News stories from Wednesday April 2, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- South Vietnam reported the abandonment to Communist forces of three coastal enclaves -- Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang and the huge military base of Cam Ranh -- and the inland resort city of Da Lat. Fighting was reported in all provinces ringing Saigon. The government armed forces appeared to be falling apart. The South Vietnamese Senate overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for a government of national union to end the war. It seemed unlikely to bring about any change since it has no legal force without President Nguyen Van Thieu's approval. Premier Tran Thien Khiem said in a brief broadcast address that the government was determined to defend what remained and eventually recover areas recently lost. [New York Times]
- In Paris, leaders of the Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government called for an uprising against the Saigon government of President Thieu and a negotiated end to the fighting. Mrs. Ngyen Thi Binh, the Viet Cong Foreign Minister, said her group was ready to talk immediately with a new Saigon government replacing the administration of Mr. Thieu. [New York Times]
- Saigon is on the brink of chaos, full of fear and rumor as some foreigners ship out their acquisitions and others prepare to stay to the end. A young widow with two small children trembled as she said, "Where is there to go after Saigon? What is there to do? Wait, wait, wait." [New York Times]
- Secretary General Waldheim said in an interview in Rome that the issue of Vietnamese refugees was a very controversial political problem that the United Nations should avoid. He said he was maintaining contact through the Viet Cong liaison office in Geneva and with North Vietnam through private channels in Paris. He indicated he believed any public appeal by him to the Communist authorities to let refugees leave would be "counterproductive." [New York Times]
- The United States Embassy in Phnom Penh announced that it would begin evacuating its diplomatic and military personnel today as well as members of other allied missions in the Cambodian capital. Robert Keeley, deputy chief of the mission, denied that the fall of Neak Luang or the departure of Cambodia's President, Marshal Nol, had played a decisive role in bringing about the evacuation announcement. [New York Times]
- The prosecutor in his bribery trial of John Connally, former Secretary of the Treasury, told the jury there was documentary evidence proving he solicited and got a $10,000 payoff for helping the dairy industry. He said the money "left a trail of footprints." Edward Bennett Williams, the chief defense attorney, said he would prove that the chief prosecution witness, Jake Jacobsen, was an inveterate perjurer who embezzled the funds. [New York Times]
- Administration officials close to President Ford said he was so undecided before signing the antirecession tax-cut bill that he had a second speech prepared in case he vetoed it. Insiders said that only two of his high-ranking advisers strongly urged a veto -- Arthur Burns, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, and William Simon, Secretary of the Treasury. So did several conservative Republican members of Congress. But most of his advisers counseled signing the bill to get the quick tax cut and also for long-range political considerations. [New York Times]
- Standard & Poor's, one of two leading credit-rating agencies, suspended its "A" rating of New York City bonds -- an action seen as a severe setback in the city's battle to remain solvent. It is expected to erode further investors' confidence in city securities and to raise interest rates and worsen the prospects for the next major note sale. Mayor Beame said that the action was "unwarranted." The rating agency said it was hopeful that the suspicion would be quickly ended and the city's rating restored. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 760.56 (-1.02, -0.13%)
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* |
| April 1, 1975 | 761.58 | 82.64 | 14.48 |
| March 31, 1975 | 768.15 | 83.36 | 16.27 |
| March 27, 1975 | 770.26 | 83.85 | 18.30 |
| 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 |