News stories from Monday December 31, 1973

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

A key government official predicted that prices of gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel would rise by 10 cents a gallon in January and February. The official, Charles Owens of the Federal Energy Office, offered the estimate as William Simon, director of the office, authorized distributions of gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel to raise prices to cover increased operating costs, such as higher rent and electricity bills.The Shell Oil Company announced that it was increasing prices for gasoline, heating oil and most other petroleum products. Other oil companies were expected to announce similar rises. [New York Times] Israeli national elections are underway as Prime Minister Golda Meir fights for her political life against challenger Menachem Begin. A record number of Israelis turned out for the vote. Mrs. Meir and defense minister Moshe Dayan both suffered as a result of the Mideast war. Begin's hard-line, hawkish political views may get him a large portion of the military vote. The campaign's key issue is the Geneva peace conference.The White House is keeping an eye on the Israeli elections. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger reported to President Nixon that negotiations at the peace conference will become more active after the elections. If Kissinger is correct, the Arab oil embargo against the United States may be lifted. [CBS] The great majority of East Jerusalem's Arabs boycotted the municipal election, setting back Israeli hopes for advancing integration of the city under Israeli rule. Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan until the 1967 war. [New York Times] Britain began a three-day work week to combat its worst economic crisis since World War II. The whiskey industry and pubs are exempt from the three-day week. [CBS] The New Year will find no American soldiers fighting in Indochina, however MIAs still exist. More than 1,200 U.S. MIAs are still unaccounted for today; military teams continue to search. Crash sites are prominent throughout Indochina, but most of the sites are inaccessible because of the Communists' hold on those areas. General Daniel James stated that the U.S. government and the North Vietnamese government are now discuss the MIA problem through diplomatic channels. The U.S. search team may be discontinued soon. [CBS] Special Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski announced that he expects several indictments within the next two months. John Dean, Egil Krogh, Donald Segretti, Fred LaRue, Jeb Magruder and others have admitted their guilt in the Watergate scandal so far. [CBS] Arab guerrillas claimed responsibility for the shooting Sunday night of Joseph Edward Sieff, president of Marks and Spencer, the British store chain, who had worked actively in support of Israel. The announcement in Beirut by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine came soon after London police warned leaders of Britain's Jewish community to be vigilant. Mr. Sieff was reported to be doing "better than expected." [New York Times] It was reported that President Nixon's brother Edward was paid $21,000 for acting as a "consultant" on the selection of the site for the Nixon library. [CBS] Spencer Kimball was named president of the Mormon Church, succeeding Harold Lee. Taft Benson was selected as president of the Council of 12 Apostles, making Benson next in line for the Mormon presidency. [CBS] The Soviet Union issued a forecast predicting a miserable year for the capitalist world. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 850.86 (+2.84, +0.33%)
S&P Composite: 97.55 (+0.01, +0.01%)
Arms Index: 0.95

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	929	11.77
Declines	658	7.89
Unchanged	312	3.81
Total Volume		23.47

* 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 28, 1973	848.02	97.54	21.31
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