News stories from Friday October 7, 1977

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

The national jobless rate eased to 6.9 percent last month, the government reported, but officials saw little long-term improvement in the unemployment picture, particularly for blacks. The rate slipped two-tenths of a percentage point from the August level, it has been basically unchanged for six months and only half a percentage point lower than a year ago. The Carter administration is under mounting pressure to increase economic growth and cut the jobless rolls. [New York Times] The House ethics committee has approved a subpoena for the rent records of the Speaker of the House, Representative Tip O'Neill, to investigate an allegation that his rent had been paid by Tongsun Park, the fugitive Korean lobbyist. The Massachusetts Democrat vigorously denied the allegation, and a committee spokesman declined to comment on the subpoena or the allegation. [New York Times] The prime loan rate was raised by most commercial banks to 7½ percent -- the highest in nearly two years. The banks increased the rate from 7¼ percent in response to rising demand for short-term credit and a wide-ranging climb in costs of funds they seek. The higher rate means increased costs for corporations, but does not affect consumer loan and mortgage rates. [New York Times] Stock prices eased in a slow trading session. The Dow Jones industrial index slipped 1.73 points to 840.35, ending the week with a loss of nearly 7 points. [New York Times] Gov. Marvin Mandel of Maryland and three business friends were sentenced to four years in prison. Two other friends of the Governor who were also convicted six weeks ago of bribery and mail fraud involving state racetrack manipulation received lesser sentences. The prison terms, from which the six are free on appeal, automatically suspended the powers and the $25,000-a-year salary of Mr. Mandel. Lt. Gov. Blair Lee has been Acting Governor since the trial began four months ago. [New York Times] Billions of dollars are at stake as a long and bitter battle over land and water in California's Imperial Valley nears a decision. At issue is a 1902 federal law, a recent court ruling and a new federal regulation that, if enforced, would break up huge farms there that have been reclaimed from deserts with irrigation water from the distant Rocky Mountains. Farm interests plan to use the fight to seek repeal of the 1902 federal law, which sets 160 acres as the most that one person can farm on land irrigated by federal water projects. The valley was exempted from the limitation. [New York Times] A high State Department official said that the United States, the Soviet union, Israel and the Arab nations had agreed informally to aim for December for the start of a new Middle East peace conference in Geneva. The official said he was summing up the views of participants in two weeks of consultations that Secretary of State Cyrus Vance has held at the United Nations. [New York Times] The Soviet Union's new Constitution was approved unanimously by about 1,500 members of the Supreme Soviet, or Parliament. The charter balances the rights of citizens with duties to support the state and the goals of "Socialism" and puts particular stress on economic guarantees, but like the three previous Soviet constitutions, it provides no mechanism for a citizen to challenge a law. [New York Times] Choosing an eventual successor to Leonid Brezhnev was apparently sidestepped by the Kremlin leadership. It named Vasily Kuznetsov, a Foreign Ministry official, to a new post of First Vice President. Mr. Kuznetsov, at 76, is six years older than Mr. Brezhnev, and diplomats agreed that the post would be ceremonial and without any behind-the-scenes power. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 840.35 (-1.73, -0.21%)
S&P Composite: 95.97 (-0.08, -0.08%)
Arms Index: 1.10

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	740	7.00
Declines	617	6.44
Unchanged	507	2.81
Total Volume		16.25

* 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*
October 6, 1977	842.08	96.05	18.49
October 5, 1977	837.40	95.68	18.30
October 4, 1977	842.08	96.03	20.85
October 3, 1977	851.96	96.74	19.46
September 30, 1977	847.11	96.53	21.17
September 29, 1977	840.09	95.85	21.16
September 28, 1977	834.72	95.31	17.96
September 27, 1977	835.85	95.24	19.08
September 26, 1977	841.65	95.38	18.23
September 23, 1977	839.14	95.04	18.76