News stories from Friday May 28, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Justice Department, a well-informed source said, has agreed not to prosecute Elizabeth Ray in exchange for her testimony about her financial and personal relationship with Representative Wayne Hays and other former and present members of Congress. After Miss Ray was "off the hook," the source said, she spent more than 20 hours over three days with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation elaborating on her allegation that Mr. Hays had paid her a salary of $14,000 a year in House committee funds for her sexual favors. [New York Times]
- Volkswagen chose an unfinished Chrysler plant near New Stanton, Pa., for its first American assembly plant, ending months of suspense and intense competition among communities in other states that wanted the assembly plant because of its employment and tax-producing potential. The decision, however, is still contingent upon the successful conclusion of negotiations between Pennsylvania and Volkswagen. [New York Times]
- Patricia Hearst refused for a time to enter pleas in response to 11 felony counts of assault, robbery and kidnapping facing her in Los Angeles. Superior Court Judge Mark Brandler then pleaded "not guilty" for her on all counts. July 26 was tentatively set for the start of her trial. [New York Times]
- Three top executives of R. J. Reynolds Industries, the nation's largest cigarette manufacturer, resigned under pressure as officers and board members as the company disclosed the funneling of $65,000 to $90,000 in corporate funds through an "off-book" fund between 1968 and 1973. The money was used for domestic political contributions. In its disclosure statement, Reynolds also said it had spent $100,000 for questionable payments overseas and an undetermined amount in illegal rebates to shippers. The three executives will remain in "lower-level posts" for the time being, the company added. [New York Times]
- Among the hundreds of guests invited to ceremonies marking the formal opening to the public of Ellis Island In New York Harbor were three Americans who had arrived there as immigrants when the island -- now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument -- was the gateway to the United States from 1892 to 1954. They were Charles Angoff, a writer and professor of English who came from Minsk, Russia, in 1908; Anthony De Gennaro, a retired executive who arrived from Italy in 1912; and Bernard Richland, the Corporation Counsel of the city of New York, who was 15 years old when he arrived with his family from Liverpool in 1925. [New York Times]
- Under pressure from Saudi Arabia, its largest producing member, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to continue its nine-month-old freeze on world petroleum prices "for the present." The decision seemed to reflect both a lack of unanimity within OPEC over how much to raise prices, if at all, and the realization that recovery from the worldwide recession had not progressed enough to sustain higher prices. [New York Times]
- The United States and the Soviet Union signed a five-year treaty limiting the size of underground nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes and, for the first time, providing some on-site inspection. The treaty complements a 1974 American-Soviet pact limiting underground tests of nuclear weapons. The treaty was signed simultaneously by President Ford in the White House and Leonid Brezhnev in the Kremlin. [New York Times]
- Political suspects in Iran are subjected to "psychological and physical torture," and Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi exercises "personal control" over the secret police, according to a report on human rights in Iran issued in Geneva by the International Commission of Jurists. The commission, recognized by the United Nations, is a non-governmental agency supported by lawyers in most non-Communist countries. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 975.23 (+9.66, +1.00%)
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* |
| May 27, 1976 | 965.57 | 99.38 | 15.31 |
| May 26, 1976 | 968.63 | 99.34 | 16.75 |
| May 25, 1976 | 971.69 | 99.49 | 18.77 |
| May 24, 1976 | 971.53 | 99.44 | 16.56 |
| May 21, 1976 | 990.75 | 101.26 | 18.73 |
| May 20, 1976 | 997.27 | 102.00 | 22.56 |
| May 19, 1976 | 988.90 | 101.18 | 18.45 |
| May 18, 1976 | 989.45 | 101.26 | 17.41 |
| May 17, 1976 | 987.64 | 101.09 | 14.72 |
| May 14, 1976 | 992.60 | 101.34 | 16.80 |