News stories from Monday July 18, 1977

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

Broad revisions to make the enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act "fairer, prompter and more predictable" were proposed to Congress by President Carter. The changes would make it easier for workers to decide if they want to form a union. There would be stiff penalties for employers who delay or defy the labor law, including cancellation of government contracts.How effective the proposed changes in the national labor law will be in advancing the unions' organizing attempts is questionable. The unions' share of the national work force has fallen from a fourth to about a fifth in two decades. A decade ago, unions were winning 60 percent of their representation elections; today they are winning fewer than 50 percent. The reasons for the failure to sign up more workers are disputed. [New York Times] The Trans-Alaska Pipeline's oil flow from Prudhoe Bay is about to be restarted immediately, but its daily delivery capacity of 1.2 million barrels a day will be cut to 800,000 until Pump Station No. 8 is rebuilt. It was there that an explosion occurred on July 8, shutting down the pipeline. Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus, in giving permission for the resumption, said the blast was caused by human error. [New York Times] The economy advanced in the April-June quarter about the same rate as the first quarter's 6.9 percent growth in the Gross National Product, the Commerce Department said in its Survey of Current Business, but it did not give a June-quarter figure. That will be made public Thursday. The department's second-quarter estimate accords with administration predictions that the G.N.P. increase would be at least 6.5 percent. [New York Times] Healthy June-quarter profits and strong computer issues sent stock prices up, and advancing issues outnumbered decliners 9 to 5. A rise of 4.65 points in the Dow Jones industrial average to 910.60 erased last week's net loss of about 2 points. International Business Machines, which is often a bellwether for the general market, advanced 3 7/8 to 274 and made the active list after jumping 9 points Friday. [New York Times] Prosecutions will follow the Justice Department's investigation of alleged South Korean influence buying in Washington, Attorney General Griffin Bell said. He made the statement soon after President Carter announced that he had rejected a request by Republican congressional leaders for a special prosecutor to supervise the investigation. The President then ordered Mr. Bell to "vigorously pursue the matter, without regard to person or party, and to let the chips fall where they may." [New York Times] The Tennessee Valley Authority's new director is expected to be David Freeman, one of the principal planners of the administration's energy conservation program. President Carter was said to have decided on the appointment, which is expected to be sent to Congress for approval this week. Mr. Freeman, 51 years old, is an engineer and a lawyer who worked for the T.V.A. for 11 years before going to Washington. [New York Times] Coordination of the Carter administration's Soviet policies will be handled by a new interagency committee authorized by President Carter. Its principal function will be to give the President the best possible advice on Soviet affairs. It will have two co-chairmen: Marshall Shulman, who is Secretary of State Cyrus Vance's senior adviser on Soviet affairs, and George Vest, Assistant Secretary for European Affairs. [New York Times] Because he found British proposals for a constitutional settlement of the issue of black majority rule in Rhodesia "unacceptable," Prime Minister Ian Smith announced that Parliament would be dissolved immediately and that a general election would be held Aug. 31. Mr. Smith said he was seeking a new mandate for an internal political settlement with a new Constitution and a broad-based government including blacks, willing to assist in achieving peace. [New York Times] American officials, who had been pessimistic, say that the talks between President Carter and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel that are to begin tomorrow should proceed harmoniously with a mutual objective of getting a Geneva conference on the Middle East started. Prime Minister Begin arrived in Washington, saying he hoped that the talks would produce "real peace" with the Arabs. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 910.60 (+4.65, +0.51%)
S&P Composite: 100.95 (+0.77, +0.77%)
Arms Index: 0.76

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	937	16.46
Declines	530	7.06
Unchanged	436	3.37
Total Volume		26.89

* 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*
July 15, 1977	905.95	100.18	29.12
July 13, 1977	902.99	99.59	23.16
July 12, 1977	903.41	99.45	22.47
July 11, 1977	905.53	99.55	19.79
July 8, 1977	907.99	99.79	23.82
July 7, 1977	909.51	99.93	21.74
July 6, 1977	907.73	99.58	21.23
July 5, 1977	913.59	100.09	16.85
July 1, 1977	912.65	100.10	18.16
June 30, 1977	916.30	100.48	19.41