News stories from Wednesday June 20, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Soviet Communist party leader Leonid Brezhnev and President Nixon continued their talks today at Camp David, Maryland. While Nixon and Brezhnev are at Camp David, Treasury Secretary George Shultz and the Soviet foreign trade minister signed a prearranged tax agreement helping trade. Tough negotiations are taking place in Maryland, including topics such as nuclear arms limitations, European armed forces reductions and the Middle East problem. The parties will try to reach some agreement on the strategic arms negotiations which began last year in Moscow. There won't be much discussion about the Indochina war. [CBS]
- Russian-American harmony is lost on the host city of Washington, DC. Residents are seeing more security and confusion than normal for a visiting dignitary. Traffic is blocked and streets are jammed by 20,000 police and federal agents involved in security operations. Much of the government's overreaction is due to a few demonstrations against the Soviet Union's policy regarding Jewish emigration. Security will relax after Soviet party leader Brezhnev goes home. [CBS]
- Gifts from Leonid Brezhnev to President Nixon include a gold samovar, water pitcher, goblets, a tray and a rug. To Mrs. Nixon, Brezhnev gave a tea service, coffee service, six tea glasses and holders, a crocheted shawl and a jewel box. From Nixon to Brezhnev, gifts include a gold-trimmed rifle, porcelain, and a Lincoln Continental automobile. [CBS]
- The ACLU filed a motion asking that a new trial be given for the seven convicted Watergate burglars because of perjury that has been admitted during the Senate committee hearings. Senate testimony also revealed that the burglars pleaded guilty because they received money from the Nixon re-election committee for doing so. [CBS]
- A federal judge has found the Nixon re-election committee guilty of violating the Disclosure Law for failing to report a $200,000 contribution by financier Robert Vesco. Campaign officials John Mitchell and Maurice Stans are under indictment in the same case. Attorney John Parkinson said that the committee did report the pledge under the new campaign finance law, but didn't report the actual contribution when it first arrived. Judge Hart ordered a $3,000 fine. [CBS]
- John Connally, President Nixon's White House adviser, talked to the press about rumors regarding alleged displeasure with his job. Connally wants to leave the White House by mid-summer, and said that as an adviser he has given all of the advice he has, but rumors of his immediate departure are false. Asked to assess the Watergate scandal, Connally said that he knows no more than the average person does. Speaking about Nixon's personality, Connally stated that the President delegates great authority to other men and he won't change that. Connally joked that if President Nixon flew to the moon, the press would say he acted out of fear and not courage.
Connally stated that he has no political plans.
[CBS] - The Securities and Exchange Commission charged White House counsel Melvin Laird with intervening in a stock fraud probe, alleging that Laird's aides were told to call the SEC regarding its suit against Edward Ball, board chairman of the Florida East Coast Railroad. Laird said that the calls were just routine. Ball is being represented by attorneys from the firm of former White House aide Charles Colson. [CBS]
- The Associated Press reports that Fred LaRue tried unsuccessfully to reverse an Agriculture Department decision. The decision was unfavorable to a housing firm that LaRue received rent and airplane rides from. The vice president of the Sterling Homex Corporation said that he paid LaRue $200 a month for the use of LaRue's apartment, and LaRue and John Mitchell flew to Florida in a Homex plane at the time when plans for the Watergate burglary were made. [CBS]
- The U.S. has dropped 50,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia in the last two months, according to Senator Harold Hughes. More bombs have been dropped on Laos than on all enemies during World War II. [CBS]
- Exiled Argentine President Juan Peron left Spain for Argentina earlier today. Peron, his wife, and Peron's head of government Hector Campora were seen off by Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
Peron's arrival in Buenos Aires turned from a joyous welcome to gunfire. The crowd of over 1 million welcomers included rival Peronist groups. The opposing factions begin shouting slogans and soon the occasion turned into a fight between Socialists and Peronists. People everywhere had guns, and when the shooting began there was no sign of police. Peron landed at a military base and went to his home. Peron's first problem will be to contend with internal fighting and confusion. Seven people are known to be dead from today's incidents; 170 were wounded.
[CBS] - The U.S. trade deficit for the first quarter of 1973 was $1.2 billion, the smallest deficit since 1970. [CBS]
- The decline in spending abroad has caused a pinch in West Germany's Volkswagen production. Volkswagen can't compete with American compacts like the Pinto and Vega, and rising German incomes have resulted in a higher-priced Beetle. VW spokesman Rudi Maletz said that there is no profit for the company in America; stockholders are not pleased. Domestic American compacts are priced lower than the cheapest Volkswagen. One-third of VW's sales normally take place in the United States. The company has two alternatives -- produce a cheaper car for the U.S., or open an assembly line in America, but Volkswagen fears American labor unions. [CBS]
- Skylab astronauts today held their last live news conference before coming home. The crew is happy, and pleased with their accomplishments. They are leaving a 90%-operable space station behind. [CBS]
- Julie Nixon Eisenhower answered Watergate questions at a meeting of Young Republicans; she is the only family member making public appearances. When asked what effect the scandal is likely to have on the 1974 and 1976 elections, Eisenhower replied that anti-Republican feeling is high now, but after the charges and hearsay are cleared away and the facts are known, people's view of Republicans will change. She said that she doesn't know what President Nixon will do after he leaves the White House, aside from the fact that he will reside in California. David Eisenhower suggested that Nixon might become commissioner of Major League Baseball. [CBS]
- The Association of Tennis Professionals is boycotting next week's Wimbledon tournament because of the International Tennis Federation's suspension of Nikki Pilic for missing a Davis Cup match. Jack Kramer said he will play at Wimbledon if Pilic's ban is lifted and a tribunal is brought in to listen to Pilic's side. Arthur Ashe said that Pilic was the straw that broke the camel's back. Ilie Nastase is being forced to play Wimbledon by the Romanian tennis federation. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 884.71 (+3.16, +0.36%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| June 19, 1973 | 881.55 | 103.99 | 12.97 |
| June 18, 1973 | 875.08 | 103.60 | 11.46 |
| June 15, 1973 | 888.55 | 105.10 | 11.97 |
| June 14, 1973 | 902.92 | 106.40 | 13.21 |
| June 13, 1973 | 915.49 | 107.60 | 15.70 |
| June 12, 1973 | 927.00 | 108.29 | 13.84 |
| June 11, 1973 | 915.11 | 106.70 | 9.94 |
| June 8, 1973 | 920.00 | 107.03 | 14.05 |
| June 7, 1973 | 909.62 | 105.84 | 14.16 |
| June 6, 1973 | 898.18 | 104.31 | 13.08 |