News stories from Sunday December 26, 1976

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

Christmas sales were much better than retailers had anticipated, and the rush in the final two days of the 29-day shopping season made a vital difference. Sales advanced 4 percent to 10 percent over last year, with an average increase of about 6.5 percent, according to a spot check of 10 major cities. The results, however, were far below 1975's 15 percent and 18 percent gains over 1974 in apparel and department stores sales, respectively. [New York Times] Bullish is what most analysts and portfolio managers say about the stock market's prospects for 1977, and they believe that the first six months will be the better part of the year. In the next few months the Dow Jones industrial average is expected to soar above its record closing high of 1,051.70 on Jan. 11, 1973. Energy, banking, insurance and telephones are some of the stocks repeatedly cited by analysts as offering money-making possibilities in 1977. [New York Times] American investors are saying that 1976 has only been a so-so year for the stock market, but foreign stockholders have done much worse, according to a survey by correspondents of the New York Times in eight cities. [New York Times] To help cut home gas-heating costs, a federal energy official proposes that local utilities take the initiative and pay for insulation against heat loss, clock thermostats and improvements in furnace efficiency, things that would presumably he paid for by the homeowner. The cost of saving gas would be less than the cost of buying gas, according to William Rosenberg, assistant administrator of the Federal Energy Administration and former chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission. [New York Times] Both houses of Congress are trying to protect from the political spoils system the Republican United States Attorney and his first assistant who together led the two-year investigation that exposed widespread corruption in the grain industry. Both efforts were initiated in Democratic quarters. Their objective is to keep Federal Attorney Gerald Gallinghouse of New Orleans and his first assistant, Cornelius Heusel, in their jobs so that they may finish their investigations. [New York Times] A hotel workers strike in Miami Beach spread to four more hotels. Six major hotels, all near capacity, are now affected. Guests handle their own luggage, eat buffet-style meals and sometimes make their beds. [New York Times] The issues between Christians and Moslems that brought about 19 months of war in Lebanon are still not resolved, and the divisions between the two factions that developed in the war have deepened. Despite a cease-tire enforced by Syrian troops, who are seen only on main roads and in conspicuous places, men with rifles continue to patrol the streets in Moslem and Christian neighborhoods. [New York Times] Eastern Europe continues to be the Soviet Union's military and ideological buffer against the West. But Moscow has become more willing to tolerate some domestic leeway in Eastern Europe in return for a display of solidarity on international issues. "The Soviets will let us do what we want as long as their security is not threatened," a Polish party member said. [New York Times] Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada said in a television interview that he would not take lightly the danger of civil strife if the Province of Quebec moved to break away from Canada. He said, repeating a statement he had made before, that he would not lead Canadians into a civil war if Quebec endorsed separatism in a referendum. [New York Times] In an apparent conflict of interest, the company that developed the controversial air-to-air Sparrow missile has been assigned by the Air Force to make a presumably impartial analysis to determine whether the weapon was ready for production. Congressional sources disclosed that the Raytheon Company, the missile's manufacturer, was awarded the analysis contract. [New York Times] Questions were raised about the World Bank's lending policies in a recent and, in terms of criticism, unprecedented speech to the bank's staff members by a former director, Charles Cooper, who is now with the Exxon Corporation in New York. Mr. Cooper, who spoke at the invitation of the staff, asked among other things whether the World Bank was making too many loans to less developed countries. [New York Times]