News stories from Monday June 21, 1976

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

The uncommitted delegates to the Republican National Convention, who will apparently decide whether President Ford or Ronald Reagan is nominated, have not yet turned in significant numbers to either candidate, a survey by the New York Times has found. Most of the delegates seem to care more about the electability than about the candidates' ideology. [New York Times] The validity of all the academic procedures at the United States Military Academy at West Point are being examined following a major cheating scandal. Gen. Sidney Berry, the Academy's superintendent, told a Senate armed services subcommittee he began the investigation six weeks ago. The subcommittee is studying the honor codes at the nation's military academies. More than 165 cadets face expulsion for allegedly violating the West Point Code. [New York Times] The Supreme Court ruled on a 5-to-4 vote that states may provide funds for non-sectarian purposes to church-affiliated colleges and universities, even when prayers are said at the start of classes in those schools and religion and theology are mandatory courses. The decision in a Maryland case was the latest in a long series of efforts by the Court to draw an appropriate line between church and state and it seems that the line was moved closer to church than it had been. [New York Times] In a dispute over a wage increase, thousands of state employees in Massachusetts went on strike, the first of its kind in the state. The strikers, who defied a state law and a court order, are members of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. alliance. They voted to strike when the state rejected the union's demand for an average raise of $3,600 over two years. The state had offered $2,715 over three years. [New York Times] Jones Beach State Park in New York was closed for swimming when debris and balls of sticky substances that appeared to be residue of sewage floated ashore. The same pollution closed more than 30 miles of beaches on Fire Island last Tuesday, Public officials who have found toxic fecal material in the sticky substances suggested that people who swam off Fire Island in the last week take an inoculation against hepatitis. [New York Times] The Christian Democrats kept their place as Italy's dominant party in the national elections, but their chief rival, the Communist Party, was not far behind and substantially added to its seats in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Communists' position was believed to be strong enough now for them to demand a place in the cabinet. With more than 96 percent of the vote counted for 315 Senate seats, the Christian Democrats led by 39 percent, and the Communists 33.8 percent. In the 630-member Chamber of Deputies, nearly complete figures gave the Christian Democrats 38.7 percent, and the Communists 34.9 percent. In the last parliamentary elections in 1972, the Christian Democrats won 38.8 percent of the vote, and the Communists 27.2 percent. [New York Times] Rioting broke out in the black townships around Pretoria in South Africa soon after rioting subsided in similar townships near Johannesburg, 50 miles to the south. In Pretoria, bands of young people overturned buses, set fire to schools and government offices and threw stones at passing cars. Ten persons were reported to have been killed and scores injured. Security forces, armed with submachine guns and grenade launchers, barricaded the roads leading to the black communities. [New York Times] The government of Iran announced that it intends to purchase a $125 million share in the Occidental Petroleum Corporation of Los Angeles and that Occidental will help Iran develop oil resources in the Caspian Sea. The agreement, which also includes joint ventures in marketing Iranian oil in world markets and in breeding cattle, would be the largest Iranian investment in a United States company. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1007.45 (+5.57, +0.56%)
S&P Composite: 104.28 (+0.52, +0.50%)
Arms Index: 0.72

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	850	10.88
Declines	565	5.19
Unchanged	459	2.86
Total Volume		18.93

* 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*
June 18, 1976	1001.88	103.76	29.71
June 17, 1976	1003.19	103.61	27.81
June 16, 1976	988.52	102.01	21.62
June 15, 1976	985.92	101.46	18.44
June 14, 1976	991.24	101.95	21.25
June 11, 1976	978.80	100.92	19.47
June 10, 1976	964.39	99.56	16.10
June 9, 1976	958.09	98.74	14.56
June 8, 1976	959.97	98.80	16.65
June 7, 1976	958.09	98.63	14.51