News stories from Thursday March 27, 1975

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

The North Vietnamese advanced southward along the central coastal plains of South Vietnam today. Behind it virtually all the northern part of South Vietnam had been engulfed. Only the enclave of Da Nang, South Vietnam's second largest city, remained in Saigon government hands, and the central coastal port of Qui Nhon, the country's third largest city, appeared threatened. At least eight South Vietnamese army regiments -- a total of about 19,000 men -- have reportedly fled, leaving equipment behind. The retreat, a Western military analyst said, was "a rout beyond our wildest fears." [New York Times] A group of opposition politicians and former Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky called on President Nguyen Van Thieu of South Vietnam to "turn over full powers to a new government" that would pursue new policies to save the nation. [New York Times] The South Vietnamese forces are not critically short of either ammunition or fuel, despite congressional reductions in military aid, the Defense Department said, but its officials assert that congressional cutbacks had contributed to the Saigon government's recent military setbacks by forcing its troops -- as they sought to conserve military supplies -- on the defensive. [New York Times] President Ford believes that the House would sustain a veto of the $22.8 billion tax cut bill passed by Congress, but it will be "several days" before he decides whether to sign or veto it the White House press secretary, Ron Nessen said. Representative John Rhodes of Ohio, the House Republican leader, predicted that the bill would be vetoed. [New York Times] The White House announced that President Ford would appoint Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton as head of the Commerce Department. There were reliable but officially unconfirmed reports that Mr. Ford would name former Gov. Stanley Hathaway of Wyoming as the new Secretary of the Interior. [New York Times] President Ford has decided to set up an independent presidential campaign committee to raise money and seek delegate commitments late next summer. Mr. Ford has been saying for months that he would campaign for a full term under the auspices of the Republican National Committee, but he has been persuaded by his advisers that this would be impossible in the pre-convention phase of the campaign because of the new campaign finance law. [New York Times] The Commerce Department reported that a huge and probably temporary drop in oil imports moved the United States balance of trade from a deficit in January to a record surplus of $917 million in February. The decline in oil imports -- by $1.5 billion in a single month -- was attributed mainly to the distorting effect of the imposition Feb. 1 of a new $1-a-barrel import tax. [New York Times] President Ford said in an interview soon after Secretary of State Kissinger returned to Washington that chances for peace in the Middle East would have been enhanced if Israel had shown more flexibility in the negotiations for a new Sinai agreement with Egypt. Publicly, Mr. Kissinger has said no blame should be assessed, but privately he has indicated displeasure with Israel's position. Mr. Ford seemed to reflect Mr. Kissinger's views. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 770.26 (+4.07, +0.53%)
S&P Composite: 83.85 (+0.26, +0.31%)
Arms Index: 0.98

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	826	9.66
Declines	577	6.64
Unchanged	391	2.00
Total Volume		18.30

* 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*
March 26, 1975	766.19	83.59	18.58
March 25, 1975	747.89	82.06	18.50
March 24, 1975	743.43	81.42	17.81
March 21, 1975	763.06	83.39	15.94
March 20, 1975	764.00	83.61	20.96
March 19, 1975	769.48	84.34	19.03
March 18, 1975	779.41	85.13	29.16
March 17, 1975	786.53	86.01	26.78
March 14, 1975	773.47	84.76	24.84
March 13, 1975	762.98	83.74	18.62