News stories from Tuesday October 12, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Nixon will go to Moscow for a summit conference in May; he will be the first American president since F.D.R. to visit the Soviet Union. The President stated that his trips to China and Russia are being taken for the purpose of improving relations with those countries; he expects them to be working visits, with only limited ceremonies. In Russia, the President will primarily meet with Communist party chairman Leonid Brezhnev. Discussions will include major issues such as the SALT talks, the Mideast, Berlin and troop reductions.
The announcement of the President's trip was made early so it wouldn't seem that the U.S. is slighting the Soviet Union compared to China.
[CBS] - The U.S. and USSR have tentatively agreed on a plan to limit anti-ballistic missile deployment to two sites in each country and to impose a ceiling on the number of missiles at each site. [CBS]
- Organized labor will serve on the administration's pay board under Phase II; a memo from President Nixon guarantees the board's autonomy. AFL-CIO president George Meany said that because of the President's assurances that the Cost of Living Council will not have veto power over board decisions, the AFL-CIO executive council has decided to help make Phase II work. But Meany stated that organized labor will still oppose the President's tax measures and will fight for full employment. Meany also said that he won't guarantee that unions will accept any decision of the board, and he feels that deferred wage increases should be unfrozen as of November 13. That runs counter to the administration's plan; unions could strike to get those increases. [CBS]
- President Nixon said that if the U.S. and Japan don't reach an agreement on exports by Friday, the U.S. will move unilaterally and may impose import quotas on far Eastern nations. Japan called for the abolition of the 10% import surcharge. [CBS]
- President Nixon will announce his two Supreme Court nominees next week; Senator Robert Byrd and the names of two women are on his list. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court refused to consider the constitutionality of the Vietnam war and refused to interfere with the questioning of Attica inmates. The court upheld a law banning strikes by federal employees and rejected a challenge to the legality of the Nixon administration's Philadelphia Plan, which requires contractors on federal projects to hire a specified percentage of minority workers. [CBS]
- Senator Birch Bayh has taken himself out of the running for the Democratic presidential nomination due to his wife having surgery for cancer. [CBS]
- The Democratic party is divided over who should be the chairman of the credentials committee for the 1972 national convention. The executive committee voted 9-3 for the whole Democratic National Committee to choose Mrs. Patricia Roberts Harris; the fight can be traced back to the 1968 convention.
Party chairman Lawrence O'Brien is for Mrs. Harris, but he is worried about Senator Edward Muskie's support for Senator Harold Hughes for the post. O'Brien said that it's not easy to find someone like Patricia Harris; she is not a conservative Democrat. Mrs. Harris was the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg under Lyndon Johnson. Rep. Shirley Chisholm says that the party needs someone who is committed to reform, and she favors Hughes. A decision will be made Wednesday.
[CBS] - The House voted 354-23 in favor of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights for women. [CBS]
- The federal government will not stop cattle ranchers from feeding cattle the growth hormone DES even though tests of DES have produced cancer in rats. Cattle can't be fed DES for seven days prior to slaughter, however. [CBS]
- Sgt. John Sexton returned to America after more than two years as a POW. Another undelivered letter from him has been found in Pentagon files. [CBS]
- An entire company, including five soldiers who resisted going on patrol, has been withdrawn from Fire Base Pace and moved to Fire Base Timbucktu. A general said that the move was made due to flak over the incident and a morale problem. [CBS]
- South Vietnamese veterans took 14 American soldiers hostage and demanded ransom; the captors accepted $720 in cash and cases of cereal and salad oil. The hostages were returned unhurt.
A U.S. truck convoy in Danang, South Vietnam, collided with a funeral procession; similar incidents have led to riots. A jeep and a South Vietnamese motorcycle were involved in this accident; the motorcyclist demanded $36, otherwise he said he would burn the jeep. MPs have complained about the military doling out money to avoid fights, but many believe that Vietnamese crowds wouldn't hesitate to attack over accidents such as this one. The U.S. may be encouraging more blackmail by paying it.
[CBS] - President Anwar Sadat of Egypt spoke from Moscow and said that only force can be used in dealing with Israel. Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny pledged aid for Arab defense. [CBS]
- Iran is celebrating the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. In Persepolis, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlevi led a procession to the tomb of Cyrus the Great today and laid a wreath there. World leaders will attend the formal celebration. [CBS]
- Senator Sam Ervin's committee on freedom of the press heard from network executives, who asked the committee to help amend the FCC's "Fairness Doctrine". [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 893.55 (+1.61, +0.18%)
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* |
| October 11, 1971 | 891.94 | 99.16 | 7.80 |
| October 8, 1971 | 893.91 | 99.36 | 13.87 |
| October 7, 1971 | 901.80 | 100.02 | 17.78 |
| October 6, 1971 | 900.55 | 99.82 | 15.63 |
| October 5, 1971 | 891.14 | 99.11 | 12.36 |
| October 4, 1971 | 895.66 | 99.21 | 14.57 |
| October 1, 1971 | 893.98 | 98.93 | 13.40 |
| September 30, 1971 | 887.19 | 98.34 | 13.49 |
| September 29, 1971 | 883.83 | 97.90 | 8.58 |
| September 28, 1971 | 884.42 | 97.88 | 11.25 |