News stories from Friday February 21, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- John Mitchell, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, who were among President Nixon's closest advisers, were each sentenced to serve two and a half to eight years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up. Robert Mardian, former Assistant Attorney General under Mr. Mitchell, was sentenced to serve 10 months to three years. [New York Times]
- The Justice Department disclosed that a secretary to the Speaker of the House, Carl Albert, and a Texas lawyer, had been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraudulently representing themselves as influence peddlers. The six-count indictment charged that Pauline Girvin, the secretary, and Joe Ben Champion, the lawyer, had falsely claimed to have had influence with Mr. Albert and had told clients that, in return for fees, they would use their good offices with Mr. Albert to have him arrange for the dropping of criminal charges faced by the clients. [New York Times]
- The Labor Department reported that consumer prices in January continued to be less inflationary. The Consumer Price Index, after adjustment for normal seasonal changes in some prices, rose by six-tenths of 1 percent last month, a little less than the seven-tenths increase in December, but the smallest increase since last April. Prices of clothing, automobiles, beef and sugar declined, but costs of medical care and utilities, and prices of some foods, mainly cereals, bakery products, fruits and vegetables were higher. [New York Times]
- By making optional some equipment that is now standard in nine of its small cars, the General Motors Corporation announced that it would reduce the prices of those cars by $104 to $313. This step by General Motors, the auto industry's price leader, puts pressure on the rest of the car manufacturers to lower their small-car prices.
Meanwhile, the Ford Motor Company reported that the number of its laid-off workers would total 67,100 next week. This is 38.3 percent of Ford's hourly work force.
[New York Times] - Fierce fighting broke out on at least four fronts in the Ethiopian province of Eritrea as Ethiopian forces used fighter-bombers, armored vehicles, artillery and troops in attacks on villages and roads held by Eritrean secessionist guerrillas. The attacks followed several days of troop build-ups in Eritrea. [New York Times]
- The collapse of the Soviet-American trade agreement raised questions in Moscow about the ability of the Ford administration to honor commitments in more complicated areas, a senior Soviet official said at a news conference in Washington. Vladimir Alkhimov, the Soviet Union's Deputy Foreign Trade Minister, sought to put pressure on the United States to revise the trade bill that linked any trade benefits for the Soviet Union to a liberalized Soviet emigration policy. [New York Times]
- Voting 22 to 1 with nine abstentions, the 32-member United Nations Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva, accused Israel of violating the "basic norms of international law" in the territories she occupies, and adopted two resolutions of censure against Israel over her actions in the occupied Arab territories. Only the United States voted against both. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 749.77 (+4.39, +0.59%)
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 20, 1975 | 745.38 | 82.21 | 22.26 |
| February 19, 1975 | 736.39 | 81.44 | 22.19 |
| February 18, 1975 | 731.30 | 80.93 | 23.99 |
| February 14, 1975 | 734.20 | 81.50 | 23.29 |
| February 13, 1975 | 726.92 | 81.01 | 35.16 |
| February 12, 1975 | 715.03 | 79.92 | 19.79 |
| February 11, 1975 | 707.50 | 78.58 | 16.47 |
| February 10, 1975 | 708.39 | 78.36 | 16.12 |
| February 7, 1975 | 711.91 | 78.63 | 20.06 |
| February 6, 1975 | 714.17 | 78.56 | 32.02 |