News stories from Wednesday December 9, 1970
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Congress is working to prevent a railroad strike. A House bill would delay the strike for 81 days a with 13.5% retroactive wage increase; a Senate bill calls for a 60-day delay with a 13.5% wage increase. President Nixon doesn't expect a strike and won't use troops to break one, but the President claims that the Democrat-controlled Congress is pressuring him. A national railroad strike would cripple the country because railroads are essential to industry. Unemployment could increase due to a strike; bulk mail has already been embargoed due to the threat of a strike. [CBS]
- New York City cab drivers and longshoremen are on strike. [CBS]
- The British power strike continued; 80% of the country is affected. [CBS]
- At Fort Bragg, N.C., 96 men received medals for bravery under heavy fire for their part in the attempted POW raid in North Vietnam. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird will defend the raid before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week. [CBS]
- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee fact-finders returned from Cambodia. Their report states that the U.S. shouldn't deepen its commitment in Cambodia. Nearly half of the country is in Communist hands; Americans are training Cambodian troops. [CBS]
- United Press International reported that a combined U.S.-Laotian force attacked Communists on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. [CBS]
- Draft director Curtis Tarr stated that an all-volunteer Army is impossible until the Vietnam war is over. [CBS]
- The defense team is preparing its case for Lt. William Calley. They will try to prove that the My Lai victims died from helicopter and artillery fire. [CBS]
- The Senate Finance Committee approved a 10% to 56% increase in Social Security benefits. [CBS]
- Presidential counselor Bryce Harlow resigned and was offered the chairmanship of the national Republican party. [CBS]
- The Air Force is testing a safety device in which a jet is stopped by a nylon net if it is not in air soon enough on takeoff. [CBS]
- The Justice Department is suing Armco Steel Corporation for water pollution. [CBS]
- The Coast Guard cutter Vigilant is back on patrol while the investigation of the attempted defection by a Soviet sailor continues. The Coast Guard couldn't reach a proper State Department official at the time of the incident when Soviet sailor Simas Kudirka jumped to the U.S. ship. Admiral William Ellis instructed the Vigilant to inform the Soviet ship and return the sailor if they wanted him. The Soviets took back the defector, and beat him. [CBS]
- The Soviet Union urged the resumption of Mideast peace talks. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, who is on his way to Washington, said that the Israelis will smite the Arabs if they cross the Suez Canal. [CBS]
- Swiss diplomat Giovanni Bucher wrote a letter urging Brazil to grant his kidnappers' demands. Brazil has agreed to free political prisoners in exchange for Bucher. [CBS]
- Deputy Attorney General Richard Kleindienst said that any official except the American President and Vice President should be sacrificed rather than have kidnappers' demands met. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 815.24 (+0.14, +0.02%)
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* |
| December 8, 1970 | 815.10 | 89.47 | 14.37 |
| December 7, 1970 | 818.66 | 89.94 | 15.53 |
| December 4, 1970 | 816.06 | 89.46 | 15.98 |
| December 3, 1970 | 808.53 | 88.90 | 20.48 |
| December 2, 1970 | 802.64 | 88.48 | 17.96 |
| December 1, 1970 | 794.29 | 87.47 | 20.17 |
| November 30, 1970 | 794.09 | 87.20 | 17.70 |
| November 27, 1970 | 781.35 | 85.93 | 10.13 |
| November 25, 1970 | 774.71 | 85.09 | 13.49 |
| November 24, 1970 | 772.73 | 84.78 | 12.56 |