News stories from Thursday September 16, 1976

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

Final congressional action was taken on the tax bill and it went to the White House, where President Ford is expected to sign it. In other actions, the House passed and sent to the President a major antitrust bill that gives consumers added protection against price fixing. [New York Times] A recall petition against Mayor Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia was upheld by a city judge who said that invalidation of the petition by a three-man election committee composed of the mayor's friends was "incorrect" and "arbitrary." Unless the mayor can win a stay from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court pending a hearing, he will face a recall referendum on Nov. 2. [New York Times] New academic procedures intended to lessen the chances of another cheating scandal have been instituted at West Point. A more informal and personalized approach to grading, testing and instruction that will allow "unrestricted discussion" of all assignments outside the classroom has been set up to avoid the type of collaboration that led to the current scandal. [New York Times] Interest rates have dropped all summer and the demand for credit has been stagnant despite predictions by Moody's last June of the exact opposite. The income that investors can earn from fixed-income securities has declined steadily over the last three months.Stock prices rose in reaction to a reduction in the prime rate. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 8.69 points at 987.95. Bond prices rose to their highest levels of the year. [New York Times] RCA's chairman resigned after acknowledging that he had not filed until recently his personal income taxes over a five year period ending in 1975. The company's board, which accepted the resignation of Anthony Conrad, also withdrew its proposed offering of 5 million shares of common stock, apparently because of the management shift. Edgar Griffiths was named to succeed Mr. Conrad as president and chief executive officer. [New York Times] Oil-sharing arrangements for use in the event of another oil embargo will be tested this fall by 19 industrial nations. More than 30 oil companies will be asked to divert oil to countries supposedly short of fuel, but no ships will actually change routes. [New York Times] The Roman Catholic hierarchy "is absolutely neutral" in the presidential race, the church leadership's chief spokesman said, stressing that the bishops' recent statements on abortion indicated no preference for either candidate, The spokesman said the leadership had not developed its own position on abortion and urged voters to draw their own conclusions. [New York Times] The ordination of women as priests and bishops in the Episcopal church was approved by the House of Deputies. The vote by the lay and clerical body approved a change in the church canons stipulating that requirements for ordination apply equally to women and men. [New York Times] Vowing to fight to the last man if necessary, an emotional Kenneth Kaunda, President of Zambia, told Secretary of State Kissinger that he had only a few days to succeed in bringing about black rule in Rhodesia and South-West Africa. Mr. Kaunda said that if Mr. Kissinger failed, the black African nations would be forced to fight. [New York Times] Israel has been arming villagers in Lebanon as part of a plan to keep Palestinian forces from regrouping near its northern border. according to Israeli sources. Other Israeli involvements in the Lebanese conflict, none of them officially acknowledged, include patrols in Lebanon, a tacit agreement with Syria that allowed it to move forces away from the Golan Heights, and what is said to amount to a blockade of Lebanese ports. [New York Times] Boatloads of refugees fleeing Indochina have been passed up by ships whose captains have found that it costs a great deal of time and money to land refugees someplace as country after country refuses to grant a haven. One group of 31 Vietnamese picked up by a freighter has been refused entry in Singapore and Yemen and is now on its way to Japan. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 987.95 (+8.64, +0.88%)
S&P Composite: 105.34 (+1.13, +1.08%)
Arms Index: 0.60

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	995	13.16
Declines	438	3.45
Unchanged	462	3.01
Total Volume		19.62

* 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*
September 15, 1976	979.31	104.21	17.57
September 14, 1976	978.64	103.94	15.55
September 13, 1976	983.29	104.29	16.10
September 10, 1976	988.36	104.65	16.93
September 9, 1976	986.87	104.40	16.54
September 8, 1976	992.94	104.94	19.75
September 7, 1976	996.59	105.03	16.31
September 3, 1976	989.11	104.30	13.28
September 2, 1976	984.79	103.92	18.92
September 1, 1976	985.95	104.06	18.64