News stories from Thursday October 18, 1973

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

The White House expressed optimism over the possibility of a cease-fire in the Mideast. President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger have been involved in diplomatic negotiations with the Arabs and Russians, and Soviet Premier Kosygin was in Cairo for talks with President Sadat to help end the war. Israeli leaders are not opposed to the proposed cease-fire, however heavy fighting continued today.North Vietnamese advisers have appeared in Syria; North Korean pilots are patrolling Egypt. Spy satellites and planes were used to collect such information. [CBS] Fighting was intense on Sinai front. Israeli troops crossed the Suez into the Egyptian sector. A terrific tank battle occurred on the central front running from El Qantara to Ismailia.The Israelis have suffered many casualties, but Defense Minister Moshe Dayan believes that the Syrian and Sinai fronts are now controlled by Israel. Dayan expressed gratitude for American help and stated that the decisive battle will come soon. An Egyptian military communique reported the Egyptian version of the battle along the Sinai front. The report conflicts with Israel's view. [CBS] Little action was reported along the northern front in the Middle East war. An Israeli army film showed a Syrian MiG being downed by Israeli rockets. The first official Jordanian government film shows King Hussein's troops fighting on the Syrian front. Jordan hopes to ward off an Israeli attack by keeping a low profile regarding its involvement in the war. [CBS] Two-thirds of the Senate sponsored a bill urging President Nixon to send Israel all the military equipment it needs to repel the Arabs. [CBS] Arab terrorists shot their way into the Bank of America in Beirut, Lebanon. Hostages were taken. [CBS] Danielle Cravenne, the wife of a Paris film producer, hijacked a jet and demanded it fly to Cairo. At a refueling stop, police shot and killed the hijacker. She had attempted the hijack as a protest against the release of a French film ("The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob") she considered to be "anti-Palestinian". [CBS] AFL-CIO president George Meany bitterly attacked the Nixon administration during a union convention speech in Florida. [CBS] Democrats in the House intend to take their time confirming Vice President-designate Gerald Ford. House Democratic leader Tip O'Neill stated that Ford won't be confirmed until December. The Supreme Court ruling regarding the White House tapes will come around that time also.The Ford confirmation is being used to pressure President Nixon into surrendering the tapes, though O'Neill and Speaker Carl Albert denied any such strategy. Senator Edward Kennedy declared that Ford's opinion about any court decision to release the White House tapes and the President's obligation following such a decision should be questioned. [CBS] Special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox announced that he found no evidence of impropriety in the government's dropping of an antitrust suit against Nixon friend Robert Abplanalp. [CBS] Attorney General Elliot Richardson issued new guidelines to the Justice Department regarding freedom of the press. [CBS] U.S. district court judge Charles Richey ordered Allegheny Airlines to pay consumer advocate Ralph Nader $50,000 for bumping Nader from a flight. Allegheny deliberately overbooked flights for almost three years. [CBS] Two members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee resigned because Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho were named this year's winners. [CBS] Saudi Arabia's King Faisal announced a 10% cutback in his country's oil production through November, and threatened to halt all oil exports to the United States. [CBS] The federal government reported that economic growth slowed during the last three months, but the rate of inflation increased to 6.7%. [CBS] Walt Kelly, the creator of the Pogo comic strip, died today. [CBS] Bernt Balchen, an explorer of the North Pole, died yesterday after a lengthy illness. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 959.74 (-2.78, -0.29%)
S&P Composite: 110.01 (+0.04, +0.04%)
Arms Index: 0.98

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	621	7.70
Declines	788	9.57
Unchanged	378	1.94
Total Volume		19.21

* 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*
October 17, 1973	962.52	109.97	18.60
October 16, 1973	967.41	110.19	18.78
October 15, 1973	967.04	110.05	16.16
October 12, 1973	978.63	111.44	22.73
October 11, 1973	976.07	111.09	20.74
October 10, 1973	960.57	109.22	19.01
October 9, 1973	974.19	110.13	19.44
October 8, 1973	977.65	110.23	18.99
October 5, 1973	971.25	109.85	18.82
October 4, 1973	955.90	108.41	19.73