Yen

When a good friend called to say she would be in town to visit her son, who attends college nearby, I invited her to stay with us. I planned meals for the entire weekend, but as it turned out, her offspring, unenthusiastic about his dorm food, had his heart set on dining out in several area restaurants. His mother willingly complied, but it meant that my husband and I were able to share only one meal -- Sunday lunch -- with her.Our friend indulged in all manner of ethnic foods, including Italian, Mexican and French, during her brief visit with her son, but mentioned that what she longed for most was meat and potatoes.

TOKYO -- The idea was simple: Shower the Japanese with free shopping coupons and they would spend some life into the economy.Not cash, which could be stashed under a futon. Not a tax cut, which would only end up in savings banks.Local shopping coupons worth $6 billion would be good for virtually anything but securities or sex. Every man, woman and child over 65 or under 15 would be given 20 coupons in easy-to-fritter denominations of 1,000 yen -- about $8.This was the opening round of the Liberal Democratic Party's grand economic stimulus package announced last fall to rekindle the consumer demand that has gone cold as this country plods through its nearly decade-long recession.

TOKYO -- Nissan Motor Co. said yesterday that it lost 32.55 billion yen ($266 million) in the first half because of slumping sales and extensive stock losses, forcing Japan's second-largest automaker to predict its sixth full-year loss in seven years.The maker of midsized sedans and pickup trucks projected that the company and its subsidiaries will lose 30 billion yen for the fiscal year that ended March 31, jettisoning an earlier forecast of breaking even.Without the stock loss, a 76 billion-yen charge on its plunging investments in banks and other securities, Nissan would have remained in the black, analysts said.

A LOT of what occurs in world markets is as much war as greed. And a lot of what happened with the earlier free-fall of the yen -- and is happening now with the free-fall of the dollar -- is war. In fact, maybe just about all of it is war.It's not widely known in the United States, but one single reference to Japan attributed to a former high U.S. official has enraged a lot of important and ordinary Japanese. Writing in the Sept./Oct. 1997 issue of Foreign Affairs, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former director of the National Security Council during the Carter administration, said "Whether Japan is to be America's vassal, rival or partner depends on the ability of Americans and Japanese to define common international goals and to separate the U.S. strategic mission in the Far East from Japanese aspirations for a global role."

TOKYO -- Japanese leaders agreed yesterday on a plan designed to restore the nation's debt-burdened banks to health, a crucial step to reviving growth in the world's second largest economy.The plan calls for a government takeover of some of the country's biggest and weakest banks, closing smaller institutions and pumping trillions of yen in taxpayer money into the banking system to dispose of bad loans.The prolonged debate over what to do about Japanese banks took on new urgency in recent months as it became clear that Japan's slumping economy -- now in its third quarter of contraction -- threatened growth around the world.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks staged their biggest advance since February yesterday, as the U.S. government attempted to help Japan and other Asian nations rescue their ailing economies by selling dollars for yen.The rebound in the Japanese currency to 136.37 to the dollar prompted gains in U.S. exporters such as American Express Co., United Technologies Corp. and DuPont Co. as the outlook for their earnings brightened.Stocks have fallen in recent weeks as the tumbling yen threatened to delay Asia's recovery, which would damp demand for U.S. products from computers to elevators to financial services.

The stock market rebounded sharply yesterday after the Treasury Department suddenly reversed course and began intervening in international currency markets to stabilize shaky Asian economies.Yesterday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Treasury's agent in the world currency market, sold dollars and bought yen, which slid to an eight-year low against the U.S. currency on Monday.The U.S. move was prompted by fears that the yen might continue to fall, burying the country deeper in recession and damaging the economies of China and other Asian countries as well.

NEW YORK -- Broad market indexes plummeted across the board yesterday, following the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index lower.The Russell 2,000 index of small capitalization stocks lost 7.73 to 433.86; the Wilshire 5,000 index dropped 210.75 to 10,105.45; the American Stock Exchange composite index skidded 13.52 to 683.88; the S&P 400 midcap index slid 7.08 to 344.93; and the New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 11.78 to 554.89.All but the Russell lost more than 2 percent.

The yen is falling, run for cover, the yen is falling.Lucky old Sauerbrey, won't have to do negative campaigning. Democrats will have done it all for her.Serbia slaughtered Croatian civilians. Serbia slaughtered Bosnian Muslims. Serbia slaughters Kosovo Albanians. Everyone picks on Serbia.Starr will subpoena priests next. Deceased parishioners confessed a great deal.Pub Date: 6/15/98

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks fell for a second day on concern that the economy will slow, as a slumping Japanese yen signaled a prolonged period of weak demand in Asia for U.S. goods.American Express Co., United Technologies Corp. and oil shares led the drop.With the yen at an eight-year low against the dollar, investors said other Asian countries may let their currencies fall so their exports can remain competitive, making U.S. goods more expensive throughout the region.The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 159.93, or 1.78 percent, to 8,811.