News stories from Friday February 15, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Inflation is worsening. Wholesale prices increased 3.5% in January and were up 20.8% over the past year. Wholesale livestock prices increased 15% last month, causing all farm produce prices to jump. Fuel prices increased 8%. Food prices are rising by leaps and bounds. Consumers are expected to notice the most excessive food prices at the retail level within the next two weeks. Wholesalers believe that food prices are likely to continue upward. [CBS]
- The dreary script generally forecast for the American economy in early 1974 -- lower production and sharply higher prices -- was followed on schedule in January, governmnent reports disclosed. Wholesale prices climbed 3.1 percent and industrial production dropped 0.8 percent. The news followed an earlier report of higher unemployment last month. Taken as a whole, this is probably the worst set of monthly economic statistics in at least 25 years. [New York Times]
- The number of persons not paying their installment loans on time increased by 19 percent in November and December, partly because of inflation and the slowdown in the economy. At the end of the period, the percentage of delinquent loans rose to 2.53 percent of those outstanding on Dec. 31, up from 2.12 percent at the end of October, according to a report by the American Bankers Association. [New York Times]
- Service stations are balking at the new government regulation forbidding gasoline sales to regular customers only; station owners want permission to raise prices. Many stations have closed to protest the gasoline allocation system and energy czar William Simon's regular-customer ruling. [CBS]
- Federal energy office deputy director John Sawhill stated that gasoline rationing is not likely to be used. President Nixon opposes rationing. [CBS]
- More than 100,000 auto workers have lost their jobs because of the fuel shortage. United Auto Workers president Leonard Woodcock urged that the nation's energy supply be removed from private hands and turned over to a public energy corporation. [CBS]
- Last September, Libya seized control of major American oil operations. The Wall Street Journal reported today that soon after the seizure, oil giants including Texaco and Standard Oil of California -- with the apparent collaboration of the State Department -- pressured smaller oil companies against importing Libyan oil products. [CBS]
- Federal Judge Gerhard Gesell, who will preside at the perjury trial of Dwight Chapin, the former presidential appointments secretary, tried to calm the rising public debate about the truthfulness of John Dean, the former White House counsel and witness in the Watergate case. [New York Times]
- The White House said that despite President Nixon's refusal to turn over tapes and documents to Leon Jaworski, Mr. Nixon wanted to avoid another "point of confrontation" with the Watergate prosecution. Therefore, Mr. Nixon instructed his lawyer to continue private conversations with Mr. Jaworski and to cooperate with him "fully, consistent with the principles of confidentiality of presidential conversations." [New York Times]
- The General Accounting Office notified the Treasury that payments to Secret Service agents assigned to protect former Vice President Agnew would be cut off after Sunday. The Controller General, Elmer Staats, said there was no legal authority for assigning agents to Mr. Agnew. [New York Times]
- Two escaped convicts were reported to be the leaders of the mysterious Symbionese Liberation Army, the group that kidnapped 19-year-old Patricia Hearst. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation refused to confirm reports that the convicts were involved in the kidnapping. [New York Times]
- The administration proposed that the federal government cease subsidizing interest on student loans except for those persons most in need. The proposal, a blow to middle-income families, received a polite but somewhat cool reception from a House education subcommittee considering changes in the Guaranteed Student Loan Program. [New York Times]
- About a dozen business executives, including the chairman of General Motors, intend to bring Soviet trade officials to their local communities this month to seek grassroots support for broadened commerce with the Soviet Union and to combat a growing anti-Soviet mood in this country which threatens to block further expansion of Soviet-American trade. [New York Times]
- Arab diplomats in Cairo said that the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian foreign ministers would ask the Nixon administration over the weekend for assurances that Israeli forces would eventually withdraw from the entire Golan Heights area they occupied in 1967. The partial lifting of the oil embargo against the United States and Syria's willingness to enter into a troop-separation agreement with Israel depend on the American assurances, the diplomats said. [New York Times]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 820.32 (+10.40, +1.28%)
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* |
| February 14, 1974 | 809.92 | 90.95 | 12.23 |
| February 13, 1974 | 806.87 | 90.98 | 10.99 |
| February 12, 1974 | 806.63 | 90.94 | 12.92 |
| February 11, 1974 | 803.90 | 90.66 | 12.93 |
| February 8, 1974 | 820.40 | 92.33 | 12.99 |
| February 7, 1974 | 828.46 | 93.30 | 11.75 |
| February 6, 1974 | 824.62 | 93.26 | 11.61 |
| February 5, 1974 | 820.64 | 93.00 | 12.82 |
| February 4, 1974 | 821.50 | 93.29 | 14.38 |
| February 1, 1974 | 843.94 | 95.32 | 12.48 |