News stories from Monday March 19, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- World money markets reopened today, and the value of the dollar increased. The prime interest rate at some U.S. banks was raised from 6.25% to 6.75%. Federal Reserve Board chairman Arthur Burns will ask the banks to justify the increase at a meeting on Thursday. [CBS]
- At a meeting last week, major nations agreed on a plan to let their currencies float. In West Germany, a spokesman for International Hotels said that hotels are having fewer American tourists and more Japanese because of currency realignments. Like German markets, French money markets were cautious in trading today. The dollar showed new strength.
Treasury Secretary George Shultz met with British government leaders in London, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Anthony Barber. Shultz recommended long-term monetary reform. He is also trying to get Europe to end trade discrimination against the United States.
[CBS] - Beef ranchers will meet this week in Texas. Presidential counselor Anne Armstrong says that consumers and ranchers aren't opponents, but partners. Rancher Frank Lewis believes that a beef boycott by consumers won't work. He noted that supply must increase before prices drop. Cattle Raisers Association spokesman William Donnell said that he doesn't like President Nixon suggesting meatless days, or his lifting of import duties on beef. [CBS]
- General Motors reported that it will increase prices on 1974 models, but not 1973 models. Chrysler announced a price increase of $42 on 1973 models. [CBS]
- Twenty-six more POWs returned to the United States. At McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, Maj. Floyd Thompson thanked the people for his homecoming welcome. Maj. Floyd Kushner was also on board. His wife is a well-known antiwar activist. [CBS]
- South Vietnam charged the Communists with more cease-fire violations near Saigon, and threatened a counterattack. The Saigon government and the Viet Cong opened talks in Paris concerning the political future of South Vietnam. [CBS]
- President Lon Nol moved from the presidential palace to a villa in Phnom Penh following an attack on the palace by a bomber. The Cambodian capital is reportedly surrounded by Communist forces. [CBS]
- The International Telephone and Telegraph merger case is back in the news. A House committee revealed a Securities and Exchange Commission memo regarding subpoenaed documents; top Nixon administration officials were named. Rep. Harley Staggers said that the committee voted to release the papers despite the SEC's request that they remain secret. The memo details a meeting between top ITT officials and top Nixon aides. Attorney General John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst, aides John Ehrlichman and Charles Colson and Vice President Agnew were mentioned. Agnew's office denied meeting with ITT.
The memo also gives an indirect reference to a meeting between Mitchell and President Nixon regarding the ITT case; Mitchell denied this. The subject of the meeting was persuading assistant Attorney General Richard McLaren to call off the antitrust suit against ITT's merger with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company and other firms. McLaren eventually negotiated an out-of-court settlement under which ITT kept the Hartford company.
[CBS] - Indian leaders asked President Nixon to appoint a special representative from the Sioux nation to serve as federal negotiator at Wounded Knee. [CBS]
- The Great Lakes region is suffering from snow storms and floods. The Great Lakes are at record high levels, and shoreline communities fearing spring floods are building up dikes for protection. A combination of high water levels and high winds could mean disaster. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state and local governments giving preference to veterans in hiring and promotion. The Court refused to review the contempt conviction of reporter Peter Bridge for refusing to answer questions which involved revealing confidential sources pertaining to a housing scandal story. Bridge's case was instrumental in getting a shield law for reporters passed in New Jersey, but Governor William Cahill vetoed the bill. [CBS]
- President Nixon wants Congress to limit the definition of an insanity plea in some criminal cases. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 952.06 (-10.99, -1.14%)
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 16, 1973 | 963.05 | 113.54 | 15.13 |
| March 15, 1973 | 969.82 | 114.12 | 14.45 |
| March 14, 1973 | 978.85 | 114.98 | 14.46 |
| 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 |