News stories from Friday October 15, 1976

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

The vice-presidential candidates met in debate, trading sporadically acrimonious words over whether Republican fiscal prudence or Democratic social programs would better serve the nation's economy. Senator Robert Dole described Jimmy Carter as a man without a program and said his opponent, Senator Walter Mondale, was the Senate's most liberal member. Mr. Mondale, for his part, attempted to tie President Ford and Senator Dole to their records and to former President Nixon. [New York Times] No investigation will be made by the Watergate special prosecutor into allegations that President Ford sought in 1972 to block a House committee's inquiry into the Watergate scandal, Representative John Conyers said. The Michigan Democrat made public a letter from the prosecutor that said there was nothing in the new information, or in any previous information, that warranted a new investigation. [New York Times] A ban of all non-essential uses of fluorocarbon propellants in spray cans was proposed by the Food and Drug Administration. Scientific evidence has accumulated in recent years indicating that the fluorocarbon gases tend to diffuse into the ozone layer and deplete it. This depletion is considered harmful because the ozone layer protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation. [New York Times] A sharply critical speech about the press was abandoned by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on orders from the White House. In a prepared version, released earlier in the day, the Director, Clarence Kelley, said the bureau would no longer deal with "hostile" reporters. [New York Times] There is "no evidence whatever" that the swine flu vaccine has caused any deaths among the 2.5 million persons who have received it, according to the Center for Disease Control. The center, which has investigated 35 deaths of persons who died within 48 hours of receiving a flu shot, is the main federal agency conducting the program. [New York Times] Industrial production failed to rise last month for the first time in 18 months, according to the Federal Reserve Board's index measuring the physical output of factories, mines and utilities. The index remained unchanged during September, following increases of 0.5 percent in each of the preceding two months. [New York Times] Dismissing fears that the economic recovery had stopped, a group of business and government economists forecast continued growth toward the end of this year and into 1977 and 1978. The economists, in a report made to business leaders, said the "pause" in the recovery, which has prompted fears of a new recession and undermined stock prices, had been overestimated. [New York Times] Stock prices rose slightly in slower trading, The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 1.08 points at 937. [New York Times] A federal agency ruled that the Gulf Oil Corporation must pay millions of dollars to a major interstate pipeline company because Gulf failed to deliver as much natural gas as its contract called for. The agency, the Federal Power Commission, rejected a recommendation by its administrative judge that the matter be referred to the Justice Department. [New York Times] A new directive by Thailand's military junta has been used to jail many of the country's leading leftist writers, professors and journalists. The new law provides that any suspected Communist may be held for up to 30 days without charges and without bail. Those held can be sent to "re-education centers" after 30 days if they show no signs of repentance. [New York Times] Prime Minister Fidel Castro announced that Cuba would renounce the anti-hijacking treaty with the United States because of what he charged was American complicity in the crash of a sabotaged Cuban airliner last week. In Washington, Secretary of State Kissinger said the United States had nothing to do with the crash. [New York Times] Mao Tse-tung's widow and three other senior radical Chinese leaders were accused of plotting against the Chinese Communist Party, amid rumors that they had tried to assassinate Hua Kuo-feng, the new party chairman. The accusations were made on wall posters that appeared in Shanghai and other cities. The four leftists were reportedly arrested last week. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 937.00 (+1.08, +0.12%)
S&P Composite: 100.88 (+0.03, +0.03%)
Arms Index: 1.05

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	750	6.99
Declines	614	6.01
Unchanged	474	3.21
Total Volume		16.21

* 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 14, 1976	935.92	100.85	18.61
October 13, 1976	948.30	102.12	21.69
October 12, 1976	932.35	100.81	18.21
October 11, 1976	940.82	101.64	14.62
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