News stories from Friday May 19, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Nixon leaves tomorrow for Austria en route to Russia. Congressional leaders were briefed by the President regarding the upcoming summit. Agreements between the Soviet Union and the U.S. are expected on the topics of limiting the nuclear arms race, combined space exploration, settling maritime disputes and expanding trade. Vietnam remains a concern.
Vice President Spiro Agnew, who is just back from the Far East, said that the U.S. mining of Haiphong harbor and military strikes in North Vietnam have bolstered the morale of South Vietnam. Secretary of State William Rogers called for national unity during the President's trip to Russia.
[CBS] - Secretary of State Rogers praised West Germany's final ratification of non-aggression treaties with Russia and Poland. The Berlin access agreement now can be finalized. West German Chancellor Willy Brandt is demanding new elections to break the parliamentary deadlock. [CBS]
- Communist forces stormed Kontum in South Vietnam's Central Highlands today on the 82nd birthday of Ho Chi Minh. U.S. helicopter gunships drove the enemy back into heavy bombing strikes. A South Vietnamese relief force is now within one mile of An Loc, but most of the force is still stalled 15 miles south. U.S. B-52's accidentally hit An Loc. [CBS]
- Navy fliers from the carrier Midway shot down two MiGs near Hanoi as U.S. air raids there continued. [CBS]
- The underground "Weathermen" movement commemorated Ho Chi Minh's birthday by blowing up a women's rest room in the Pentagon. A bomb was planted on the fourth floor near Air Force Secretary Robert Seaman's office. Few people were on duty when the bomb exploded and no injuries were reported, but some Air Force computers were damaged by water from broken pipes. New security measures had been scheduled to start within hours after the blast, due to antiwar demonstrations. [CBS]
- Sponsors of the antiwar march on the Capitol deplored the Pentagon bombing and said that their march will be peaceful. Five members of the Jewish Defense League staged a sit-in at the White House in order to urge President Nixon to seek better treatment of Soviet Jews. [CBS]
- George Wallace continues to recover from multiple gunshot wounds. At the hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, Wallace ate his first food since the shooting, sat in a chair, and issued a statement to the people of Alabama. President Nixon visited Wallace and reported that the governor is alert and has a strong will to continue. The President then moved on to Walter Reed Army Hospital to visit wounded Secret Service agent Nick Zarvos. The President said he told Zarvos that he can have whatever assignment he chooses when he recovers, perhaps Key Biscayne or San Clemente. [CBS]
- Arthur Bremer was formally charged with Monday's shooting of George Wallace. No evidence of a conspiracy or outside financing has been found. The idea that Bremer was following other candidates has been discounted. George McGovern's campaign manager stated that Bremer was not seen by any McGovern campaign workers. Bremer stayed at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel when Senator Humphrey was supposed to be there, but wasn't.
Bremer is not known to be a political extremist. He once replied to a questionnaire from Wisconsin Rep. Henry Reuss asking for his views on unemployment, inflation, taxes, and government spending. Bremer had followed the Wallace campaign at least since April in Wisconsin. Two books on the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy were found in Bremer's car, and the gun he used was bought on the day Wallace announced his candidacy for president.
[CBS] - Senator Roman Hruska has changed his stance and now supports legislation that would outlaw cheap handguns. The National Rifle Association called Wallace's shooting senseless, and the organization now also supports the handgun control bill. [CBS]
- The Queen Elizabeth II is sailing on toward Europe. The threat to blow up the ship unless $350,000 ransom was paid has been determined to be empty; no bombs were found. [CBS]
- Vice-President Spiro Agnew conceded that President Nixon has not yet asked him to be on the ticket again, but Agnew is relaxed about it. Agnew believes that the Republican party won't nominate a Democrat for vice president, referring to John Connally who recently resigned as Treasury Secretary. [CBS]
- The cost of living was up 0.2% in April, but food prices were down 0.2%. [CBS]
- Mrs. Robert Keast of Crown Point, N.Y., collected cigarette packs in order to help her two-year-old daughter obtain open-heart surgery. After saving 600,000 of them, she learned that no cigarette company redeems empty packs. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 961.54 (+10.31, +1.08%)
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* |
| May 18, 1972 | 951.23 | 107.94 | 17.37 |
| May 17, 1972 | 941.15 | 106.89 | 13.60 |
| May 16, 1972 | 939.27 | 106.66 | 14.07 |
| May 15, 1972 | 942.20 | 106.86 | 13.60 |
| May 12, 1972 | 941.83 | 106.28 | 13.99 |
| May 11, 1972 | 934.83 | 105.77 | 12.90 |
| May 10, 1972 | 931.07 | 105.42 | 13.87 |
| May 9, 1972 | 925.12 | 104.74 | 19.91 |
| May 8, 1972 | 937.84 | 106.14 | 11.25 |
| May 5, 1972 | 941.23 | 106.63 | 13.21 |