News stories from Monday August 25, 1975

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

President Ford plans to ask Congress soon for temporary authority to continue through next winter federal controls over deliveries and prices of propane, the bottled gas widely used to heat rural homes, to protect small propane consumers from shortages and runaway prices. Administration and Democratic congressional sources said the request was likely to be coupled with a veto of the proposed six-month extension of oil-price controls. [New York Times] In an address at a meeting of hardware merchants in Chicago, President Ford set forth three themes that represented a preview of the broad economic philosophy on which he will base his candidacy next year for a full term in the White House. He told the merchants attending the opening of the National Hardware Week Convention that he would "get the federal government out of your business, out of your pockets, and out of your hair." [New York Times] The Mobil Oil Corporation's proposal for a gradual decontrol of domestic oil prices was dismissed today by other major petroleum producers, as unrealistic at this time. Mobil broke ranks with the big producers over the weekend when it publicly announced its opposition to President Ford's plan to remove controls Sunday. [New York Times] Treasury Secretary William Simon chastised the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation for apparently not having been "forthright" with the government about the bribes that the company has paid overseas. He told the Senate Banking Committee that the Emergency Loan Guarantee Board, which was set up to supervise federal loan guarantees to Lockheed, and of which he is chairman, was "disturbed" that the board had failed to detect "Lockheed's apparent long-standing practice of resorting to bribery to sell its products in foreign markets." Mr. Simon, under persistent questioning, refused to say that the board would stop guaranteeing loans to the company if Lockheed did not stop paying bribes. He said he would favor that position, but that he could not speak for the board. [New York Times] As a deadline set for his ouster passed, Premier Vasco Goncalves of Portugal continued to hold onto office and maneuver for support last night. The High Council of the Revolution issued a statement after a meeting that touched only on secondary matters and omitted mention of the crucial ?issue that the country has been waiting to be resolved. [New York Times] An extraordinary effort was made at a meeting in Rhodesia by Prime Minister John Vorster of South Africa and President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia to force Rhodesian leaders, black and white, to find a solution to their racial differences. But it appeared that the talks might break down. The difficulty seemed to be division among black nationalist leaders on whether to agree to a formula for future hard bargaining inside Rhodesia -- a plan some regard as a humiliation. [New York Times] The Greek cabinet decided unanimously to spare the lives of the three men who led the military coup in 1967, former President George Papadopoulos, Nikolaos Makarezos and Stylianos Patakos, and commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment. The decision was made under growing opposition to clemency from political parties, the press and the public. Fifteen associates of the three men received prison terms. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 812.34 (+7.58, +0.94%)
S&P Composite: 85.06 (+0.78, +0.93%)
Arms Index: 0.79

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	979	7.53
Declines	391	2.38
Unchanged	395	1.34
Total Volume		11.25

* 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*
August 22, 1975	804.76	84.28	13.05
August 21, 1975	791.69	83.07	16.61
August 20, 1975	793.26	83.22	18.63
August 19, 1975	808.51	84.95	14.99
August 18, 1975	822.75	86.20	10.81
August 15, 1975	825.64	86.36	10.61
August 14, 1975	817.04	85.60	12.46
August 13, 1975	820.56	85.97	12.00
August 12, 1975	828.54	87.12	14.51
August 11, 1975	823.76	86.55	12.35