Conference nyoss1::market_investing

    If you're "inexperienced in finances", and want "a stable investment
    that keeps ahead of inflation & taxes", money-market accounts in
    overseas currencies are most likely not a good tool.
    
    Because they are money-market funds, their return will be low; because
    they are foreign, they have high currency risk.
    
    If you want to try to catch high German yields, I'd recommend bonds,
    but have no idea how an ordinary person would go about buying German
    bonds.  On the other hand, it's easy to buy German (or European) stocks
    through various mutual funds, so German bond funds may exist.
    
    In my opinion, the Multimoney accounts are reasonable if you have a
    need to cover yourself from currency fluctuations (e.g. you spend three
    months of every year in Germany visiting family; your child or spouse
    is in school in France; your pay is in Canadian $, not US $), but don't
    want the trouble of maintaining an account in the foreign country.
    They are reasonable if you want to play the currency markets and have
    the nerves and the big bucks to play it with.
    
    Otherwise they are just money-market funds with slightly higher risk;
    I don't see that there is necessarily a compensating higher return.
    
    I guess the final word is that it seems a very odd first investment.
    
    		-John Bishop

    If you must try these, I suggest going with the shorter term CDs in any
    of the European currencies, but only because my futures models predict
    a rise in BP/DM/SF over the next few months.  That will give you a
    "kicker" (i.e., the good part of the risk equation).
    
    Of course if I'm wrong and the Eurocurrencies weaken, it will likely
    wipe out your interest payments.  That's the bad part of the risk equation.
    
    If you're willing to accept those parameters, the odds are you will end
    up with a better expected return because of the higher rates available.
    
      John

	  Three month CD rates, 1 MAY 92 :

	  Br. pound	%9.875
	  DM		 8.375
	  Sw Kroner	10.625
	  Dut Guilder	 8.625
	  Fin Mark	11.000
	  Dan Kroner	 8.750
	  Nor Kroner	 9.125
	  Sfr		 7.750
	  Sp Peset    11.125
	  It Lira	11.125
	  Por Escudo	11.875
	  ECU		 9.125

	  I'm sure Citybank will pay US rates on these currencies,
	  while depositing your money abroad and keeping the differential.

	  Try Canadian, Austrian or Danish banks without US branches.
	  If you have less than $10k, forget it.

	 (It's legal as long as you follow the reporting regulations.)

    Thank you for your advice. I was interested in Citibank's 1 mo. time
    deposits since there isn't much difference in rates. Below are the
    rates as of 7 May. DM rates seem slightly higher than in .3 but the
    others are lower (perhaps DM changed since May 1 due to the strike).
    
    Perhaps I'm interested in European banking since my mother is Dutch and
    I don't have confidence in the US economy & banking system. Citibank's
    setup *seems* to ease foreign transactions.
    
    
    		DM	SFr	Br pound
    
    1 mo	8.5%	7.65	8.9
    2		8.52	7.62	"
    3		8.55	7.44	"
    6		"	7.35	"
    9		8.5	7	"
    12		8.45	"	8.85

U.S. Banks that provide foreign currency deposits:

American Security Bank			Northern Trust Bank
730 15th St. NW				50 South LaSalle
Washington, DC 20013			Chicago, IL 60675

Bank of America				Huntington Advisors, Inc.
315 Montgomery St.			251 South Lake Ave.
Mezzanine				Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94104			Pasadena, CA 91101

Central Fidelity Bank			Mark Twain Bank
1021 East Cary Street			1630 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
Richmond, VA 23219			St. Louis, MO 63131

First Union National Bank		Security Pacific Asian Bank
1 First Union Center			609 South Grand Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28288			Los Angeles, CA 90017

First Wachovia Bank & Trust Co.		Union Bank
P.O. Box 3099				370 California St.
Winston-Salem, NC 27102			San Francisco, CA 94104
					415-445-0224

No, I don't have phone numbers except for the last one.  List compiled by
_The Cash Book_, Jefferson Research, 2400 Jefferson Hiway, Jefferson LA 70121.
Not necessarily a comprehensive list.

  John