5.50% 6.00 % 7.50 % 9.00% Interest Rate Last 6 Months Heightened Interest Bank of Israel's dilemma: Higher or lower rates? Interest Rate Next 6 Months PINHAS LANDAU SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS Interest Rate Next 6 Months O Interest Rate First 6 Months Put Your Money To Work Where It Gets An Automatic Raise Every Six Months. 24 Month "Step Rate" CD % Raise your sights to the new 24-Month -Step Rate- CD from The Huntington. It automatically raises its rates every six months, so you earn more interest. What's more, there is no penalty for early withdrawal of funds after the first 12 months. The minimum deposit is S500. So step up to some very attractive returns. See your Huntington Personal Banker or Annual Percentage Yield I II 0 Hunhngton Banks call 1-800-642-INFO today. Member FDIC. Penalty for early withdrawal within first 12 months of term—after first 12 months, no penalty applies. Penalty-free withdrawal option applies to original term. For personal accounts only. Huntington Personal Banked and Huntington Direct ," are Federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated. © 1995 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated. STOCKS T A X E X E M P T U N T T R U S T S 42 TAX-FREE BONDS MUTUAL FUNDS Linsco/Private Ledger Member NASD/SIPC NATALIE RAY Investment Advisor Representative F FINANCIAL SERVICES • Mutual Funds • IRA Rollovers & Transfers • Stocks • Bonds • Annuities • CD's • IRA's • Tax Free Investments CALL NATALIE RAY For Alternative Strategies & Superior Service On All Your Investment Needs. N A N C A L P r L A N N N G (810) 350-8899 800.972-0371 TAX-DEFERRED ANNUITIES IRA'S MONEY MANAGEMENT ne of the key signs of the growing sophistication of Israel's financial markets is the rise of what might be termed "Bofiswatchers." In the same way as the ana- lysts who track how the Federal Reserve Bank makes monetary policy are "Fedwatchers," and the Bundesbank analysts are "Bubawatchers," the people who try and figure out what the Bank of Israel is going to do next must be "Bofiswatchers." The raw material for these sa- vants is economic data such as in- flation, unemployment and trade figures, as well as the more ar- cane money-supply numbers. Each piece of data is scruti- nized in light of current central- bank policy and thinking: Will it confirm or contradict the pro- claimed aims of the policy mak- ers? Ultimately, the object is to try and second-guess the central bank's decision on interest rates because correctly predicting the direction of interest rates, and es- pecially the timing of changes in rates, is the Holy Grail of eco- nomic analysts in every capital market in the world, at least in the last few years. Recent figures for the Israeli economy have not been encour- aging, to say the least. Although January's consumer price index was a lowly 0.2 percent, this re- flected the collapse of fresh veg- etable prices after their explosion late last year. The underlying rate of con- sumer price rises was still around 1 percent. Worse still, wholesale prices of Israeli products jumped 1.4 percent in January, suggest- ing that inflationary pressures are getting worse, not better. But the obsession with infla- tion numbers is an aberration. The really bad news came a week earlier with the publication of the January trade figures, which showed a deficit of $1 bil- lion. Although this number elicited almost no response, its severity can hardly be understated. Remember that regular U.S. aid, plus assorted forms of Dias- pora support, plus borrowing $2 billion a year under the U.S. loan guarantees give Israel a total of less than $6 billion per annum. In other words, there is no way Israel can even pretend to finance a trade deficit of a billion dollars The trade deficit suggests Israeli currency is overvalued. a month without massive foreign borrowing — assuming the world is ready to lend Israel the differ- ence. The trade deficit suggests LEADING ISRAELI STOCKS TRADED ON U.S. EXCHANGES Symbol Name Exchange Jan. 20 Jan. 27 Change SCIXF Scitex NASDAQ '17.38 '17.38 '0.00 ECILF EC I Telecom NASDAQ '15.88 '15.50 TEVIY Teva Pharm NASDAQ '26.63 '25.75 I EC PEC Israel NYSE '24.38 '22.13 ELBTF Elbit Computers NASDAQ '19.50 '17.75 ELT Elscint LTD NYSE '1.88 '2.00 ELRNF Elron Electronics NASDAQ `9.75 '8.63 TAD Tad iran NYSE '16.50 '15.75 CMVT Comverse NASDAQ '12.75 '11.88 LANTF Lannet Data NASDAQ '22.75 '21.50 ISL First Israel Fund NYSE '10.88 '9.88 Source: Allen Olender, Prudential Securities, West Bloomfield.