Luxuries

Pastor Paul Crouch looked into the camera and told his flock that Trinity Broadcasting Network needed $8 million to spread the Gospel throughout India and save 1 billion souls from damnation. Crouch, head of the world's largest Christian broadcasting network, said even viewers who couldn't afford a $1,000 pledge should take a "step of faith" and make one anyway. The Lord would repay them many times over, he said. "Do you think God would have any trouble getting $1,000 extra to you somehow?"

Visions of $100,000 price tags on $50,000 Japanese luxury cars are pulling some Southern California shoppers into dealer showrooms to jockey for position ahead of threatened federal trade sanctions against 13 popular models. But at other dealerships, uncertainty and anxiety are more prevalent than crowded sales floors. A few dealers, like Steve Shuken of Vista Lexus in Woodland Hills, said sales shot up from two a day to five on Wednesday and that the tariff threat is driving the action.

Recession-battered Southern Californians have been telling pollsters for four years now that they are financially pinched and not expecting things to get much better. But a stubborn pocket of affluence persists. And it is spending big bucks. Despite bad-mouthing the economy for pollsters, Southern Californians continued to buy expensive cars at an impressive pace in 1994, according to the industry journal Automotive News.

When South Koreans observe the world's attempt to choke the flow of French cognac, designer watches, flashy cars and other luxuries to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, they find themselves in a familiar situation: Bitterly divided.

Orange County's government is bankrupt and most residents have been telling pollsters for four years now that they are financially pinched and not expecting things to get much better, but a stubborn pocket of affluence persists. Despite bad-mouthing the economy, county residents continued to buy new cars--especially expensive luxury models--at an impressive pace in 1994, according to Automotive News, an industry journal. A pair of Orange County dealers finished one-two in the rankings.

The Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday to kill the luxury tax on expensive yachts, planes, furs and jewels and to extend for another 18 months a dozen special tax breaks. Renewal of the targeted tax reductions would be financed by selected tax increases on corporations. Those allowed to take advantage of the breaks include the self-employed, workers who receive education assistance from their employers and investors in low-income housing.

After the stock market plunged late last summer, Diane Allen, owner of 23rd Street Jewelers in Santa Monica, had a customer bow out of buying a $12,500 vintage diamond necklace. "She said she had to move around funds and sell some stock," Allen said. "Then she called back and said she was too affected by the stock market to make the purchase." Luxury goods retailers remain hopeful about their sales prospects as the holiday season approaches.

After two weeks of sniping, U.S. and Japanese trade experts on Friday informally agreed to meet at least twice before the Clinton Administration's deadline for imposing huge tariffs on the highest-priced autos Japan sells in the United States. The meetings, in effect, accommodate both sides. As proposed by the Japanese, staff experts will meet June 12 in Geneva under the auspices of the World Trade Organization, officials in Washington and Tokyo said.

Visions of $100,000 price tags on $50,000 Japanese luxury cars are pulling more Southern California shoppers into dealer showrooms to jockey for position ahead of threatened federal trade sanctions against 13 popular models. A few dealers, such as Steve Shuken of Vista Lexus in Woodland Hills, said sales shot up from two a day to five on Wednesday and that the tariff threat is driving the action. But many other dealers haven't seen the growing groups of potential customers buying more cars yet.