News stories from Friday April 5, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Dwight Chapin, President Nixon's former appointments secretary, was found guilty in Federal District Court in Washington of lying to a Watergate grand jury. The Watergate special prosecutor's office thus won the first case it brought to trial. Mr. Chapin was convicted of making two false statements to a grand jury last April about his relationship with Donald Segretti, who has served a jail sentence for distributing bogus campaign literature about Democratic presidential campaign candidates. Mr. Chapin will be sentenced May 16. [New York Times]
- George Steinbrenner, chairman of the American Shipbuilding Company and principal partner in the New York Yankees, was indicted on 14 felony charges growing from illegal campaign contributions to both Republicans and Democrats. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Cleveland on charges that he consented to $51,000 in gifts by American Shipbuilding and had authorized $91,000 more paid through fake bonuses and expense accounts. He is 43 years old and a resident of Bay Village, Ohio. [New York Times]
- Edward Nixon, the President's youngest brother, became the first witness for the defense in the Mitchell-Stans trial and promptly contradicted the testimony of two of the government's chief witnesses. He took the stand after Judge Lee Gagliardi in Federal District Court in New York dismissed one of three obstruction of justice counts against John Mitchell and Maurice Stans. [New York Times]
- In the face of his Watergate and income tax troubles, President Nixon decided to campaign in Michigan next week in hopes of salvaging a Republican victory in a closely contested special election. The White House said that he would make a one-day trip on Wednesday to Michigan's eighth Congressional District, where James Sperling, a Republican who worked briefly for Mr. Nixon last year, is running against Robert Traxler, a Democrat. [New York Times]
- The nation's unemployment rate took a slight dip in March, to 5.1 percent from 5.2 percent of the labor force, the Labor Department reported. The rate held basically steady for the second consecutive month, after rising in the late fall and early winter. It was 5.2 percent in both January and February. [New York Times]
- The Labor Department, in devising a modernized version of the Consumer Price Index, has decided to use the "spending patterns" of a broader segment of the population than in the past because nearly 50 million people now have their incomes tied in whole or part to the new index. The new index will not be published until April, 1977. The broader coverage was attacked by Leonard Woodcock, president of the United Automobile Workers. [New York Times]
- France will vote on May 5 for a President to succeed Georges Pompidou. The date was set at a meeting of the cabinet. More than 40 chiefs of state or government, including President Nixon, will attend a requiem mass for Mr. Pompidou in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris tomorrow. [New York Times]
- For the third time since 1957, a coalition government of neutralists, rightists and the pro-Communist Pathet Lao was established in Laos. A decree dissolving the neutralist-rightist Vientiane government of Premier Souvanna Phouma and establishing the coalition with the Pathet Lao was signed by King Savang Vatthana. This coalition, born of the Laotian cease-fire agreement signed on Feb. 21, 1973, unites opponents from 20 years of civil war. [New York Times]
- The United States and Saudi Arabia announced that they have agreed to expand economic cooperation and to negotiate an American supply of weapons for Saudi defense requirements. King Faisal's brother, Prince Fahd Ibn Abdel Aziz, is scheduled to meet President Nixon and Secretary of State Kissinger next week to codify the agreement, a United States official said. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 847.54 (-11.35, -1.32%)
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 4, 1974 | 858.89 | 94.33 | 11.65 |
| April 3, 1974 | 858.03 | 94.33 | 11.50 |
| April 2, 1974 | 846.61 | 93.35 | 12.01 |
| April 1, 1974 | 843.48 | 93.25 | 11.47 |
| March 29, 1974 | 846.68 | 93.98 | 12.15 |
| March 28, 1974 | 854.35 | 94.82 | 14.94 |
| March 27, 1974 | 871.17 | 96.59 | 11.69 |
| March 26, 1974 | 883.68 | 97.95 | 11.84 |
| March 25, 1974 | 881.02 | 97.64 | 10.54 |
| March 22, 1974 | 878.13 | 97.27 | 11.93 |