News stories from Wednesday May 8, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Senate Judiciary Committee reportedly voted unanimously to begin full-scale hearings into the Justice Department's failure to penetrate the Watergate cover-up in the summer and fall of 1972. Senate sources said that the committee, which met in closed session, agreed to summon Assistant Attorney General Henry Petersen, who was personally selected by President Nixon to take over the Watergate inquiry last spring, to hearings tentatively set to begin next week. [New York Times]
- The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has proposed issuing a series of subpoenas for tapes and other White House material if President Nixon continues to withhold evidence from the impeachment inquiry. Under a plan outlined privately by Representative Peter Rodino to Democratic committee members, the subpoenas would be issued in the course of the hearings as gaps appeared in evidence. [New York Times]
- Now that six states with a total of 100 House seats have held primaries without a single upset of an incumbent Representative, politicians have begun to dismiss the notion that incumbents will automatically suffer from a Watergate backlash by voters disenchanted with established Washington figures.
The lone exception to the pattern has been in a Senate race, Ohio's Democratic primary, where the victor, John Glenn, stressed Watergate immorality and President Nixon's tax problems in his primary campaign against Senator Howard Metzenbaum.
[New York Times] - The Ford Motor Company, citing higher costs, announced price increases averaging $163 on its 1974 cars and trucks, and the Director of the Cost of Living Council promptly protested the move, saying it violated a company commitment not to raise prices during the model year. [New York Times]
- Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's government was toppled when the Canadian House of Commons rejected his budget, leaving the administration without funds for its economic program. The 137 to 123 vote against the government paved the way for new parliamentary elections this summer. [New York Times]
- Willy Brandt of West Germany said he resigned as Chancellor partly because "there were indications my private life would be drawn into speculation" about the discovery of an East German spy on his staff. Mr. Brandt's televised speech, which gave no details, followed published reports that the spy had unspecified information on Mr. Brandt's private life that would be devastating to him if exposed. [New York Times]
- Secretary of State Kissinger said he had made "some progress" in his efforts to arrange a troop separation between Israel and Syria. However, Mr. Kissinger, who spent the day shuttling between the two countries, said the two sides were still far apart. [New York Times]
- A nationwide strike by one of Britain's largest unions was settled when an anonymous donor paid $156,000 in fines and damages that had been levied against the union after a smaller strike last year. The strike by 1.2 million members of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers had been called after a labor court had seized their union's assets for failure to pay the levies. There was immediate speculation that the government had arranged the anonymous payment to avoid the political impact of a potentially devastating strike. [New York Times]
- A national railway strike in India caused major disruptions in both passenger and rail service, but did not effectively cripple the transport system, which is regarded as crucial to the national economy. Bombay, India's major commercial center, was deeply affected, with offices, banks and factories half empty because of disruptions in commuter service. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 850.99 (+3.84, +0.45%)
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 7, 1974 | 847.15 | 91.46 | 10.71 |
| May 6, 1974 | 844.88 | 91.12 | 9.45 |
| May 3, 1974 | 845.90 | 91.29 | 11.08 |
| May 2, 1974 | 851.06 | 92.09 | 13.62 |
| 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 |