News stories from Wednesday December 24, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Pope Paul ended the 1975 Holy Year of the Roman Catholic Church by sealing the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He then went out into the square before the church to celebrate the first Christmas Eve outdoor mass in memory. The Vatican called the jubilee year a great success, bringing eight million pilgrims compared with three million in 1950, the previous Holy Year. Pope Paul was said to believe the results showed the church's strength. [New York Times]
- November exports exceeded imports by $1.1 billion, bringing the nation's trade surplus to $10.6 billion for the first 11 months of 1975. The Commerce Department said that if the pattern continued, the year's surplus would be $11.6 billion compared with the previous record of $7.1 billion in 1964. It was a dramatic improvement over the 1974 deficit of $2.4 billion. Exports are now 9 percent higher than in 1974, creating new jobs and strengthening the dollar in relation to other currencies, which in turn has helped slow inflation at home. [New York Times]
- Although the great majority of America's 7.7 million officially unemployed have remained near their homes, thousands have hit the road in search of jobs, with much of this migration toward the Southwest. Employment specialists say that such long-range job hunting is probably ebbing because there are few areas where newcomers can find jobs with relative ease. [New York Times]
- Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas has traveled far in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination without gaining broad public recognition. The consensus is that it will take a victory over Gov. George Wallace of Alabama in the May 1 primary in Texas to start any momentum. His strategy depends on the absence of a breakthrough in the first primaries by any candidate. [New York Times]
- Governor Carey granted Christmas clemency to Martin Sostre, a black Puerto Rican militant whose release had been the goal of an international campaign. He was convicted in Buffalo in 1968 on a narcotics charge that he contended was a frame-up and on which he won a parole last week, but he still had to serve out a sentence for assaulting guards in Clinton Prison. Appeals for his release had come from Amnesty International, from the Soviet dissident, Andrei Sakharov, and from a committee of Americans ranging from Ramsey Clark to Angela Davis. [New York Times]
- The Environmental Protection Agency ordered the suspension of the sale of two widely used pesticides, chlordane and heptachlor, for most agricultural and domestic uses. The ruling by Russell Train, the E,P.A. administrator, immediately banned their production for use in controlling insects in lawns, gardens, homes and some farm crops, including tobacco. He said that their major users -- the nation's corn farmers -- could continue using them against soil insects through next Aug. 1. [New York Times]
- Soldiers killed at least 45 left-wing guerrillas who attempted to storm an arsenal outside Buenos Aires. An Argentinian Army communique said that in the pursuit in surrounding areas the death toll may have reached 100. Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla, the army commander, called it a "resounding triumph for the forces of order" against the biggest operation ever mounted by left-wing extremists. [New York Times]
- Police officials in Britain and other countries are developing new and tougher tactics to deal with terrorist kidnappings. With the one major exception of the Austrian decision to release the pro-Palestinian terrorist gang that captured visiting oil ministers in Vienna last weekend, they are now refusing to bargain with kidnappers. The common pattern of tactics used in recent weeks includes patience, prudence, relentless psychological pressure, building some personal relationship among hostages, terrorists and the police, and, most important, refusing political concessions or safe passage in return for hostages' lives. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 851.94 (+8.19, +0.97%)
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* |
| December 23, 1975 | 843.75 | 88.73 | 17.75 |
| December 22, 1975 | 838.63 | 88.14 | 15.34 |
| December 19, 1975 | 844.38 | 88.80 | 17.72 |
| December 18, 1975 | 852.09 | 89.43 | 18.04 |
| December 17, 1975 | 846.27 | 89.15 | 16.56 |
| December 16, 1975 | 844.30 | 88.93 | 18.35 |
| December 15, 1975 | 836.59 | 88.09 | 13.96 |
| December 12, 1975 | 832.81 | 87.83 | 13.10 |
| December 11, 1975 | 832.73 | 87.80 | 15.30 |
| December 10, 1975 | 833.99 | 88.08 | 15.68 |