News stories from Monday May 17, 1971

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

Railroad signalmen are on strike, demanding a 54% pay increase; President Nixon has asked Congress to end the strike. Labor Secretary Hodgson proposed that Congress should extend bargaining until July. Signalmen union president Charles Chamberlain says that his men will return to work if ordered to do so.The auto, steel and coal industries may face shutdowns if the rail strike continues, and second, third and fourth class mail is already being affected. Postmaster General Blount announced a nationwide embargo on bulk mail during the strike. [CBS] President Sadat has taken over as Egypt's police chief, in a attempt solidify his political control of the country. [CBS] Secretary of State Rogers briefed United Nations Secretary General U Thant and Mideast mediator Gunnar Jarring on his Mideast trip. Rogers said that an interim agreement on reopening the Suez Canal is possible, and he doesn't think the political turmoil in Egypt will slow the negotiations. [CBS] Israel consul general Efraim Elrom has been kidnapped in Istanbul, Turkey; the kidnappers are demanding that jailed revolutionaries be freed. [CBS] Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau arrived in Moscow for talks. [CBS] Jacob Beam, the U.S. ambassador to the USSR, met with Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko to discuss negotiations for mutual troop reductions in Europe. General David Burchinal observed that Russia is speaking about serious negotiations on troop cutbacks for the first time. Treasury Secretary Connally said that he opposes Senator Mansfield's amendment to cut U.S. troop strength in Europe by 50% and he thinks that foreign allies can help pay the cost to maintain U.S. troops abroad. The Senate will vote on the Mansfield amendment Wednesday. [CBS] The U.S. balance of payments deficit was $5.5 billion for the first quarter of the year. [CBS] South Vietnamese forces started a new offensive in the Ashau Valley; U.S. B-52's bombed the valley. [CBS] Glenn Storer found a way to avoid returning to South Vietnam after serving half of his tour of duty. His look-alike brother Wesley returned to South Vietnam in Glenn's place after two weeks leave; Wesley successfully passed for Glenn for a week. Wesley never got into combat, and Glenn turned himself in when he learned that he brother had been discovered. Glenn has returned to his unit and Wesley will be returned to the United States when South Vietnam grants him a visa. [CBS] South Vietnam President Thieu is cracking down on drug traffic; police and customs officials have taken over customs operations at the Tan Son Nhut airport. [CBS] The U.S. Naval Academy said that the two midshipmen who were expelled for drug use were among the top 15 in their class. [CBS] The National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse held a hearing. Dr. William Moore testified that those who are already ill reduce their chances for recovery if they use marijuana; those who are healthy become symptomatic after prolonged marijuana use due to a psychological addiction to the drug.President Nixon has said that he won't follow the commission's recommendations if it calls for the legalization of marijuana. [CBS] The federal government has launched a nationwide campaign to promote electricity conservation in order to prevent power failures this summer. [CBS] The U.S. has now experienced nationwide railroad strikes four times in the last four years. Railroad unions still support each other -- when one union strikes, the others support it; the strikes affect millions of people. Congress must act to end the strike but so far has failed to pass legislation dealing with railroad labor disputes. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 921.30 (-14.76, -1.58%)
S&P Composite: 100.69 (-1.52, -1.49%)
Arms Index: 1.84

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	210	1.24
Declines	1,276	13.86
Unchanged	202	0.88
Total Volume		15.98

* 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*
May 14, 1971	936.06	102.21	16.43
May 13, 1971	936.34	102.69	17.64
May 12, 1971	937.46	102.90	15.14
May 11, 1971	937.25	102.62	17.73
May 10, 1971	932.55	102.36	12.81
May 7, 1971	936.97	102.87	16.49
May 6, 1971	937.39	103.23	19.30
May 5, 1971	939.92	103.78	17.27
May 4, 1971	938.45	103.79	17.31
May 3, 1971	932.41	103.29	16.12