News stories from Thursday April 10, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- In an address to a joint session of Congress last night, President Ford appealed for approval of nearly a billion dollars in military and humanitarian aid for Saigon to give South Vietnam a chance to "save itself" as a country and make possible a large-scale evacuation of Americans and South Vietnamese "should the worst come to pass." Mr. Ford -- as well as other officials -- stressed that the aid request, which he asked to be acted upon by April 19, was meant not only to keep Saigon from a military collapse, but to give the United States time to try and arrange a political solution between Hanoi and Saigon. [New York Times]
- The response of congressional leaders to President Ford's request for $722 million in additional military aid to South Vietnam was quick and overwhelmingly negative. But there appeared to be support for $250 million in economic and humanitarian aid as well as for presidential authority for the use of United States military forces for the limited purpose of insuring the possible evacuation of Americans in Saigon. [New York Times]
- Refugees who fled from areas of South Vietnam lost by the Saigon government in the last month report that the Communists have moved quickly to round up all ranking South Vietnamese army and government officers. But the refugees said they knew of only a few executions of government officials. [New York Times]
- Communist forces, backed by tanks and heavy artillery, maintained their pressure on Saigon with more heavy fighting in and around Xuan Loc, a key provincial city 38 miles northeast of the capital. Control of the area was uncertain. [New York Times]
- Weary and thinly stretched government forces defending Phnom Penh, encircled by Communist-led Cambodian insurgents, fell back at several points, leaving large gaps in their lines. Government commanders made frantic but poorly coordinated efforts to plug the holes. The insurgents were less than three miles from Phnom Penh's airport, its last link to the outside world. [New York Times]
- The Senate, by a vote of 60 to 25, passed legislation that would put a price ceiling on all oil produced in the United States. This was the first formal action in what is expected to be a year-long effort by the Democratic-controlled Congress to develop a national energy policy. The measure is strongly opposed by President Ford, who wants to remove oil-price controls. [New York Times]
- In what was described as one of the biggest changes in engine technology in recent decades, the Chrysler Corporation will put a radically modified computerized engine in many of its 1976 models, starting this fall, that will eliminate antipollution catalysts and improve fuel efficiency. The new engine will be installed in at least 200,000 standard-size Chryslers, Dodges and Plymouths. It will not affect their basic price. [New York Times]
- Walker Evans, the photographer noted for his pictures of American life, died in New Haven at the age of 71. He was professor emeritus of graphic arts at Yale's School of Art and Architecture. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 781.29 (+13.30, +1.73%)
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 9, 1975 | 767.99 | 82.84 | 18.12 |
| April 8, 1975 | 749.22 | 80.99 | 14.32 |
| April 7, 1975 | 742.88 | 80.35 | 13.86 |
| April 4, 1975 | 747.26 | 80.88 | 14.17 |
| April 3, 1975 | 752.19 | 81.51 | 13.92 |
| April 2, 1975 | 760.56 | 82.43 | 15.60 |
| 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 |