News stories from Tuesday March 20, 1973

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

The Nixon administration suggests that people eat less in order to cut food bills. The administration has stated that food prices will continue to increase, though prices will be better later in the year. Economic advisor Herbert Stein says that the rise will slow down at that time, and Agriculture Secretary Butz believes that prices will flatten out. GOP Senate leader Hugh Scott also believes that the rate of increase will slow down, as does Cost of Living Council spokesman James McLane, who suggested that people eat less or shop for bargains. [CBS] The Senate voted to impose rent controls on low and moderate income housing. [CBS] L. Patrick Gray's nomination as FBI director is in serious trouble. The administration refuses to allow White House attorney John Dean to testify at Gray's confirmation hearing, and also instructed Gray to refuse to allow Senate members to see FBI files pertaining to the Watergate investigation. Gray is now hesitant to answer a wide variety of questions. Senators Philip Hart and Birch Bayh protested Gray's new secretiveness, and Senator Lowell Weicker claimed that the White House fears Gray's independence in the Watergate investigation. [CBS] Senators Sam Ervin and Edmund Muskie announced that they will start hearings on April 10 on the subjects of executive privilege and government secrecy. [CBS] A Senate committee heard testimony on International Telephone and Telegraph operations in Chile. ITT's former Washington, DC chief William Merriam was questioned about his meeting with William Broe, head of clandestine operations for the CIA. Merriam said that Broe approved ITT's suggestions about opposing President Salvador Allende in Chile. Senator Clifford Case asked if the CIA urged ITT to go to the White House and pressure it about Chile; Merriam indirectly stated that it did. The Committee hears tomorrow from John McCone, the former CIA director who now works for ITT. [CBS] The Supreme Court ruled that California and Wyoming may limit the vote in watershed district elections to landowners in the district, and they may weigh a landowner's vote according to the amount of land he has. [CBS] England released a white paper of its plan for Northern Ireland, which has a provision that allows for the election of a new assembly on the basis of proportional representation. Labour Party chief Patrick Kennedy doesn't feel that the people are impressed with the new constitutional suggestions. In London, security around Parliament is tight in the wake of recent terror bombings by the IRA. [CBS] The Viet Cong and North Vietnam promised to release their remaining American POWs by March 28. [CBS] Tony Boyle, former president of the United Mine Workers, testified today at the trial of a man accused in connection with the 1969 murders of Joseph Yablonski and his family. Defendant William Prater testified that Boyle wanted Yablonski killed. Defense attorney David Rothman questioned Boyle, who said that he authorized $20,000 in UMW funds for co-defendant Albert Pass for organizational purposes within the UMW. Prosecutor Richard Sprague claimed that the money was used to pay for the murders. [CBS] A standoff is being reported between inmates at the West Virginia State Prison and riot police. The inmates have five guards as hostages. A representative from Governor Arch Moore's office is meeting with the inmates, and he reported that the demands of the inmates are small and can be met by the state. [CBS] United Nations Ambassador John Scali stated that the U.S. is willing to allow Panama to take control of the Panama Canal and to return to Panama part of the Canal Zone. [CBS] Senator Abraham Ribicoff says he has a copy of a government memo which discloses that many meat and dairy products contain drugs that may cause cancer. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 949.43 (-2.63, -0.28%)
S&P Composite: 111.95 (-0.22, -0.20%)
Arms Index: 0.99

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	500	4.17
Declines	919	7.58
Unchanged	360	1.50
Total Volume		13.25

* 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 19, 1973	952.06	112.17	12.46
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