News stories from Friday February 27, 1970

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

The continuing Communist offensive in Laos is arousing concern in Washington. President Nixon is withholding comment on the Laotian conflict, waiting for the Communists to move south of the Plain of Jarres. He may issue a revised policy statement soon. American involvement in Laos was exposed by the North Vietnamese attack on San Thong Air Force Base. The airport was revealed to be handling CIA and Air America traffic carrying food and supplies to the Laotian army. [CBS] Convicted South Vietnamese assemblyman Tran Ngoc Chau has been granted a new trial. He was accused of pro-Communist activities. [CBS] Five Americans were hurt in a bombing of enlisted men's quarters in Saigon. [CBS] American industrialist Cyrus Eaton met with North Vietnamese representatives, and now claims that the Communists are "reasonable" in demanding an 18-month timetable for U.S. pullout from Vietnam. [CBS] Israeli planes attacked Egyptian radar and antiaircraft positions on the Suez Canal; heavy damage was reported. [CBS] The U.S. State Department announced an agreement with France, Britain and Russia to discuss the future of Berlin. [CBS] President Nixon asked Congress for legislation to avoid harbor and transportation strikes, but the proposal doesn't affect the 15-month-old railroad dispute. [CBS] Congress and the White House are approaching a settlement of the $19.4 billion Health, Education and Welfare bill. [CBS] Leon Panetta, the ousted civil rights chief of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, criticized President Nixon's racial policies and accused the administration of catering to the "fears" of whites. [CBS] The Supreme Court refused to review the cases of seven Ku Klux Klan members who were convicted of murdering three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. [CBS] Barricades and fires marked a third night of student rioting near the University of California campus in Santa Barbara. Six hundred National Guardsmen have been sent by California Governor Ronald Reagan, who also appointed investigators to determine the role of "Chicago 7" lawyer William Kunstler in instigating the violence. [CBS] The Army admitted exposing over 1,000 persons to deadly nerve gas during the past 17 years, but no fatalities have occurred. [CBS] Rep. Richard Ottinger introduced a bill to protect news reporters from being forced to disclose confidential sources. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 777.59 (+13.14, +1.72%)
S&P Composite: 89.50 (+0.60, +0.67%)
Arms Index: 1.06

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	952	8.11
Declines	406	3.66
Unchanged	256	1.13
Total Volume		12.90

* 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*
February 26, 1970	764.45	88.90	11.54
February 25, 1970	768.28	89.35	13.21
February 24, 1970	754.42	87.99	10.81
February 20, 1970	757.46	88.03	10.79
February 19, 1970	757.92	87.76	12.89
February 18, 1970	756.80	87.44	11.95
February 17, 1970	747.43	86.37	10.14
February 16, 1970	753.70	86.47	9.78
February 13, 1970	753.30	86.54	11.06
February 12, 1970	755.61	86.73	10.01