News stories from Wednesday January 11, 1978

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Unemployment dropped sharply in December to the lowest level in three years. The rate of 6.4 percent followed a revised November figure of 6.7 percent and was marked by a surge in hiring that added 409,000 persons to the job rolls in December. That brought the 1977 employment gain to 4.1 million workers, the biggest yearly increase since World War II. Cheered by the new figures, officials predicted an unemployment rate of around 6 percent by the end of 1978. [New York Times] A new department of education with full cabinet status has reportedly won the backing of President Carter. Administration officials said he plans to announce his support by the end of next week. Mr. Carter reportedly wants the new department to take over education activities now in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare as well as those elsewhere in the government. [New York Times] A new effort to curb inflation is being planned by the Carter administration, which reportedly hopes to develop a program of wage and price restraints that it depicts as something between moral suasion and controls. Administration officials say the program would emphasize a statement of general principles aimed at keeping wage increases in line with gains in productivity and limiting price rises to no more than extra costs. [New York Times] Stock prices dropped again, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its second straight 33-month low. This time the loss was 5.63 points to 775.90, and again the decline was attributed to concerns over the sagging dollar. The Dow has now declined in all seven 1978 trading sessions, dropping more than 55 points in all and marking one of the worst early-year performances on record. [New York Times] The "big push" on the big ditch began in earnest as Secretary of State Cyrus Vance started a cross-country tour to drum up support for Senate ratification of the Panama Canal treaties, What his aides called "the big push, the January offensive," began with a stop in Charleston, West Va. [New York Times] Foreign antitrust suits against American companies were approved by the Supreme Court. In a 5 to 3 ruling, the Court held that foreign governments could bring antitrust suits in the federal courts, seeking treble damages against American corporations. The specific case involved a price-rigging suit brought by India, Iran and the Philippines against six pharmaceutical companies. [New York Times] Stop smoking. That's the message of a major new government campaign proposed by the Carter administration to win the nation's 53 million smokers away from their cigarettes. The plan calls for increasing the 8-cent-a-pack federal cigarette tax, banning all smoking on commercial planes, increasing to $6 million from $1 million the amount the Department of Health, Education and Welfare spends on anti-smoking education and banning smoking in most areas of federal buildings. [New York Times] A nuclear export agreement designed to curb the spread of atomic weapons was detailed by the State Department. The 15-nation agreement, hammered out by nuclear export countries in a three-year effort, allows the continued sale of nuclear reactors and other equipment for generating electric power, but lays down an extensive program of international safeguards to prevent their use for military purposes. [New York Times] Israeli-Egyptian military talks began in Cairo and ranking military strategists from the two countries sought a blueprint for peace based on Israeli troop withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula and mutual security. The opening 90-minute session also touched on Israeli settlements in Sinai, according to a joint communique that described the talks as "constructive." [New York Times] The return of Tongsun Park to Washington came closer to reality when the Korean businessman appeared at the American Embassy in Seoul to sign an agreement that could make him the key witness against Congressmen and other government officials who may have accepted bribes from Korean interests, including Mr. Park. Under the agreement, pending charges against Mr. Park would be dropped. [New York Times] A Soviet space rendezvous brought two more astronauts to the orbiting Salyut 6 research station, where they joined the two-man crew that had been circling the globe for 33 days. It was the first time such a multiple link-up has been achieved, and the two crews joyfully hoisted their cherry juice tubes and squeezed off a round of toasts. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 775.90 (-5.63, -0.72%)
S&P Composite: 89.74 (-0.43, -0.48%)
Arms Index: 1.33

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	541	6.02
Declines	881	13.06
Unchanged	445	3.80
Total Volume		22.88

* in millions of shares

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*
January 10, 1978	781.53	90.17	25.18
January 9, 1978	784.56	90.64	27.90
January 6, 1978	793.49	91.62	26.15
January 5, 1978	804.92	92.74	23.57
January 4, 1978	813.58	93.52	24.09
January 3, 1978	817.74	93.82	17.72
December 30, 1977	831.17	95.10	23.56
December 29, 1977	830.39	94.94	23.61
December 28, 1977	829.70	94.75	19.63
December 27, 1977	829.70	94.69	16.75