News stories from Monday October 11, 1976

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

The ban on the sale of some sophisticated American military equipment to Israel has been lifted by President Ford, and he has ordered a speed-up in the delivery of other equipment already ordered by the Israelis. The decision was made and given to the Israelis on Saturday, but Mr. Ford used a visit by the Israeli Foreign Minister to discuss the move before the press. [New York Times] Jimmy Carter marched in a Columbus Day parade in Chicago, but he was often lost from view in the midst of politicians, security agents, policemen and reporters as the parade, organized by Mayor Daley, moved down State Street.While President Ford participated in Columbus Day ceremonies in Washington, a group of his political counselors accused Jimmy Carter of overly aggressive behavior in the campaign. Thousands marched up Fifth Avenue in New York City in the annual Columbus Day parade. Included in the march were Stephen Ford, the President's son, and Senator Mondale, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate. Some local Democrats complained that the Secret Service had delayed the entry of their party's group into the parade, and others said the sponsors had given the President's son a better position up front. [New York Times] Federal spending has fallen below what the government planned for this year and economists are beginning to believe that this may be one of the main causes of the weakening of the economic recovery. The government's own experts do not know why it cannot spend its money faster and they are estimating that the "shortfall" could amount to 8 percent of the budget during the July-September quarter. [New York Times] Despite an almost 75 point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average over the last three weeks, most Wall Street analysts continue to speak optimistically about the future. Some experts say the Dow Jones has overstated the weakness of the market and predict a technical rally in the near future. The consensus view on Wall Street is that the recent spate of bad economic news is directly related to the slump. [New York Times] Stock prices continued their downward trend, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 11.56 points to close at 940.82. Credit prices remained stable in very slow trading in the few markets that were open. [New York Times] Steel production dropped to its lowest levels since early January in the week ending Saturday, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported. Industry analysts appeared to be concerned over the decline in production, and one noted that the Ford Motor Company strike was a factor. [New York Times] Proposing massive cuts in state aid to localities, Gov. David Pryor of Arkansas told the legislature that he wanted to return control of finances to local officials who are closest to the people. Mr. Pryor said he would ask the legislature to hold increases for state spending for education to a minimum. The governor said his plan would give local citizens the final decision about local services. [New York Times] Major changes in attitude toward the export of nuclear materials were announced by France. Although a communique released by the government gave no specifics, it did indicate a willingness by the French to cooperate with the United States in seeking to prevent the use of nuclear materials and equipment for the construction of weapons. [New York Times] Mao Tse-tung's widow has been arrested and removed from her position as a Chinese Communist Party official along with the three leading radicals from Shanghai, according to reports reaching three embassies in Peking. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not deny the reports, offering only a "no comment." Officials in Washington said that they knew of the arrests only from news agency reports and that they had no independent knowledge. [New York Times] Three Palestinians seized five hostages in the Syrian Embassy in Rome, seriously wounding one of them. The three, who were protesting Syria's intervention in Lebanon, surrendered after two hours when, according to a Syrian official, they realized the Ambassador was not in the embassy. A similar raid was reported against the Syrian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, but the attackers there were intercepted by police guards. [New York Times] A storm of protest has arisen in South Africa over a threat by the government to prosecute eight white rugby players for joining black players in a match. Opponents of the country's apartheid policies fear the move will worsen the relations between the government and the country's blacks. The country's new sports policy does not allow blacks and whites to play on the same team except In international competition. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 940.82 (-11.56, -1.21%)
S&P Composite: 101.64 (-0.92, -0.90%)
Arms Index: 2.10

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	247	1.13
Declines	1,207	11.57
Unchanged	424	1.92
Total Volume		14.62

* 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*
October 8, 1976	952.38	102.56	16.74
October 7, 1976	965.09	103.54	19.83
October 6, 1976	959.69	102.97	20.87
October 5, 1976	966.75	103.23	19.20
October 4, 1976	977.98	104.03	12.63
October 1, 1976	979.89	104.17	20.62
September 30, 1976	990.19	105.24	14.70
September 29, 1976	991.19	105.37	18.09
September 28, 1976	994.93	105.92	20.44
September 27, 1976	1013.13	107.26	17.43