News stories from Thursday May 2, 1974

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

The House Judiciary Committee voted overwhelmingly to give President Nixon's attorney, James St. Clair, wide latitude in questioning witnesses at the committee's impeachment hearings. The committee also voted to allow live television coverage of the hearings, which are expected to begin later this month. [New York Times] Investigators for the House Judiciary Committee have apparently constructed a chain of circumstantial evidence linking President Nixon's 1971 decision to increase government milk price supports to a pledge by dairy industry groups to give $2 million to the President's re-election campaign. The chain was outlined in one of several documents submitted to the White House to justify the committee request for 141 White House tapes. [New York Times] The original Watergate prosecutors reportedly broke off all contact with their superiors in the Justice Department in April, 1973, after Assistant Attorney General Henry Petersen refused their demands that he end his close association with President Nixon. Authoritative sources said the break came after Mr. Petersen refused to heed warnings that he would be a witness against John Dean in any Watergate cover-up trials and, thus, should not continue to advise the President. [New York Times] Of the hundreds of gaps in the edited White House transcripts, none seems so crucial as the omission of more than five hours of presidential conversations on April 15, 1973, the day the White House says the tape ran out. Thus there is an incomplete record of the President's first talk with the Watergate prosecutor. [New York Times] Gen. Alexander Haig, the President's chief of staff, reportedly refused to answer questions before a closed session of the Senate Watergate Committee. Senate sources said General Haig produced a letter from the President invoking both executive privilege and the attorney-client privilege in ordering him not to answer questions, which focused on a $100,000 gift from Howard Hughes to C. G. Rebozo. [New York Times] The Maryland Court of Appeals ordered former Vice President Agnew disbarred from legal practice in Maryland, citing his no-contest plea on a charge of tax evasion. [New York Times] The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against the Penn Central Railroad and various subsidiaries, officers and directors, charging them with fraud in connection with the 1970 collapse of the railroad. [New York Times] Prices of steel, copper, brass, chemicals and other major basic materials were increased on the second day after the end of most wage-price controls. But while prices of some airplanes and air conditioners were raised, the maker of Hormel meat products announced a price cut of 7 to 14 percent, including a 7-cent reduction in the cost of a can of Spam. [New York Times] A two-year study by the New York research staff of the National Urban League has found widespread racial bias in the Coast Guard. Warning of a potentially explosive situation, the report urges better internal communication and greater opportunity for advancement of members of minority groups. [New York Times] Administration officials said that the Soviet Union had begun negotiations on a treaty for a limited ban on underground nuclear testing -- a project that has been sporadically discussed since 1958. Officials said it was hoped to have a treaty ready for signing during President Nixon's planned visit to the Soviet Union, probably at the end of June. [New York Times] Secretary of State Kissinger met with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem for talks aimed at bringing about an Israeli-Syrian troop separation agreement. Mr. Kissinger, who will fly to Damascus tomorrow for talks with Syrian leaders, urged the Israelis to make the first moves toward a compromise on the issue, but they indicated they would not be rushed into changing their proposals, especially in light of the stepped-up fighting on the Golan Heights. [New York Times] Hundreds of union leaders were arrested in India in a government move to head off a rail strike threatened for Monday that could cripple the Indian economy. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 851.06 (-2.82, -0.33%)
S&P Composite: 92.09 (-0.13, -0.14%)
Arms Index: 1.42

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	710	5.02
Declines	647	6.50
Unchanged	420	2.11
Total Volume		13.63

* 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*
May 1, 1974	853.88	92.22	15.12
April 30, 1974	836.75	90.31	10.98
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