News stories from Thursday November 29, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Top economic adviser Herbert Stein warned of a possible recession for 1974 if the Arab oil embargo continues; he noted that unemployment could rise significantly. A Georgia Tech University professor told a Senate hearing today that the major U.S. oil companies and the Nixon administration are the ones responsible for the present fuel crisis, not the Arabs. [CBS]
- The current crisis in heating fuel and gasoline goes far beyond the Arab oil boycott. Government policies and the giant oil companies may in fact be responsible.
Eight major companies control America's energy supply the entire way from the oil field to the gas pump due to "vertical integration". Government agencies are investigating the situation to determine if the major oil companies are mainly responsible for the fuel crisis. James Halverson of the Federal Trade Commission believes the amount of control the eight large companies have is contributing to the present shortage, and the FTC has brought charges against them.
Even if the Arab oil boycott is lifted, oil companies don't have enough refineries in the U.S. to process the oil. The companies blame the government for the lack of refineries, citing environmental restraints and uncertainties created by import quotas on crude oil.
Last winter there was a threat of heating oil shortages in New England. The Office of Emergency Preparedness has reported that the government received assurances from oil companies in April of 1972 that oil would be in plentiful supply for the winter. But by July, warnings surfaced from the oil companies. Some believe that the oil companies made threats of shortages to create pressure for removing government price controls. The government requested that oil companies operate refineries at 92% of capacity to prevent shortages in '72; by November, production dropped to 88%. Production increased in February after oil companies received a price hike, and a heating oil shortage was averted.
Exxon chairman of the board J.K. Jamieson stated that oil companies have only a slight responsibility to the consumer to supply fuel and heating oil in times of shortage, adding that the industry would go broke if companies continued on such a track. The idea of dismantling the large oil firms is gaining more proponents in Congress. Senator Frank Moss favors legislation to that effect. The White House doesn't plan to implement gasoline rationing now, but a cabinet-level energy group is considering a rationing system. Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield has called for immediate gasoline rationing. A House committee passed a law to set the national speed limit at 55 m.p.h. The Federal Power Commission requested a report from utilities on the feasibility of a 10% power cut.
[CBS] - A special federal grand jury in Illinois indicted President Nixon's former appointments secretary, Dwight Chapin. Chapin was charged with lying to a grand jury. Chapin stated that the charges against him are unrelated to his work while in the Nixon administration, and he said he has complete faith in the President. Chapin asserted that his work in the White House was carried out ethically and to the best of his ability. When asked about the ethics of his "unofficial" responsibilities, Chapin refused comment. [CBS]
- Judge John Sirica's court turned up new divisions in President Nixon's staff. White House attorney Fred Buzhardt explained that he couldn't reproduce the hum during the 18-minute gap on a White House tape using the tape machine, a typewriter and a lamp, as the President's personal secretary Rose Mary Woods suggested had happened. Under questioning from prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste, Buzhardt admitted that the discrepancy between the actual gap and Miss Woods' testimony was unexplainable.
Woods' attorney Charles Rhyne accused the White House attorneys of trying to use her as a scapegoat. Attorneys Leonard Garment and Douglas Parker sat glumly in court today as rumors of President Nixon's displeasure with his legal counsel increased. The two lawyers confirmed they are leaving the case at the end of the week.
[CBS] - The strains from Watergate are becoming more visible at the White House. Press secretary Ron Ziegler failed to firmly support White House attorney Fred Buzhardt in his job as Watergate defense counsel. Ziegler indicated that a breach between the White House and special prosecutor Leon Jaworski may be at hand. Jaworski has suggested that all of the White House tapes be turned over to the court. Ziegler said that he believes Jaworski is honest and fair, but called his staff inefficient. [CBS]
- White House aide Melvin Laird admitted that the 18-minute gap on a subpoenaed tape hurts President Nixon's "Operation Candor." Senate Republican leader Hugh Scott stated that the President should start being totally honest with the American people. [CBS]
- The Nixon administration allegedly told federal investigators that leaking knowledge of the White House "plumbers" operation could jeopardize the life of a foreign spy in the Soviet Union. [CBS]
- The House Judiciary Committee confirmed the nomination of Vice President Gerald Ford. The full House will vote next week. [CBS]
- The House refused to accept a Senate plan to publicly finance federal elections. The leadership of the House and Senate then reached a compromise to pay for only presidential elections with federal funds. The bill is expected to pass despite a veto warning from the President. [CBS]
- The Mideast cease-fire talks are in serious trouble. Negotiations on the Cairo-Suez road have collapsed. Egypt will request that the United States and the Soviet Union intervene to try to change Israel's uncompromising disposition. Egyptian and Israeli officials were also unable to agree on a pullback of forces along the canal.
Cease-fire violations occurred at the beginning of the negotiations; United Nations troops investigated the violations. The commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force reported that no headway was made before negotiations broke down.
A spokesman announced that Egypt will attend next month's peace conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir stated that the Arab summit meeting imposed impossible conditions on her nation for true peace. In New Delhi, India, Soviet Communist party leader Leonid Brezhnev warned that a settlement in the Mideast must be found quickly, before the area explodes into fighting again. Brezhnev praised the current detente between the Soviets and the United States.
[CBS] - Britain and France will be exempt from Saudi Arabia's additional oil cutback plan which begins in January. [CBS]
- A department store fire in Kumamoto, Japan, killed 99 persons and injured as many more. Many shoppers were unable to locate escape routes when the fire broke out. [CBS]
- The Soviet Union and India signed four agreements providing for economic and political cooperation. [CBS]
- Soviet dissident physicist Andrei Sakharov said he hopes to visit the United States even though his hopes of then returning to the USSR would be dim. Sakharov hopes to bring his family to the U.S. when he lectures at Princeton. [CBS]
- Clifford Irving, author of the phony Howard Hughes autobiography, will be released on parole on February 14. [CBS]
- Chrysler announced that it will shut down seven auto plants for various periods in January because of a decline in the sales of its larger cars. [CBS]
- Versailles Palace is filled with worms, rats and leaks. To save the palace, a large party and a fashion show were given to raise funds. Ticket fees and donations netted only $250,000 from the invited millionaires, however. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 835.11 (-4.67, -0.56%)
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* |
| November 28, 1973 | 839.78 | 97.65 | 19.99 |
| November 27, 1973 | 817.73 | 95.70 | 19.75 |
| November 26, 1973 | 824.95 | 96.58 | 19.83 |
| November 23, 1973 | 854.00 | 99.44 | 11.47 |
| November 21, 1973 | 854.98 | 99.76 | 24.26 |
| November 20, 1973 | 844.90 | 98.66 | 23.96 |
| November 19, 1973 | 862.66 | 100.71 | 16.70 |
| November 16, 1973 | 891.33 | 103.88 | 22.51 |
| November 15, 1973 | 874.55 | 102.43 | 24.53 |
| November 14, 1973 | 869.88 | 102.45 | 22.71 |