News stories from Thursday December 11, 1975

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

A Gallup Poll has found that both Republican and independent voters now favor Ronald Reagan over President Ford as their presidential candidate in 1976. The poll, taken between Nov. 21-24, indicated a striking reversal of opinion. Mr. Ford was ahead in mid-October. [New York Times] Federal loan guarantees were cut from a energy research money bill in the House by a coalition of liberals and conservatives that rebelled against the Democratic leadership and the administration. The $6 billion in guarantees would have gone to projects manufacturing synthetic fuels from shale and from coal. An opposing Democrat called them "the biggest Christmas gift to the biggest corporations in the country." [New York Times] The Department of Justice proposed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation be permitted to "obstruct or prevent" groups that plot to use force or violence that might pose a threat to life or "interfere substantially" with the "essential functioning of government." The proposal was among a series of draft guidelines prepared by a Justice Department task force. It was the first time, several senior congressional aides observed, that there has been a proposal that the F.B.I. be permitted to act legally against a group or individual before the commission of a crime. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held a hearing on the guidelines today. [New York Times] A sweeping banking reform bill, the most comprehensive since the 1930's, was approved by the Senate by a wide margin. All the nation's financial institutions will be affected -- including savings banks and savings and loan associations. The main features of the bill are likely to pass the House and become law some time next year. The most important aspect of the bill for the average citizen is that interest would be paid on checking accounts. [New York Times] A mid-decade estimate of state populations by the Census Bureau has found that the nation's population increased by nearly 10 million persons since the last census, and that 85 percent of the growth took place in 29 states of the South and the West, continuing a trend noted five years ago. [New York Times] A high-ranking government official said that the United States has sent $25 million in arms and support funds to Angola in the last three months to counter the large-scale military intervention by the Soviet Union and Cuba. The official also disclosed that President Ford had just authorized another $25 million shipment of supplies. The first $25 million worth of aid was distributed by the Central Intelligence Agency. [New York Times] Spain's first cabinet under the restored monarchy will be sworn in today. It is liberal as measured by the standards of the Franco regime, and it is expected to begin a program of cautious political reform as its most important task. Prime Minister Carlos Arias Navarro, who was appointed to his post by Generalissimo Francisco Franco and who is the major holdover from the old cabinet, kept only three other members. There will be 17 new ministers. Most have declared themselves in favor of political change, but they also have been loyal Francoists. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 832.73 (-1.26, -0.15%)
S&P Composite: 87.80 (-0.28, -0.32%)
Arms Index: 1.28

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	670	5.64
Declines	665	7.19
Unchanged	508	2.47
Total Volume		15.30

* 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*
December 10, 1975	833.99	88.08	15.68
December 9, 1975	824.15	87.30	16.04
December 8, 1975	821.63	87.07	14.15
December 5, 1975	818.80	86.82	14.05
December 4, 1975	829.11	87.84	16.38
December 3, 1975	825.49	87.60	21.32
December 2, 1975	843.20	89.33	17.93
December 1, 1975	856.34	90.57	16.05
November 28, 1975	860.67	91.24	12.87
November 26, 1975	858.55	90.94	18.78