Foreign Exchanges

Wall Street stock traders will start opening shop much earlier in the day under a new plan announced Friday by the National Assn. of Securities Dealers. The NASD, a group of leading stockbrokers who operate the NASDAQ over-the-counter market, plans to start trading some over-the-counter shares at 4 a.m. EDT, 5 1/2 hours earlier than the current opening. The move, due to begin in early 1990, is aimed at luring away some of the potentially lucrative trading done at that time on foreign exchanges, particularly the London stock exchange.

Fast-food giant McDonald's Corp. had a solid fourth quarter, with a profit of $1.38 billion, up 11% compared with the same period a year earlier. Sales jumped 10% to $6.8 billion. But higher ingredient costs, foreign exchange rates, higher tax rates and other matters clouded Wall Street's view of the company's future. At the end of trading Tuesday, McDonald's shares were down $2.20, or 2.2%, at $98.75. In remarks to analysts, executives said menu price increases could be coming on top of the three increases the company instituted last year.

The weak peso helped boost foreign tourism to Mexico by 19% during the first half of 1995 compared to the same period in 1994, according to Mexican government figures provided to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Still reeling from industry speculation that AMR Corp. may be near bankruptcy, the parent company of American Airlines reported a third-quarter loss of $162 million, or 48 cents a share, attributing it mostly to higher fuel costs and unfavorable foreign-exchange rates. The nation's third-largest airline reported that revenue per available seat mile rose 8.1% for the quarter. But airline executives said the higher revenue was eclipsed by a $653-million, or 41%, increase in fuel costs from the same period last year — the last time the company reported a profit.

JAPAN: Three U.S. securities firms are gearing up to compete in a Tokyo foreign exchange market that has already exacted a heavy toll on foreign banks. Japan's Ministry of Finance paved the way for Salomon Bros., Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley to start currency trading by granting their European banking subsidiaries branch status. The three will avoid trying to battle the major Japanese banks that dominate the Tokyo market.

Many foreign stock markets have shown surprisingly small reactions to Wall Street's recent turbulence--a good reminder of the benefits of international investment diversification. While the Dow Jones industrial average has fallen 5.2% since Nov. 14, including the 120-point plunge on Nov. 15, the Hong Kong stock market has actually risen 0.8% in that period, as measured by the blue chip Hang Seng index. How a few other key markets fared: * German stocks have barely budged.

The dollar, until last month the 98-pound weakling of the world's major currencies, has unpredictably recouped all its substantial losses of the past year against the once-mighty German mark. Before slipping slightly, the dollar shot up another three pfennigs Wednesday alone to nearly 1.72 marks, territory not reached since March, 1990. The dollar also gained ground, although not so much, against the Japanese yen, the world's other major currency.

Bond yields of 10% to 15% in many foreign countries are a continuing lure for American investors, who figure those yields handily beat 7% returns on U.S. Treasury bonds. But last week, a big U.S.-based fund that invests in foreign bonds omitted its fourth-quarter dividend--angering and confusing shareholders. The fund, the New York-based Global Yield Fund, is a "closed-end" mutual fund: It has a fixed number of shares outstanding, and they trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The number of currency trades made each day in the United States has skyrocketed, the Federal Reserve said Thursday in a report likely to fuel fears that volume is getting too high for governments to maintain order. According to the report, issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, average daily foreign-exchange volume has leaped to $192 billion since 1989, up 49% from 1989.

Although U.S. cartoonists are far from running out of gas on energy policy, oil exploration and the conservation conversation, it never hurts to check out the foreign competition. Singapore's Heng Kim Song drove home his point -- in an 18-wheel tanker. Austria's Petar Pismestrovic contemplated a grim high-stakes game of food and fossil fuels. But Kenya's Gado really put things in perspective with his blood-for-oil gas-line image.

You can take a lot from Russia; it has lost plenty already: cash, empire, territory, clout. Russia is tough and wintry; Russia survives undaunted. But there's one thing you can't take from Russia, and maybe it has something to do with all that loss: the bottle. No leader has ever cracked down on Russia's epic drinking and been kindly remembered for his trouble. But now the young president says he is going to try. In a country where you can sip vodka at the playground while watching your children scramble on the jungle gym and polish off a business meeting with endless rounds of toasts, Dmitry Medvedev has launched a classic public relations campaign against drinking, complete with blistering condemnations, public commands to his underlings and the promise (or threat)

Down and out in L.A. and trying to break into the music scene in the late 1990s, Colombian rock star Juanes could have used a handout. Now, 11 million album sales later, he's one of this country's best-known philanthropists. Like fellow Colombian singer Shakira, the 36-year-old lends his star power and cash to alleviate suffering in this war- and drug-ravaged nation, advocating for land mine and kidnapping victims, peace and reconciliation, and preschool education.

Say the words "interior ministry" in almost any Middle Eastern country and you're certain to evoke fear and resentment. In the name of protecting the homeland, internal security forces in just about every Arab country limit civil liberties, intrude on private lives and abuse human rights. Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani bills himself as an independent-minded democrat and civil servant who wants to secure his country without resorting to heavy-handed tactics that might undermine what he describes as his nation's democratic progress.

Showing China's growing economic muscle, the nation's premier Friday expressed concerns about the stability of U.S. government bonds in Chinese hands and urged Washington to provide assurances to its largest foreign creditor. "To be honest, we are a little bit worried," Wen Jiabao said at the closing news conference of China's annual legislative session. "We have loaned huge amounts of money to the United States, so of course, we have to be concerned.

Foreign exchange markets focused on the West German mark on Tuesday as traders waited to see what action the Bonn government would take as its currency soared and the French franc dropped. The dollar fell on almost all markets, and gold prices were mixed. Republic National Bank in New York quoted a bid of $399.25 for an ounce of gold as of 4 p.m., down from $402 late Monday. Traders bought up marks in expectation of a revaluation within the European Monetary System.