News stories from Wednesday October 20, 1971

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

Several banks cut their prime lending rate from 6% to 5.75%, which may give the economy and employment a shot in the arm. Treasury Secretary John Connally hopes that the new rates will reverse the inflationary trend. Charles Schultz of the Chicago American Bank and Trust said that the rate cut is not justified economically, but its political implication is obvious. [CBS] Negotiations in the nationwide coal strike have broken off. [CBS] House Ways and Means Committee chairman Wilbur Mills is under attack from the Nixon administration regarding his slowdown on revenue sharing. Mills said that even if the President is peeved at him and the committee, he won't be intimidated by such tactics. Mills noted that the press survived attempts at intimidation from this administration, and so will he.Mills thinks that America needs new management in the "front office", and said that he will speak more about his own presidential candidacy next year. Mills said that he would be glad to have a woman as Vice President, and he considers himself fully qualified on foreign policy. Mills says that if a Southern congressman can be nominated, he's ready. [CBS] President Nixon chose Dr. Jack Grayson, dean of the Southern Methodist University business school, to head the Price Commission for Phase II. [CBS] West German Chancellor Willy Brandt won the Nobel Peace Prize, the first time a head of state has won it in 50 years; Brandt will accept the prize on November 10 in Norway. [CBS] Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin told the Canadian Parliament that there is no anti-Semitism in the USSR. Kosygin said that the Soviet Union is increasing the number of people who are allowed to leave the country, and he pointed out that 4,450 Jews have been allowed to leave in the last eight months; the Soviets only restrict the departures of those who just completed a costly education, and they are unwilling to provide Israel with more soldiers. Kosygin will go to Cuba on Tuesday. [CBS] Henry Kissinger has arrived in Peking to prepare for President Nixon's visit. [CBS] Cambodian Premier Lon Nol said that his government no longer willing to play the game of democracy and freedom; thousands of Buddhist monks protested. Nol's timing is poor, since Congress is currently considering foreign aid to Cambodia. [CBS] The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 11-5 to limit U.S. aid for Vietnam to funds for troop withdrawal only, though no withdrawal deadline was set. [CBS] A committee of the American Bar Association is evaluating six names which were submitted by the President as potential Supreme Court nominees; the White House said that the ABA may be bypassed. The Associated Press reported that President Nixon will nominate California judge Mildred Lillie and Arkansas attorney Herschel Friday. [CBS] Senator Sam Ervin's committee recessed its hearings on freedom of the press. Federal Communications Commission chairman Dean Burch said that the FCC will shun its role as censor and try not to intervene, but he noted that broadcasters are always reluctant to admit when something is unfair about their broadcast. Burch charged CBS president Frank Stanton with promoting the theory of the Nixon administration's alleged conspiracy against broadcast news; Stanton denied that he suggested a conspiracy or impugned the integrity of the FCC commissioners. The hearings will resume in 1972. [CBS] The Senate Finance Committee voted to increase the personal income tax exemption to $675 from $650. [CBS] Michael McCloskey, executive director of the Sierra Club, told the Senate Interior Committee that talk of an "energy crisis" is highly exaggerated. [CBS] The House passed a bill to give Alaska natives $1.925 billion and 40 million acres as settlement of their land claims. [CBS] The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, has ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew after 15 days of violence following the funeral of a 17-year-old black youth. The death was ruled a homicide at the hands of the police, and 23 policemen have been relieved of duty. [CBS] Attorney General John Mitchell attacked the corruption of high public officials. In the last 32 months, 170 past or present office holders from 21 cities, 12 counties and five states have been indicted or convicted. [CBS] The owner of 28 acres of land near Mt. Vernon, Virginia is about to sell it to Russia for $900,000. Owner Malcolm Matheson said that the American government should own the property, but haven't indicated any interest. The estate has been on the market for six months and no one has offered to buy it except the Soviets, who need a home for their ambassador. [CBS] The U.S. Postal Service is asking that Christmas mail be sent early. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 855.65 (-12.78, -1.47%)
S&P Composite: 95.65 (-1.35, -1.39%)
Arms Index: 1.92

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	327	2.03
Declines	1,097	13.05
Unchanged	271	1.27
Total Volume		16.35

* 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*
October 19, 1971	868.43	97.00	13.04
October 18, 1971	872.44	97.35	10.42
October 15, 1971	874.85	97.79	13.12
October 14, 1971	878.36	98.13	12.87
October 13, 1971	888.80	99.03	13.54
October 12, 1971	893.55	99.57	14.34
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