News stories from Thursday April 8, 1976

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

Jimmy Carter apologized for using the term "ethnic purity" in the pledge he made in Indiana last Tuesday to defend the stability of established neighborhoods. The echo of those words and others he used in the same context -- references to "black intrusion" and "alien groups" -- was heard as he began campaigning for the Pennsylvania primary on April 27. Representative Andrew Young of Georgia, Mr. Carter's principal advocate in black communities in the North and South, told him that his remarks were "a disaster for the campaign." [New York Times] Ostensibly committed to the candidacy of Senator Henry Jackson, Pennsylvania's most powerful labor leaders are nevertheless attempting to enhance Senator Hubert Humphrey's presidential aspirations by thwarting Jimmy Carter's campaign in the state's Democratic primary on April 27. Their plan was made known following an enthusiastic reception for Senator Humphrey at the A.F.L.-C.I.O, state convention in Pittsburgh. [New York Times] The Senate reached final agreement on a food stamp reform bill that would for the first time set a gross income ceiling for the program and standardize qualifications for the benefits. The bill, approved by a vote of 49 to 30, is more liberal than the one voted in February by the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. The bill now goes to the House, which has a companion measure under consideration. Both bills, however, face a veto by President Ford. [New York Times] The Internal Revenue Service announced its decision to issue a ruling that is expected to cost American oil companies with overseas operations more than $100 million in additional taxes this year and could cost them $1 billion or more a year in the future. A ruling seeking the exact reverse had been sought by the Mobil Oil Corporation with the support of most or all of the other companies. [New York Times] In a rare public response to criticism of the Supreme Court and its rulings, Chief Justice Warren Burger contended at a news conference that the so-called Burger Court's record on protecting individual rights was at least as good as the record of any earlier Court. The Chief Justice also said that there had been "no significant change" in the Court's attitude toward the rights of criminal defendants "in either four years or eight years or 12 years." [New York Times] The New York state Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that "reverse discrimination" -- the practice of giving special treatment in education and employment to minority-group members -- was constitutional "in proper circumstances." The court's first ruling in one of the most controversial and emotional areas of contemporary law was made in response to a lawsuit brought against the Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, which the court said had given preferment to minority applicants who were less qualified than white students. [New York Times] Prime Minister James Callaghan of Britain announced his cabinet. He named Anthony Crosland Foreign Secretary and Michael Foot Lord President of the Council, a pivotal post that makes him the leader of the House of Commons. There was no change in two principal cabinet posts. Roy Jenkins remains as Home Secretary, and Denis Healey stays on as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. Crosland, who had been Secretary of State for the Environment, succeeds Mr. Callaghan in the Foreign Secretaryship. Mr. Foot, who had been Employment Secretary, was the runner-up in the Labor leadership elections. [New York Times] Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned that the United States would proceed to explore the ocean floor and mine its mineral wealth if an international agreement was not reached soon on a new law of the sea. His speech at a meeting in New York was clearly intended to prod the slow-paced negotiations in the current round of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 977.09 (-9.13, -0.93%)
S&P Composite: 101.28 (-0.93, -0.91%)
Arms Index: 1.49

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	298	2.66
Declines	1,213	16.11
Unchanged	350	2.09
Total Volume		20.86

* 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*
April 7, 1976	986.22	102.21	20.19
April 6, 1976	1001.65	103.36	24.17
April 5, 1976	1004.09	103.51	21.94
April 2, 1976	991.58	102.25	17.42
April 1, 1976	994.10	102.24	17.91
March 31, 1976	999.45	102.77	17.52
March 30, 1976	992.13	102.01	17.93
March 29, 1976	997.40	102.41	16.10
March 26, 1976	1003.46	102.85	18.51
March 25, 1976	1002.13	102.85	22.51