News stories from Friday September 15, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A federal grand jury has indicted seven persons in the Watergate bugging case -- the five men who were arrested in the Democrat headquarters break-in (James McCord, Bernard Barker, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis and Virgilio Gonzales) and two former White House aides (G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt). The Justice Department stated that the Watergate investigation is over as far as the break-in aspect of the case is concerned, but the funds for the bugging are still being looked into.
Barker has also been charged by Dade County, Florida, for committing a felony by cashing a Nixon campaign contribution check with the illegal use of a notary seal. Barker has refused to implicate anyone else in the incident.
Liddy previously worked for the White House and the Nixon re-election campaign. He currently lives in a Maryland suburb with his wife and five children, but remains a mystery man in Washington. Liddy was an assistant district attorney in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., after law school and his stint as an FBI agent; a former business associate described him as being overzealous and ambitious. Liddy lost his 1968 bid for Congress but managed a winning campaign for Nixon. He became a special assistant in the Treasury Department, worked at the White House, then served as counsel to the Committee to Re-Elect the President, where he worked with finance chairman Maurice Stans.
[CBS] - The Agriculture Department admits that it contacted big grain exporters to tell them of a subsidy change, but denies informing them of the U.S.-Soviet wheat deal as Democrats have charged. The Securities and Exchange Commission says that anti-fraud laws may have been violated. [CBS]
- South Vietnamese marines have re-taken Quang Tri and its citadel. American air power and South Vietnamese tanks aided the marines. [CBS]
- The Senate Armed Services Committee is investigating former Air Force General John Lavelle's unauthorized air strikes over North Vietnam. General Creighton Abrams and Admiral Thomas Moorer are said to have encouraged the raids. [CBS]
- The South Vietnamese government ordered pay raises of 50-60% for its soldiers; a private will now earn $8.50 a month. [CBS]
- President Thieu's new press law went into effect, and 14 of 41 South Vietnam's newspapers have gone out of business. Publishers must deposit $46,000 to guarantee censorship fines. [CBS]
- Henry Kissinger met with North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho and Xuan Thuy in Paris. Tho outlined the new Viet Cong peace proposal for Kissinger; it was their 17th private meeting. While in Paris, Kissinger also briefed French President Pompidou on his talks with Soviet leaders. [CBS]
- Congress passed the $21 billion weapons bill which authorizes the development of a manned bomber and the Trident submarine. [CBS]
- The International Civil Aviation Organization made no progress on an anti-hijack treaty; after two weeks of conferring, diplomats could not agree. The U.S. called for boycotting nations which harbor hijackers; the Soviet Union, France and Spain opposed such a boycott. Allen Berk of the Air Line Pilots Association says it is incomprehensible that hijacking can't be stopped by world governments, and he threatened that pilots may go on strike. [CBS]
- Three Croatian gunmen seeking Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia hijacked a Swedish plane to Malmo, where they demanded the release of seven Croatian terrorists who are being held in Sweden; the Swedish government submitted to the demands. [CBS]
- Salvage experts are attempting to separate two freighters that collided off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. [CBS]
- George McGovern ended a two-week campaign tour of 17 states. As Edward Kennedy is leaving the campaign trail, Senator Edmund Muskie joined it and welcomed McGovern to Maine. McGovern proposed to abolish wage and price controls and called for voluntary guidelines instead. Cost of Living Council director Donald Rumsfeld defended President Nixon's economic policies, including wage and price controls. [CBS]
- The Senate voted $15.5 million to aid the 1976 winter Olympics in Denver, Colorado. John Tunney offered an amendment to create a presidential commission to study whether the U.S. should continue to participate in the Olympic games. [CBS]
- The Soviet Union has been unable to stamp out organized religion. Pravda reports that even some Communists engage in religious activities. [CBS]
- The First Lady campaigned today in New Jersey; in Morristown, Mrs. Nixon visited a training center for seeing-eye dogs then visited the local Nixon-Agnew campaign headquarters as demonstrators chanted. [CBS]
- Price Commission chairman Jack Grayson announced that hearings on car manufacturers' requests for higher prices have concluded; Ford and General Motors were turned down, and a ruling on Chrysler and American Motors is forthcoming. G.M. president Edward Cole and Henry Ford II are scheduled to host a $1,000 a plate dinner for President Nixon. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 947.32 (-0.23, -0.02%)
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* |
| September 14, 1972 | 947.55 | 108.93 | 12.50 |
| September 13, 1972 | 949.88 | 108.90 | 13.07 |
| September 12, 1972 | 946.04 | 108.47 | 13.56 |
| September 11, 1972 | 955.00 | 109.51 | 10.71 |
| September 8, 1972 | 961.24 | 110.15 | 10.98 |
| September 7, 1972 | 962.45 | 110.29 | 11.09 |
| September 6, 1972 | 963.43 | 110.55 | 12.01 |
| September 5, 1972 | 969.37 | 111.23 | 10.63 |
| September 1, 1972 | 970.05 | 111.51 | 11.60 |
| August 31, 1972 | 963.73 | 111.09 | 12.34 |