News stories from Friday December 28, 1973

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

The U.S. Postal Service announced that increases in postal rates have been delayed until March 2. [CBS] President Nixon has apparently scaled down "Operation Candor". The President now opposes the release of summaries of any of the White House tapes, though aides deny that the tapes could implicate the President in the Watergate cover-up as John Dean testified. A Washington Post story by reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward alleged that senior White House officials believe that President Nixon was involved in the Watergate cover-up. White House counsel Melvin Laird denied the story. [CBS] Watergate conspirators E. Howard Hunt and Bernard Barker will be released from federal prison; appeals of their sentences are under consideration. [CBS] A tax reform group associated with Ralph Nader filed suit in Washington to gain access to Richard Nixon's vice-presidential papers which are now in the National Archives. A joint committee of Congress is studying circumstances of the tax deduction which Nixon received for donating those papers. [CBS] More details of the government's new fuel regulations were released. Enough home heating oil will be allocated to keep homes at a constant 68 degrees. Energy czar William Simon conceded that gas stations won't have as much gasoline as they did last year. Appearing on the CBS morning news, Simon agreed that allocation is a moderate form of rationing. [CBS] General Motors announced that it will lay off 86,000 workers. American Airlines and TWA also plan more layoffs. [CBS] Government officials insist that the energy crisis isn't as severe as expected; the impact of oil shortages may in fact be felt less. Home heating oil supplies are near normal levels though gasoline supplies are down. Total oil imports are actually up though imports were expected to drop considerably. However, industries are believed to be hoarding fuels. Economist Walter Heller stated that oil companies are too secretive regarding fuel shortages. [CBS] Because many gasoline stations will be closed on Sunday and on New Year's day, panic buying is occurring across the nation. In Terryville, Connecticut, station owner Warren Wheeler requires appointments for gasoline. Wheeler admitted that he can't please everyone, but more people are content with the new arrangement than they were before. Business is booming. [CBS] The Texaco Oil Company has discontinued all deliveries to the Brooklyn gas station which charged 99.9 cents per gallon on Christmas day. The Department of Justice is seeking restraining orders to keep stations all over the country from overcharging customers. [CBS] Venezuela increased taxes and royalties on its crude oil exports; Venezuelan oil will now be the most expensive in the world. In Canada, the crude oil export tax will increase in February. Canada is the largest foreign oil supplier to the United States. [CBS] The Air Force is seeking congressional approval to test-fire underground missiles near Great Falls, Montana. The Pentagon hopes to launch the missiles with dummy warheads from Montana into the Pacific Ocean. Four Western states would be affected. The missile test is called "Operation Giant Patriot". [CBS] Israeli and Egyptian negotiators agreed in principle on some points regarding troop pullbacks on the Suez Canal. [CBS] Syria still refuses to supply a list of Israeli POWs; Israel charged Syria with murdering many POWs. Israel claims that one-third of its POWs in Syria were tortured and murdered on the battle front. Syrian deputy foreign minister Abdul-Ghani Rafei denied the charges and stated that delegates from the World Council of Churches saw all of the Israeli prisoners. The council reported that it saw only two prisoners. [CBS] Authorities believe that mechanical failure caused the derailment of Amtrak cars in Anderson, California. Eighty passengers were injured when six cars jumped the track. [CBS] In Schenectady, New York, funeral services were held today for Mr. and Mrs. Frank Baker who were found dead in their home on Christmas Eve. Police are investigating the possibility that the couple froze to death after the power company cut off their heat. Legislation has been proposed in New York to stop a company from arbitrarily shutting off electricity. The Niagara-Mohawk Power Corporation, which cut the electricity to the Bakers, announced that the company is also investigating the case. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 848.02 (-2.99, -0.35%)
S&P Composite: 97.54 (-0.20, -0.20%)
Arms Index: 1.25

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	674	7.00
Declines	876	11.36
Unchanged	335	2.95
Total Volume		21.31

* 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*
December 27, 1973	851.01	97.74	22.72
December 26, 1973	837.56	95.74	18.62
December 24, 1973	814.81	92.90	11.54
December 21, 1973	818.73	93.54	18.68
December 20, 1973	828.11	94.55	17.43
December 19, 1973	829.57	94.82	20.67
December 18, 1973	829.49	94.74	19.49
December 17, 1973	811.12	92.75	12.93
December 14, 1973	815.65	93.29	20.00
December 13, 1973	800.43	92.38	18.13