News stories from Friday December 15, 1972

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

Le Duc Tho is returning to Hanoi from Paris. Today in Paris, U.S. Ambassador Porter and North Vietnamese Minister Xuan Thuy resumed technical talks regarding a Vietnam peace settlement. Thuy, Madame Binh, the Chinese ambassador and the Soviet ambassador saw Le Duc Tho off at the Paris airport.President Nixon met with Henry Kissinger to discuss the Vietnam peace plan. Reports say that Kissinger has what he considers to be the best settlement obtainable. The President is trying to decide whether to accept it, with or without the approval of President Thieu of South Vietnam. It is widely believed that Thieu is still holding to his condition that the settlement contain recognition of South Vietnam's right to sovereignty. [CBS] U.S. B-52 bombers raided enemy targets in North Vietnam and South Vietnam. [CBS] Arnold Miller now holds a comfortable lead over Tony Boyle in the United Mine Workers election. Joseph Yablonski's heir, Miller, has claimed victory over John L. Lewis' heir. Miller promises higher pensions for miners, lower salaries for officials, an elected executive board, and headquarters in the coal fields. Miller stated that he will make the UMW responsive to the miners. Joseph Yablonski, Jr., said that this election has been fair, but the last one (which his father lost) was like an election in Russia. [CBS] At least 16 people were killed and 10 are still missing after an explosion in a coke plant at the Weirton Steel Company near Weirton, West Virginia. Final checking procedures were underway in the plant at Brown's Island when a series of explosions began. Koppers Company of Pittsburgh, contractors on the job, had not yet turned the new plant over to Weirton Steel. There is a danger of further explosions from broken gas lines. [CBS] Former President Harry Truman is still in very serious condition. [CBS] A jury convicted the kingpin of one of the biggest heroin smuggling rings of all time. Auguste Joseph Ricord, a 62-year-old Argentine, may get 20 years in prison. [CBS] Yesterday the New York City police department revealed that 57 pounds of heroin worth $12 million was stolen from their headquarters storage room. Today the department reported the loss of 23 more pounds of heroin worth $4 million. Both were seized in 1962 after being smuggled in from France. The case was the basis of the movie "The French Connection." The real-life cop who seized the heroin reacted to the thefts.Eddie Egan was dismissed from the New York City police force for having failed to turn in narcotics which he seized from suspects. Egan says that he worked hard on the case involving heroin smuggling from France. He finds yesterday's theft of heroin to be shocking and said there will be an all-out hunt for the stolen heroin. Egan blamed the theft on organized crime. [CBS] The government ordered the major automobile manufacturers to remove devices which can shut off pollution control equipment in their cars. [CBS] President Nixon ordered pay raises for members of the armed forces above the President's own Pay Board's 5.5% guidelines. Federal employees get a 5% raise; the military gets 6.7%. [CBS] The Federal Reserve Board announced that there was a 1.1% increase in industrial production in November. [CBS] John Scali will succeed George Bush as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. [CBS] Astronauts Evans, Cernan and Schmitt are relaxing before Apollo 17 begins its return trip towards earth tomorrow. [CBS] U.S. and Soviet space experts concluded a week of talks regarding a joint space venture that is scheduled for 1975. [CBS] Four more violent deaths occurred in Northern Ireland. One of the victims, 19-year-old Cathy Dolan, was killed as she was walking back from mailing invitations to her wedding. [CBS] Fidel Castro abolished Christmas and set July 8 as the day on which children receive gifts. Christmas comes at the height of sugar cane cutting season in Cuba. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1027.24 (+2.18, +0.21%)
S&P Composite: 118.26 (+0.02, +0.02%)
Arms Index: 0.99

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	700	7.63
Declines	735	7.94
Unchanged	380	2.73
Total Volume		18.30

* 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*
December 14, 1972	1025.06	118.24	17.93
December 13, 1972	1030.48	118.56	16.54
December 12, 1972	1033.19	118.66	17.04
December 11, 1972	1036.27	119.12	17.23
December 8, 1972	1033.19	118.86	18.03
December 7, 1972	1033.26	118.60	19.32
December 6, 1972	1027.54	118.01	18.61
December 5, 1972	1022.95	117.58	17.80
December 4, 1972	1025.21	117.77	19.73
December 1, 1972	1023.93	117.38	22.57