News stories from Monday February 24, 1975

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

In a Senate subcommittee hearing on a supplemental military aid request for Cambodia, the Assistant Secretary of State, Philip Habib, announced that the United States would begin a food airlift today to Phnom Penh, the besieged capital. Senator Hubert Humphrey, a member of the subcommittee on foreign assistance asked Mr. Habib, "Isn't there a time to say this is a loser'," and end all military aid to Cambodia. [New York Times] It was disclosed by Representative Tip O'Neill, the House majority leader, that the House Democrats' Task Force on Energy and the Economy was recommending a three-year increase of 16 cents a gallon in the federal gasoline tax and a quota, or ceiling, on oil imports that would gradually decline. Substantial differences between House and Senate Democrats were indicated, and an administration official said that the views of the House Democrats were more compatible with President Ford's. [New York Times] With strong backing from Vice President Rockefeller, Senate reformers appeared to gain the upper hand in the battle to modify the Senate's filibuster rule, but the fight was far from over when the Senate recessed. Senator James Allen, Alabama Democrat, used traditional parliamentary tactics and some novel ones to prevent a direct vote on whether the Senate should permit a three-fifths vote of the Senate, instead of the present two-thirds, to cut off a filibuster. [New York Times] A general decline in interest rates, evident for many months to business lenders, finally appears to be reaching the consumer who has to borrow. Interest paid for car loans, one-family home mortgages and stock purchases are among the consumer rates that have declined this year. Eliot Vestner, New York State Superintendent of Banks, said "our statistics show that rates are coming down, but some rates are corning down much more slowly than others." [New York Times] A long-awaited federal plan to revitalize six bankrupt railroads serving the Northeast and Midwest calls for the initial abandonment of 6,200 miles of money-losing freight routes and the incorporation of 15,000 miles of remaining routes into a system beginning next year. It also proposes the formation of two other competing freight systems fashioned from still-flourishing lines, and the rerouting of rail freight between Boston and Washington to clear the tracks for high-speed passenger trains. [New York Times] The Greek government announced that it had placed its troops on alert in the Athens region after thwarting "conspiratorial movements" by followers of the military government that collapsed last July. It was reported later that 28 officers had been arrested. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 736.94 (-12.83, -1.71%)
S&P Composite: 81.44 (-1.18, -1.43%)
Arms Index: 1.40

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	444	4.08
Declines	1,022	13.12
Unchanged	357	1.95
Total Volume		19.15

* 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*
February 21, 1975	749.77	82.62	24.44
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