino CPAC splits stock eliminates payout CPAC Inc will conduct a 5 for 4 split on its stock and elimi nate its 26 cent per share annual dividend the Leicester based com pany said Monday CPAC which makes processing solutions and pollution control equipment for tlie imaging indus try said the elimination of the div idend will allow the company to accelerate its growth and take ad vantage of the opportunities that may arise from its recent acquisi tion of The uller Brush Co The dividend which is paid in 65 cent increments each quarter gives the stock an annual yield of 193 percent feel strongly that the re wards to shareholders in share price will offset what now repre sents a cash dividend yield of less than 2 said Thomas Hendrickson the presi dent and chief executive officer The split which will grant shareholders five shares for every four shares that they currently hold will take effect on Jan 12 for shareholders of record on Dec 22 expands Aurora garden center Garden Center at 725 Olean Road East Aurora is planning a 2000 square foot ex pansion to double its indoor retail ing space The extra space will be used for expanded Christmas and garden gift displays The renovation project is part of Masterson's plan to establish it self as a four season garden and gift operation Elma Village Restaurant under new ownership The Elma Village Restaurant which previously was opened Monday in the Elma Vil lage Plaza at 2351 Bowen Road under the ownership of Martin and Susan The new owners are renovating the inside and outside of the res taurant Charles Ludwig is the res chef move heightens competition on Internet By EVAN RAMSTAD Associated Press NEW YORK Recent deci sions by large companies like MCI IBM and Microsoft to create prod ucts that connect consumers to the Internet are another sign the huge computer network is at last be coming something for everyone Their efforts mark a big change for the Internet first the electron ic habitat of military and scientific researchers and eventually populat ed by computer owners with tech nical expertise Big companies are taking con crete steps for the first time to ex pand the Internet but also are try ing not to upset its democratic personality in which consensus and standards build from the bot tom up rather than being handed down from some authority In just the past week MCI Communications Corp and Micro soft Corp announced plans to provide Internet connections next year They are not alone The big on line services America Online CompuServe and Prodigy are creating more ties to the Internet And some creators of office soft ware such as word processors are building Internet links into 1995 versions of programs Previously people gained access to it through colleges and universi ties employers or one of several dozen small independent compa nies that typically have regional customer bases Early developers have expected large firms would eventually arrive said Robert Berger president of an Internet access firm called In terNex Information Services Inc in Menlo Park Calif feeling is that just about everyone will eventually want to be connected so there will be lots of spaces and niches for smaller com Berger said Pete Ashdown president of XMission an Internet access pro vider in Salt Lake City said already used to competing with Prodigy and others trying to inno vate when you're putting in new services much easier for a smaller company to come up with new ideas and implement he said or people who own personal computers this rush of develop ment is key to the machine's use fulness are really three busi nesses that are now viewed as sep arate that are going to blur to gether commercial on line services multimedia software and the said Steve Case president of America Online Inc the linkage be tween them is what will drive them the usefulness of on line services with the openness and di versity of Internet and presenta tion pizazz of he said There's a long way to go how ever Only one third as many homes have PCs as TVs in the United States and only about 10 percent of them are hooked up to a com mercial on line service ewer are thought to be tied to the Internet although many people gain access to the network at work Worldwide estimates of people with Internet access range from 3 million to 30 million MCI with its service starting in January will be come the biggest brand name to sell access It began advertising the service on network TV Monday in a spot that depicted an editor at the fictional us ing the Internet to check facts for a book Microsoft plans to offer an In ternet connection as part of The Microsoft Network available when it starts selling its Windows95 soft ware in the middle of next year International Business Machines Corp recently began an Internet connection through a new version of its OS 2 software shoplifting losses climb to four year high Reuters GAINESVILLE la Retail losses from shoplifting and employee theft climbed to their highest levels in four years ac cording to a national survey by the University of lorida The survey conducted by the Security Research Project at the university was issued Monday Researchers collected data via an anonymous questionnaire from 327 retail companies representing different markets It found average inventory shrinkage equaled 195 percent of total sales a figure estimated at more than $20 billion Executives surveyed attributed 421 percent of the shrinkage to employee theft 324 percent to shoplifting 192 percent to admin istrative error and 63 percent to vendor fraud Businesses that reported the worst such losses included camera and photo stores at 4 percent op tical stores at 345 percent and re corded music and video stores at 273 percent Retailers with the lowest per centages of shrinkage were con sumer electronics at 54 percent of sales furniture stores at percent catalog showrooms at 12 percent and shoe stores at 122 percent Respondents also reported an average of 154 shoplifting appre hensions for every $100 million in sales The survey has been conducted annually for the past four years It is funded through an unrestricted research grant from Sensormatic Electrics Corp a security systems company North edition.