News stories from Thursday May 19, 1977

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

He had been obliged, former President Richard Nixon said in his third television interview with David Frost, to act forcefully against dissident Americans in order to extricate the nation from the Vietnam War, He chronicled, without apology, his decision to use wiretaps, burglary and harassment of political "enemies" as part of his secret Southeast Asian diplomacy. [New York Times] Mr. Nixon told Prime Minister Pham Van Dong of North Vietnam on Feb. 1, 1973 that the United States would furnish North Vietnam with up to $4.75 billion in postwar reconstruction and other kinds of aid "without any political conditions." The letter, often cited by Vietnamese officials as an American commitment, but never previously made public, was released today after it had been declassified by the government. In a statement made public along with he letter. Mr. Nixon said that in light of North Vietnam's "flagrant violations" of the Paris peace agreements of 1973, "there is no commitment of any kind, moral or legal, to provide aid to the Hanoi government. [New York Times] The chief of staff of United States forces in South Korea, who publicly disagreed with President Carter's plans to withdraw troops from that country over the next few years, was ordered home by the President. The White House announced that Gen. John Singlaub, the third-ranking American officer in South Korea, had been told to report to the President at the White House. [New York Times] The sister ship of the Spirit of St. Louis was scheduled to fly over Long Island at 7:52 A. M. tomorrow, exactly 50 years to the minute after Charles Lindbergh took off on his historic flight in 1927. This was only one of the celebrations planned around the country this weekend in his honor. [New York Times] Action was deferred by the New York Stock Exchange's board of directors on its proposed merger with the American Stock Exchange. They requested "a thorough review" of the merger plan, and, in a statement, emphasized the "concern" expressed by listed companies over the merger. Some Wall Street observers indicated this concern could kill the merger plans. The New York exchange's directors also voted to move ahead quickly on an options trading program. [New York Times] Stock prices weakened in response to higher money market rates and the possibility the Federal Reserve might further tighten its credit policy. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 5.43 points to 936.48. It had made a total gain of more than 16 points in the preceding four sessions. [New York Times] Broad measures restricting future sales of American weapons abroad were announced by President Carter, who observed that the United States had "specific responsibilities" as the world's largest arms seller. Arms sales will be cut back after this year, the development of advanced weapons systems solely for export has been banned, and the United States has been barred from serving as the "first supplier" of advanced weapons to nations seeking them. [New York Times] The deadlock in the Soviet-American negotiations for a treaty limiting long-range weapons systems appears to have partly been overcome after a second day of discussions in Geneva. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko reportedly made progress toward breaking the impasse. Talks were recessed until Friday to provide time for the Russians to consult with Moscow. [New York Times] Big game hunting in Kenya was banned by the government to protect the dwindling wildlife that attracts many of the country's tourists. Poachers, drought and hunting have cut sharply into the wildlife population. [New York Times] Allegations that British Leyland, Britain's largest automotive maker, had established a "worldwide bribery web" were put under investigation by the government, which owns most of Leyland's stock. The London Daily Mail said that Leyland had paid more than $60 million in bribes to get export orders. [New York Times] Losses of about $100 million followed the fire last week at the Abqaiq oil field in Saudi Arabia, the Arabian-American Oil Company reported. Aramco operates the Saudi Arabian fields. Consequently, the four American owners of the Saudi-dominated company took independent action to cut back shipments of oil to customers. However, the chairman of Exxon, one of the four American owners, told stockholders at the annual meeting in Houston that "there won't he any world shortage of oil." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 936.48 (-5.43, -0.58%)
S&P Composite: 99.88 (-0.42, -0.42%)
Arms Index: 1.14

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	607	6.95
Declines	773	10.07
Unchanged	517	4.26
Total Volume		21.28

* 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*
May 18, 1977	941.91	100.30	27.80
May 17, 1977	936.48	99.77	22.29
May 16, 1977	932.50	99.47	21.17
May 13, 1977	928.34	99.03	19.78
May 12, 1977	925.54	98.73	21.98
May 11, 1977	926.90	98.78	18.98
May 10, 1977	936.14	99.47	21.09
May 9, 1977	933.90	99.18	15.23
May 6, 1977	936.74	99.49	19.37
May 5, 1977	943.44	100.11	23.45