News stories from Wednesday January 18, 1978

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

The next director of the F.B.I. is expected to be William Webster, a federal appellate judge in St. Louis, according to an official of the Carter administration. Judge Webster is a 53-year-old Republican who was appointed to the bench in 1971 by President Nixon and was at one time considered by President Ford as a candidate for the Supreme Court. [New York Times] The huge roof of an empty coliseum in Hartford's Civic Center collapsed under a heavy blanket of ice and snow. No one was hurt in the collapse, which dumped 1,400 tons of twisted steel tresses and gypsum concrete over the 10,000 empty seats below. [New York Times] Stock prices sped ahead in their best showing in 1978. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 7.28 points, closing at 786.30. [New York Times] The plea-bargaining power of prosecutors was enhanced by the Supreme Court, which ruled that they may threaten a defendant with a second, more serious, indictment if he refuses to plead guilty to a lesser charge and demands a trial. The 5 to 4 decision held that a man charged with forging an $88 check had not been deprived of his constitutional rights when the prosecutor carried out a threat and the forger was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of a five-year term previously offered to him. [New York Times] Efforts to bolster the Pentagon's policy role within the administration are being made by Defense Secretary Harold Brown by reorganizing his top civilian command. Department sources said that Mr. Brown had asked Henry Owen, director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, to take the new post of Under Secretary for Policy. The appointment would cement Mr. Brown's control over the military and, sources said, it would allow a single individual to deal with overall policy and strategic issues. [New York Times] Tightening taxes on business expense accounts was opposed by Representative Al Ullman, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes taxes. He told reporters that Congress would not approve President Carter's expected proposal to disallow tax deductions for half the cost of business meals because, to do so would cause joblessness in the restaurant and hotel industries. [New York Times] An elusive businessman is an impostor and prison escapee whose firm, Lloyd, Carr and Company, the authorities revealed, allegedly swindled thousands of investors out of millions of dollars in the last 18 months. The man was known to the Boston investment community as James Carr, but he has been identified by the F.B.I. as Alan Abrahams, who is being sought by six federal and state courts. [New York Times] The Middle East peace talks broke up abruptly. President Anwar Sadat of Egypt ordered his Foreign Minister to return home at once from political negotiations in Jerusalem and told President Carter that the talks would resume only if Israel changed its position. The recall raised serious doubts about the future of the peace initiative that Mr. Sadat began barely two months ago by going to Israel. Later, the Cairo radio reported, Mr. Carter called Mr. Sadat and urged him to reconsider his decision. Mr. Sadat reportedly complained that Israel sought "land and not peace," but he agreed to allow military talks to resume in Cairo on Saturday in appreciation of Mr. Carter's efforts on behalf of Middle East peace. [New York Times] Israel's cabinet sharply criticized the sudden recall of the Egyptian negotiators, calling it an "extreme" move that proved "that the Egyptian government deceived itself that Israel will submit to demands it has never considered feasible." The stern statement was issued after a long emergency meeting in a feverish atmosphere. Many Israelis pondered whether an extraordinary chance for peace with the Arabs had eluded them. [New York Times] The United States and Israel were startled by Egypt's abrupt withdrawal just as progress was being reported toward agreement on an American compromise plan on the principles for an overall settlement. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, heading the American delegation to the peace talks, only in their second day, stressed to reporters that he and President Carter were determined to put the diplomatic efforts back in motion. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 786.30 (+7.28, +0.93%)
S&P Composite: 90.56 (+0.68, +0.76%)
Arms Index: 0.57

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,024	14.29
Declines	414	3.30
Unchanged	440	3.80
Total Volume		21.39

* 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 17, 1978	779.02	89.88	19.36
January 16, 1978	771.74	89.43	18.76
January 13, 1978	775.73	89.69	18.01
January 12, 1978	778.15	89.82	22.73
January 11, 1978	775.90	89.74	22.88
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