News stories from Wednesday August 10, 1977

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

Agreement in principle on "the basic elements" of a new treaty between the United States and Panama calling for transfer of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone to Panamanian control by the year 2000 was announced by negotiators in Panama City. Ellsworth Bunker and Sol Linowitz, who led the United States negotiating team, will report to President Carter tomorrow. [New York Times] The Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing an inquiry into the securities activities of a bank in Georgia once headed by the budget director, Bert Lance, sources close to the inquiry said. This is separate from the investigation into his banking and loan activities by the Comptroller of the Currency and came as Mr. Lance faced increasing pressure in his personal finances. [New York Times] A man said by the police to be the .44-caliber killer who took the lives of six young people and wounded seven others over a year in New York City, was taken into custody shortly before midnight last night in Yonkers. The suspect was identified as David Berkowitz, a 24-year-old postal employee, of 35 Pine Street in Yonkers. [New York Times] Retail sales were up by five-tenths of 1 percent in July, the Commerce. Department reported after an earlier estimate of June sales had been lowered. The gain ended three months of declines, the longest since the recession in 1974. The department said that sales of non-durable goods accounted for most of the gain, while food slipped 1 percent and clothing and accessory sales 2 percent. [New York Times] Stock prices rallied sharply late in the session, and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.62 points to close at 887.04. Prospects of another favorable report on monthly wholesale prices were credited with giving the whole market a lift. Technicians saw the market's upward move as a good omen for the future. [New York Times] Construction jobs for women in brick-laying, carpentry and other trades will be required for federal contractors under regulations setting goals and timetables now being prepared by the Labor Department. A spokesman for the Building Trades Council of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. said it would be sure to oppose them because of the implication of quotas. [New York Times] Rules for advertising by lawyers were approved by the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. The detailed code specifies items lawyers may include in advertisements, thus implicitly making any other information officially unethical. The action was necessitated by a June ruling of the Supreme Court that held that at least some forms of print advertising were legal and proper. [New York Times] The first drug reported effective against fatal viral diseases has been used successfully in experiments, according to researchers of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Called adenine arabinoside, or ara-A, it was derived from a sponge found in Caribbean waters. Two French scientists first suggested its possible use, and the N.I.A.I.D. collaborated with them and with several American research laboratories and clinical centers and the pharmaceutical concern of Parke, Davis & Company in developing it. The researchers see the possibility of using it and similar agents to treat a broad range of viral diseases. [New York Times] Wide gaps have to be bridged before a Geneva conference can be convened, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance said in Jerusalem at the end of his Middle East mission, observing that Israel and the Arabs did seem to want peace. He refused to assign blame for slow progress but indirectly seemed to credit the Arabs with more flexibility. He told West Bank Arab public figures meeting him at the home of Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan that a transition period under United Nations trusteeship was the most reasonable solution of the issue of a Palestinian homeland. [New York Times] A long-dormant volcano in northern Japan is erupting and has smothered large areas of the island of Hokkaido. No deaths have been reported but damage so far is estimated at more than $100 million. [New York Times] Queen Elizabeth II bypassed battle-scarred central Belfast by helicopter, and the first day of her visit to Northern Ireland was without incident in her presence. But in the city streets anti-Monarchist Roman Catholic marchers were barred by British soldiers from reaching City Hall, with a few injuries, none serious. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 887.04 (+7.62, +0.87%)
S&P Composite: 98.92 (+0.87, +0.89%)
Arms Index: 0.45

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	908	12.09
Declines	490	2.95
Unchanged	492	3.24
Total Volume		18.28

* 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*
August 9, 1977	879.42	98.05	19.90
August 8, 1977	879.42	97.99	15.87
August 5, 1977	888.69	98.76	19.94
August 4, 1977	888.17	98.74	18.87
August 3, 1977	886.00	98.37	21.17
August 2, 1977	887.39	98.50	17.91
August 1, 1977	891.81	99.12	17.92
July 29, 1977	890.07	98.85	20.35
July 28, 1977	889.99	98.79	26.34
July 27, 1977	888.43	98.64	26.44