News stories from Friday April 6, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The one-week meat boycott is approaching an end. Meat prices at stockyards have been down for the last three days. Demand from supermarkets is down, and some meat packing houses have closed temporarily. But the end of the boycott is expected to be accompanied by a resumption of high prices.
In New York City, wholesale beef prices are down 30 cents a pound and retail prices could drop 5-8% temporarily. Most supermarkets, however, have not lowered prices and shoppers feel the boycott should continue. New York Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal called for a meeting of boycott leaders in Washington to make further plans.
[CBS] - AFL-CIO president George Meany called President Nixon's economic policies a "series of disasters". He wants Congress to order price rollbacks. [CBS]
- Several men are being mentioned as nominees for FBI director to replace L. Patrick Gray; Gray reportedly might receive a federal judgeship.
The Senate introduced two bills today pertaining to the FBI. The bills would limit the length of service for the FBI director. Robert Byrd's bill would put a seven year limit on the post; Henry Jackson's bill would impose a 15 year limit. Byrd stated that the FBI should be politically independent. Jackson feels that Gray is an honest man, but the Nixon administration is moving to bring the FBI under its influence. Senator Everett Dirksen in 1968 was the man responsible for introducing the measure which makes FBI appointments subject to Congress' approval. Dirksen feared that Hubert Humphrey would become President and would have a free hand in replacing J. Edgar Hoover.
[CBS] - Convicted Watergate defendant James McCord continued his grand jury testimony. McCord told attorneys of bomb threats against himself and his family, and he stated that White House attorney John Dean played a role in hiring him. Besides the Watergate buggings, McCord may have recorded other telephone conversations. McCord said that Martha Mitchell, the wife of the former Attorney General, had him check her Watergate apartment because she felt it was bugged. [CBS]
- The last of the freedom flights from Cuba arrived in Miami. 400,000 Cubans have emigrated to the Miami area since Fidel Castro came to power. More than 260,000 Cubans have been airlifted to the United States. Castro claims he is ending the flights because no more Cubans want to come to America, but new arrivals say that no applications to emigrate have been accepted since 1966. Despite the recent anti-hijacking agreement with Cuba, Secretary of State William Rogers stated that there has been no general improvement in U.S.-Cuban relations. [CBS]
- An Iraqi law professor, said to be the leader of an extremist Palestinian guerrilla group, was murdered in Paris. Police think the murder is part of an underground war between Israeli and Arab terrorists. [CBS]
- California Governor Ronald Reagan is conducting the battle of the budget. Reagan wants to lower taxes, but the legislature voted down the decrease so the Governor is conducting a house-to-house campaign to get popular support for his plan. Reagan wants a constitutional ceiling on state spending and a tax rollback. Critics complain that Reagan is already campaigning for President. [CBS]
- American planes bombed enemy positions in Cambodia. Senator Edward Brooke's request to visit Hanoi was turned down by North Vietnamese officials. [CBS]
- Former prisoner of war Gen. Robert Flynn said that it is impossible for prisoners to adhere to the military code which provides that POWs should only reveal their name, rank and serial number to their captors. Torture can force anyone to tell anything, he noted. [CBS]
- Being a Vietnam veteran can be a handicap when seeking a job; 4,500 Vietnam veterans are on welfare rolls in New York City. Veterans Administration director Donald Johnson claims that the administration is doing more for Vietnam veterans to help them find jobs than it has for veterans of any other war, however 300,000 Vietnam veterans are presently unemployed and the Nixon administration wants to cut back the two programs that have given jobs to an additional 100,000. Hirers distrust veterans, government programs to find jobs for vets are unsuccessful, and the jobs which are offered are often poor. [CBS]
- The unemployment rate went down to 5.0% last month from 5.1%. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 931.07 (+7.61, +0.82%)
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 5, 1973 | 923.46 | 108.52 | 12.75 |
| 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 |