News stories from Wednesday March 14, 1973

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

108 more American prisoners were released by North Vietnam today. Capt. Leo Profilet thanked God and the American people for his release; Col. John Flynn said that the POWs supported President Nixon's bombing of Hanoi. Lt. Commander John McCain was greeted by Admiral Noel Gayler, who replaced McCain's father as Pacific commander.Civilian POW Bobby Joe Keesee, who was also released today, was taken prisoner after hijacking a plane from Thailand to North Vietnam. Keesee was a decorated paratrooper in the Korean War who sought asylum in Cuba after committing some crimes in the United States. Keesee hijacked a plane in Thailand in 1970 and forced it to land in North Vietnam. Airplane charter company spokesman Prince Birabongse Bhanubandh says that Keesee owes him $1,509.83 plus interest for hijacking his plane to North Vietnam. [CBS] President Nixon asked Congress to restore the death penalty for some crimes and to pass legislation mandating long sentences for drug pushers. [CBS] White House attorney John Dean turned down the Senate Judiciary Committee's invitation to testify in L. Patrick Gray's confirmation hearings. Dean's refusal to appear leaves Gray's appointment in jeopardy. His confirmation may be postponed until after the Senate investigation of the Watergate case. Senator Edward Gurney accused Senate Democrats of conducting a "fishing expedition." The committee is close to blocking Gray's appointment. [CBS] The Senate voted to put $850 million of highway funds into public transportation systems instead. [CBS] The National Association of Food Chains reported that beef consumption is down. A Cost of Living Council spokesman said that a meat price freeze is possible but unlikely. [CBS] Many Germans want U.S. troops out of their country. In Bonn, Germans marched on the U.S. embassy to protest the presence of American troops. Garrison commander General Adrian St. John said that this anti-Americanism is of recent origin. Emotions have been heated by American soldiers' gang rape of a German girl. Also, an American soldier was slain by Germans in a restaurant for no apparent reason.The U.S. has 300,000 troops in Germany as part of the NATO force. Senator Henry Jackson believes that U.S. withdrawal from West Germany without mutual Soviet troop reductions would be a disaster. Senator Alan Cranston said that it's silly for the U.S. to keep insisting that the "cold war" is still on when other Western European nations are unwilling to help pay NATO's costs. The cost of maintaining overseas troops is large and continually expanding. [CBS] The U.N. Security Council will open hearings on American control of the Panama Canal. Panama invited the United Nations to visit the canal and wants the U.N. to state that the U.S. presence there is an unwanted remnant of colonialism. The U.S. said that it can't trust Panama to operate and defend such a valuable asset as the Canal Zone. Panama's leader, General Omar Torrijos, says that U.S. control of the Canal Zone is "humiliating" to Panama. [CBS] A federal grand jury indicted 31 Indians for their takeover of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, charging them with burglary, larceny, conspiracy and civil disorders. [CBS] Two trains collided near Washington, DC, injuring 12. [CBS] Health officials say that the Miami Beach water supply is now safe. [CBS] Allen Whiting, an aide to Henry Kissinger, testified today for the defense in the Pentagon Papers trial. Whiting stated that the papers couldn't possibly have hurt U.S. national security. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 978.85 (+2.78, +0.28%)
S&P Composite: 114.98 (+0.50, +0.44%)
Arms Index: 0.78

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	647	6.73
Declines	724	5.86
Unchanged	382	1.87
Total Volume		14.46

* 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*
March 13, 1973	976.07	114.48	14.21
March 12, 1973	969.75	113.86	12.81
March 9, 1973	972.23	113.79	14.07
March 8, 1973	976.44	114.23	15.10
March 7, 1973	979.98	114.45	19.31
March 6, 1973	979.00	114.10	17.71
March 5, 1973	966.89	112.68	13.72
March 2, 1973	961.32	112.28	17.71
March 1, 1973	949.65	111.05	18.21
February 28, 1973	955.07	111.68	17.95