News stories from Thursday April 5, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The meat boycott is beginning to have an effect on prices. Grand Union, the large supermarket chain, lowered its beef prices 10 cents below the ceiling which was imposed last week. Grand Union president Charles Rodman said that the boycott triggered the price decrease, and he hopes that increased volume will compensate for lower unit profits. Live cattle prices are down $2 per 100 pounds. Twenty thousand meat workers are currently laid off from their jobs because of the boycott. [CBS]
- Wholesale prices were up 2.2% in March. AFL-CIO president George Meany declared that this provides proof that the Nixon administration must impose tougher price controls. Chief economist Herbert Stein said that Phase III controls will be adapted as necessary to restrain inflation.
Lumber prices were up 6.6% for the month. One-third of all U.S. lumber is exported, mostly to Japan. This creates a shortage for the domestic market, though demand is up. Lumber prices have increased 150% in the last 18 months in many places.
[CBS] - The Senate voted against providing economic aid to North Vietnam unless it is specifically approved by Congress. Senator Harry Byrd said that the measure was designed to prevent the administration from shifting funds from other programs to rebuild North Vietnam. [CBS]
- President Thieu of South Vietnam met with Vice President Spiro Agnew in Washington. Thieu visited Arlington National Cemetery and laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Thieu insisted that South Vietnam can defend itself against renewed aggression, and South Vietnam will never ask U.S. soldiers to return. Thieu also visited Congress; Senate minority leader Hugh Scott said Thieu made a good impression. Thieu wants $700-800 million a year from the U.S. for South Vietnam for many years to come. [CBS]
- Heavy fighting was reported in several areas of South Vietnam. Four key provincial capitals in Cambodia are surrounded by Communists and are in danger of falling. Phnom Penh remains under siege. [CBS]
- Convicted Watergate defendant James McCord said that he will tell his story to reporters at a press conference in the near future. Republican Senator Lowell Weicker is the administration's loudest critic regarding the Watergate affair. Weicker says that spying and disturbing Democrat campaigns are tactics to be condemned, whether they were specifically illegal or not. Weicker has been accused by critics of using the Watergate case simply to gain publicity. [CBS]
- L. Patrick Gray withdrew his nomination as FBI director, and the White House has reportedly accepted Gray's withdrawal. [CBS]
- President Nixon vetoed a water and sewage construction program as being inflationary, and met with Interior Secretary Rogers Morton to discuss the Alaska oil pipeline. The administration wants Congress to act to make pipeline building legal. [CBS]
- Former astronaut James Irwin was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack. [CBS]
- Militant Indians and the federal government signed an agreement to end the 37-day occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The agreement provides that Indians with warrants out against them must submit to arrest; the Indians must disarm by Saturday. American Indian Movement leader Russell Means will go to Washington on Saturday to talk with an administration representative. [CBS]
- Many Vietnam veterans had their education interrupted by the war. The GI Bill no longer covers all college costs. The old bill paid full tuition, but the present bill pays $220 per month for tuition, room & board and books. Veterans now must look for colleges with low tuition. Very few high school graduates are going to college under the GI Bill, and high school dropouts rarely go on to college at all. Last year Congress appropriated $25 million to pay colleges which increased the number of veterans they enrolled, but the Nixon administration hasn't spent the money and wants the program to be repealed. The National Association of Collegiate Veterans is suing to force the government to spend the money. [CBS]
- Illinois Governor Daniel Walker reported that China is buying 5,000 hogs from the state to be used for breeding. [CBS]
- A study indicates that dollar bills are cleaner than eating utensils. The study was made in Memphis, Tennessee, restaurants. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 923.46 (+0.75, +0.08%)
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* |
| April 4, 1973 | 922.71 | 108.77 | 11.89 |
| April 3, 1973 | 927.75 | 109.24 | 12.91 |
| April 2, 1973 | 936.18 | 110.18 | 10.64 |
| March 30, 1973 | 951.01 | 111.52 | 13.74 |
| March 29, 1973 | 959.14 | 112.71 | 16.05 |
| March 28, 1973 | 948.00 | 111.62 | 15.85 |
| March 27, 1973 | 944.91 | 111.56 | 17.50 |
| March 26, 1973 | 927.90 | 109.84 | 14.98 |
| March 23, 1973 | 922.71 | 108.88 | 18.47 |
| March 22, 1973 | 925.20 | 108.84 | 17.13 |