News stories from Friday September 23, 1977
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Carter plans a 24,000-mile trip in late November that will take him to eight countries on four continents in eleven days. His itinerary, announced, by the White House, will include stops in Venezuela, Brazil, India, Iran, France, Poland, Belgium and Nigeria, where he will make a Thanksgiving visit. White House spokesmen turned aside any suggestions that the journey was an attempt to divert public attention from Bert Lance's resignation as budget director. [New York Times]
- The House voted overwhelmingly to increase from 65 to 70 the age at which employers can require their workers to retire involuntarily, and to eliminate mandatory retirement for almost all civilians employed by the government. The changes were contained in amendment to the Age Discrimination and Employment Act. The vote was 359 to 4.
The end of mandatory retirement at 65 will prevent young men and women, prepared to teach at the college level, from finding jobs, university presidents warn. College faculties are not being increased now because of generally stable enrollment. "Every gain at one end is a loss at the other," said Robert Rosenzweig, a vice president at Stanford University in California. "Who do you favor, those who have had full careers or those who haven't had a chance?"
[New York Times] - The controversial Concorde SST's would be allowed to land at 13 American cities, including New York, under an administration proposal, though the supersonic transports could be barred by local airport authorities through "reasonable, non-discriminatory noise rules." The proposal, under consideration for two years, will be subject to public comment and hearing over the next four months and could become final before early next year. [New York Times]
- The two Georgia banks associated with Bert Lance were given a generally poor performance rating when they were compared with banks of similar size by a major dealer in bank stocks. Their records stand out in routine statistical studies of all the nation's banks that are made by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc., of New York. The statistics are for the years 1972 through 1976. [New York Times]
- Senate liberals opposing decontrol of new supplies of natural gas began a filibuster that may continue into next week. The Senate on Thursday voted 52 to 45 to keep alive a proposal by Republicans and oil-state Democrats to remove the controls. The majority leader, Robert Byrd, circulated a petition to cut off debate, but the motion would require the support of at least 60 senators and could not take effect until at least Monday. [New York Times]
- Detroit auto makers apparently will fulfill an industry forecast that this year's sales will be one of the best ever. Sales were up 7.7 percent during the second 10-day period in September over the same period last year and 198,345 new cars were delivered. American Motors' sales, stimulated by its new Concord compact, were up 20 percent in the 10-day period over last year. Only Ford reported a decline. [New York Times]
- Most stock prices were unchanged. Investors were apparently preoccupied with the question of whether the Federal Reserve plans further credit tightening to cope with the acceleration in the money supply. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had minor gains during most of the session, closed unchanged at 839.14. Its loss for the week was 17.67 points. [New York Times]
- Women will be assigned by the Air Force to underground missile silos, taking the same training as men to enable them to launch nuclear missiles. They will soon join the launching crews on Titan 2 intercontinental ballistic missiles buried in silos in Arizona, Kansas and Arkansas. At least 15 officers and 25 enlisted women will be among the first women's contingent. [New York Times]
- Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan assailed the new federal order requiring New York City's public schools to assign teachers on the basis of race and compared it in a Senate speech to Hitler's Nuremburg racial laws. "In the name of moral sanity, I call upon President Carter to void this wretched contract," he said. He accused the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare of a "debasement of the principle of civil rights" in pressing the agreement on the city. [New York Times]
- Negotiations in France among leftist parties for a joint government program broke down, almost eliminating the likelihood that the Communists would participate in governing the country next year. Communist, Socialist and Left Radical leaders stopped short of conceding that their 5-year-old alliance had collapsed. The French business community was euphoric. The stock market soared and the franc gained strength. [New York Times]
- East Germany is getting rid of critics of the government by expelling them to the West or forcing them to emigrate before the European security conference opens in Belgrade next month. On Thursday, 90 political prisoners were allowed to cross the border to West Germany under an arrangement in which Bonn pays about $20,000 for each prisoner. They followed a group of 144 prisoners recently released under similar conditions. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 839.14 (0.00, 0.00%)
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* |
| September 22, 1977 | 839.14 | 95.09 | 16.66 |
| September 21, 1977 | 840.96 | 95.10 | 22.20 |
| September 20, 1977 | 851.78 | 95.89 | 19.03 |
| September 19, 1977 | 851.52 | 95.85 | 16.89 |
| September 16, 1977 | 856.81 | 96.48 | 18.34 |
| September 15, 1977 | 860.79 | 96.80 | 18.23 |
| September 14, 1977 | 858.71 | 96.55 | 17.33 |
| September 13, 1977 | 854.56 | 96.09 | 14.90 |
| September 12, 1977 | 854.38 | 96.03 | 18.70 |
| September 9, 1977 | 857.07 | 96.37 | 18.10 |