News stories from Tuesday April 30, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The transcripts of the recordings of President Nixon's Watergate conversations show that Mr. Nixon never discouraged the payment of hush money to one of the Watergate conspirators. They depict Mr. Nixon as having been primarily interested early last year in keeping the facts of the Watergate case from becoming public, but as having been indecisive on the best way of accomplishing it. [New York Times]
- Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are weighing a formal move to cite President Nixon for "noncompliance" with the committee's April 11 subpoena of White House tape recordings. But most Republicans on the panel are balking at the legal challenge to the President, and a number of them expressed qualified acceptance of the White House substitution of 1,308 pages of edited transcripts for the subpoenaed tapes. [New York Times]
- The White House declared that President Nixon was never criminally liable in the Watergate cover-up attempt despite statements he made in conversations with key figures in the scandal. The White House made the declaration in a 50-page legal argument accompanying the release of the edited transcripts. [New York Times]
- "Blemishes and all," President Nixon said and he warned of ambiguities, embarrassments and brutal candor in the 1,308 pages that provide perhaps the closest look outsiders have ever had of a President in private and certainly of the private Richard Nixon. [New York Times]
- President Nixon will refuse to yield tapes and documents sought by the Watergate special prosecutor. The President's Watergate lawyer, James St. Clair, told newsmen that he would move to quash the prosecutor's subpoena, which was authorized April 19. [New York Times]
- Farm prices declined 6 percent in the month ended April 15, the second consecutive monthly decrease, holding out the hope for some relief for shoppers at supermarket counters. The Farm Price Index, at 183, was 20 points, or about 10 percent, below the peak reached in February and 11 points below the March level. [New York Times]
- The United States proposed a $4 billion assistance program for the most economically distressed countries. The wide-ranging proposal was submitted to the United Nations in a special session of the General Assembly on raw materials and development. It would have the industrialized countries and affluent oil producers provide emergency help over the next year and a half in the form of grants and loans, but also would include commodity assistance such as food, oil and fertilizer. [New York Times]
- Secretary of State Kissinger arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, and immediately conferred with President Anwar Sadat as part of an effort to build broad support for a compromise troop separation agreement between Israel and Syria. Earlier in the day, he completed talks with President Houari Boumediene of Algeria, and as he left, he told newsmen that he had "increased hope" for the success of the talks. [New York Times]
- Italy, in an unexpected and one-sided move, imposed severe restrictions on all imports of manufactured goods. The measure, aimed at fighting inflation and bolstering the lagging lira, caused consternation among Italy's partners in the European Economic Community, who pleaded with the government to at least postpone the decision. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 836.75 (+1.33, +0.16%)
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* |
| April 29, 1974 | 835.42 | 90.00 | 10.17 |
| April 26, 1974 | 834.64 | 90.18 | 13.25 |
| April 25, 1974 | 827.68 | 89.57 | 15.87 |
| April 24, 1974 | 832.37 | 90.30 | 16.01 |
| April 23, 1974 | 845.98 | 91.81 | 14.11 |
| April 22, 1974 | 858.57 | 93.38 | 10.52 |
| April 19, 1974 | 859.90 | 93.75 | 10.71 |
| April 18, 1974 | 869.92 | 94.78 | 12.47 |
| April 17, 1974 | 867.41 | 94.36 | 14.02 |
| April 16, 1974 | 861.23 | 93.66 | 14.53 |