News stories from Monday December 10, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Cost of Living Council today lifted all wage and price controls from the automotive industry; three of the Big Four manufacturers pledged to limit their price increases. Ford, General Motors and American Motors agreed to the council's conditions for removing price controls, but Chrysler made no commitment. Cost of Living Council director John Dunlop admitted that the energy crisis was taken into account when making this decision. [CBS]
- Filling stations have requested price increases also. A spokesman for the Gasoline Retailers Association urged that price controls be lifted to allow a 1 to 3 cents per gallon increase, as the industry fights for survival. Figures revealed that twice as many stations are closed this year as compared to the same period last year.
Neighborhood dealers are being forced out of business, either from lack of supplies or lack of profitability. Hempstead, Long Island, gas station operator Joe Zimatoure stated that the major oil company he deals with is forcing him to shut down by next May after 40 years of service to the company. Hempstead town supervisor Al D'Amato said that abandoned gas stations will become a blight on the community. Oil companies allegedly plan to create self-service stations to replace neighborhood gas stations.
[CBS] - Truck drivers are protesting diesel fuel price gouging along the nations' highways. The IRS has found that more than 25% of truck stops violate the government's price ceiling on diesel fuel. [CBS]
- California experienced its first truck blockade today, involving three trucks. The small blockade cut off 400 vehicles near San Francisco. [CBS]
- A private nonprofit organization studying the economics of petroleum reported that the Nixon administration has overestimated the country's immediate fuel shortage. Former White House energy director John Love believes that the administration actually underestimated the fuel shortage.
Love believes that gasoline rationing is the only fair answer to the energy crisis, but he claimed that explaining the energy crisis to the President was almost impossible. Love stated that Americans must be given the truth about the energy crisis in order to cope with shortages.
[CBS] - Saudi Arabia oil minister Sheik Ahmed Yamani said that the oil embargo to U.S. could end soon, if Israel promises to withdraw from occupied Arab territories. [CBS]
- A House and Senate conference committee agreed on a compromise bill to reestablish daylight savings time for most of the country. [CBS]
- A federal judge refused to bar the Senate Watergate committee from questioning associates of billionaire Howard Hughes in closed session. The committee is working on a new theory to explain the Watergate break-in, including Democratic party chairman Larry O'Brien, Hughes, and President Nixon's brothers. Committee counsel Sam Dash believes this new theory could explain much. Hughes' attorney Chester Davis attempted to halt the closed door questioning of Hughes' aides.
Jeb Magruder and John Mitchell were undoubtedly aware of another motive to the Watergate break-in; O'Brien denied any possible connection.
[CBS] - Former special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenaed nine of the White House tape recordings long before his firing. Cox's successor Leon Jaworski finally received the first tapes today. Unsubpoenaed tapes were turned over voluntarily by the White House, and two other subpoenaed tapes were released by Judge John Sirica. Subjects of the unsubpoenaed tapes which were requested by Jaworski include the "milk fund", discussions of clemency for the Watergate burglars, John Dean's firing and two missing White House tapes.
White House counsel Leonard Garment alluded to the existence of other problems in the White House regarding the tapes. Jaworski admitted that some tapes requested by the special prosecutor haven't been released by the White House.
[CBS] - President Nixon formally sent William Saxbe's nomination as Attorney General to the Senate. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court may attempt to define obscenity and pornography again. The court agreed to hear a Georgia case dealing with obscenity laws. [CBS]
- The interest rate on U.S. savings bonds increased to 6%. [CBS]
- The Nixon administration's committee on interest and dividends requested that banks justify increases in their prime lending rates. The prime interest rate is now 10%. [CBS]
- NATO foreign ministers began their meeting in Brussels, Belgium. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had sharp words for some of them. Rifts exist in NATO over Arab oil and Soviet-U.S. relations. The French foreign minister challenged Kissinger about the United States' stance in the Mideast. The NATO alliance has reached a major turning point. [CBS]
- Thomas Byrne, the U.S. ambassador to Norway, accepted the Nobel peace prize on behalf of Henry Kissinger, as demonstrators protested Kissinger's winning of the peace prize. [CBS]
- Schonau Castle in Vienna, Austria, is now closed to Soviet Jews emigrating to Israel. Arabs terrorists demanded the closing of Schonau earlier this year in exchange for the release of hostages they were holding, and Austria agreed to the demand. [CBS]
- The Nixon administration announced that final decisions were near on a national health insurance plan to replace Medicare and Medicaid. Department of Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Caspar Weinberger insists that President Nixon's plan won't require tax increases. [CBS]
- Some municipal water systems use asbestos in cement pipes which transmit drinking water. A public-interest group of scientists demanded that the manufacture of such pipes should be banned because of the link between asbestos fibers and cancer. The asbestos industry denied that there is proof of any such link. [CBS]
- Wisconsin Congressman Harold Froehlich warned of a paper shortage unless the paper industry is allowed to increase prices, adding that the government should limit pulp exports. Toilet paper may soon be in short supply. [CBS]
- In the state of Washington last weekend, there were no traffic-related deaths. The feat is being attributed to lower speed limits and gasoline stations being closed on Sunday. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 851.14 (+13.09, +1.56%)
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* |
| December 7, 1973 | 838.05 | 96.51 | 23.23 |
| December 6, 1973 | 814.12 | 94.42 | 23.26 |
| December 5, 1973 | 788.31 | 92.16 | 19.18 |
| December 4, 1973 | 803.21 | 93.59 | 19.03 |
| December 3, 1973 | 806.52 | 93.90 | 17.90 |
| November 30, 1973 | 822.25 | 95.96 | 15.38 |
| November 29, 1973 | 835.11 | 97.31 | 18.87 |
| 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 |