News stories from Friday January 28, 1972

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

Author Clifford Irving now admits that his wife Edith posed as "Helga Hughes" and cashed McGraw-Hill checks written to Howard Hughes at a Swiss bank. Irving told a New York district attorney and Swiss authorities about the incident, but still insists on his book's authenticity. A spokesman for Howard Hughes said that he is not surprised at the new developments, and further denied the authenticity of the book. [CBS] President Nixon, by executive order, established a new anti-drug operation within the Justice Department; former customs commissioner Myles Ambrose will head it. Attorney General Mitchell said that leaving law enforcement to local authorities has not worked. [CBS] State Department officials are reportedly encouraged by Soviet and French reports from Hanoi that North Vietnam is studying the Nixon peace plan. The fact that chief North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho will return to Paris next month indicates seriousness about the negotiations. [CBS] South Vietnamese Rangers fought the Viet Cong near Saigon; U.S. and South Vietnamese forces are on alert. American jets bombed a missile site in North Vietnam. South Vietnamese troops have increased their activity in preparation for an expected enemy offensive during the Tet holiday. [CBS] With South Vietnamese troops assuming more combat responsibilities, U.S. troops in Vietnam sometimes suffer boredom; so the Army tries to help. At Cam Rhan Bay, soldiers are permitted to "buy" the services of Vietnamese girls. The Army considers the system a means for improving troop morale, but venereal disease is a problem. [CBS] Democratic party chairman Lawrence O'Brien called Alabama Governor George Wallace's entry in the Florida Democratic primary a subterfuge that will lead to another third party race. Wallace denies that he intends to run via a third party, and says he will go the Democratic party route. [CBS] Senator Edmund Muskie was endorsed by United Auto Workers president Leonard Woodcock for the Democratic presidential nomination, although the union is still officially uncommitted. [CBS] Senator George McGovern announced his financial status and challenged other presidential candidates to make similar disclosures. [CBS] The Federal Communications Commission resumed its investigation of Bell Telephone's request for rate increases. [CBS] Teamster's union members joined Longshoremen in picketing a Mexican border crossing to prevent the transport of U.S. cargo from Mexican docks. [CBS] Democratic presidential candidates responded to President Nixon's peace plan: John Lindsay maintains that the Vietnam war is still an issue; George McGovern continues to call for a fixed date for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Indochina, but he will lean more heavily on the President's "credibility gap" during the campaign; Pete McCloskey admits that the war is no longer a political issue to most people, but he will continue to focus attention on it as long as bombs fall and POWs remain captive; Eugene McCarthy said that he is not impressed with the peace plan and thinks it will have little effect on the war or the American people. [CBS] The Big 10 conference suspended two University of Minnesota basketball players, Marvin Taylor and Ronald Behagen, for fighting in a game against Ohio State which resulted in the hospitalization of two opposing players. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 906.38 (+7.35, +0.82%)
S&P Composite: 104.16 (+0.66, +0.64%)
Arms Index: 0.97

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,009	15.34
Declines	460	6.79
Unchanged	268	2.87
Total Volume		25.00

* 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*
January 27, 1972	899.03	103.50	20.36
January 26, 1972	889.15	102.50	14.94
January 25, 1972	894.72	102.78	17.57
January 24, 1972	896.82	102.57	15.64
January 21, 1972	907.44	103.65	18.81
January 20, 1972	910.30	103.88	20.21
January 19, 1972	914.96	103.88	18.80
January 18, 1972	917.22	104.05	21.07
January 17, 1972	911.12	103.70	15.86
January 14, 1972	906.68	103.39	14.96