News stories from Wednesday June 6, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Gasoline inventories rose last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Industry officials theorized that companies had underestimated supplies by some 2 percent. But the highly unusual increase is likely to revive charges that the industry has withheld gasoline from consumers to raise prices. The institute said that supplies rose to 229.7 million barrels on June 1. A normal level for this time of year is about 245 million barrels. [New York Times]
- Clean air rules are to be eased to permit two Cleveland power plants to burn high-sulfur coal mined in Ohio. The plan is subject to hearings and could be revised or withdrawn. [New York Times]
- The indefinite grounding of DC-10's was ordered by the government in its most sweeping response to the jumbo jet crash that killed 275 in Chicago on May 25. The government said that discovery of flaws in still more of the airliners had strengthened fears of a design defect in the craft. The immediate halt in flights affected all 138 domestic DC-10 jetliners, and virtually all foreign carriers voluntarily complied. Industry experts predicted widely that the DC-10's would require extensive modification and would be grounded for weeks and perhaps months.
Air travel was in chaos after the grounding of DC-10's. Domestic and international flights were canceled, passengers were switched to other planes, and airlines sent customers to competitors. Travel was disrupted for more than 60,000 passengers, according to an industry group.
[New York Times] - The half-fare air travel coupons offered by United and American Airlines are giving profits to many. Big companies have booked heavily under the program, which allows a passenger flying for full fare anywhere in the continental United States until June 17 to get a half-fare discount coupon for another domestic flight from July 1 to Dec. 15, no matter how expensive. [New York Times]
- Curbing federal civilian raises and fringe benefits was proposed by President Carter to bring the salaries more closely in line with those paid to people doing similar work in private industry. The plan would set up varying pay scales for federal white-collar workers in different parts of the country, depending on local wage rates. The proposal is likely to spur heated debate and delays in Congress. [New York Times]
- Mao Tse-tung's second wife re-emerged as a member of an organization of non-Communist groups and personalities supporting the Peking regime. The woman, He Zizhen, had not been mentioned publicly since Mao divorced her about 40 years ago. Her reappearance seems to be part of an effort to reconstruct a biography of Mao without his third wife, who was purged after his death in 1976. [New York Times]
- Elections for Europe's Parliament will be held in Britain tomorrow for the first time, but no matter how hard dedicated campaigners have tried to stir interest in the advisory body, Britons have paid little attention and only a modest turnout is expected. [New York Times]
- Iran's rejection of a U.S. envoy was attributed by its Foreign Minister to alleged American intervention in Africa. Walter Cutler, the proposed Ambassador, served in Zaire. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 835.50 (+4.16, +0.50%)
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* |
| June 5, 1979 | 831.34 | 100.62 | 35.05 |
| June 4, 1979 | 821.90 | 99.32 | 24.04 |
| June 1, 1979 | 821.21 | 99.17 | 24.57 |
| May 31, 1979 | 822.33 | 99.08 | 30.31 |
| May 30, 1979 | 822.16 | 99.11 | 29.25 |
| May 29, 1979 | 832.55 | 100.05 | 27.04 |
| May 25, 1979 | 836.28 | 100.22 | 27.77 |
| May 24, 1979 | 837.66 | 99.93 | 25.70 |
| May 23, 1979 | 837.40 | 99.89 | 30.39 |
| May 22, 1979 | 845.37 | 100.51 | 30.31 |