News stories from Thursday November 4, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Jimmy Carter discounted suggestions that his narrow victory might thwart his plans for a wide range of federal programs and policies he proposed during the campaign, predicting "they will be achieved." Confident and relaxed in his first news conference as President-elect, he said he would work closely with President Ford during the transition and that if the economy remained stagnant a tax cut could be a "strong possibility." [New York Times]
- Senator Robert Dole defended himself against criticism that his combative, sardonic campaign style might have contributed to President Ford's defeat. Mr. Dole told an interviewer that, on the Ford-Dole ticket, he had been "cast in the role of lightning rod." [New York Times]
- Barring unexpected shifts, the final national tally will show Jimmy Carter with 297 electoral votes and President Ford with 241. It seemed nearly certain that Mr. Ford will win the six electoral votes in Oregon, the last state to be decided. [New York Times]
- The "family hour" agreement among the television networks prohibiting programs with violence and sexual subjects from 7 to 9 P.M. was ruled illegal by a federal judge in Los Angeles. He said that the accord violated the Constitution's guarantees of free speech. Industry sources said that if the ruling was upheld, it would inevitably lead to such programming in early evening hours. [New York Times]
- Wholesale prices rose substantially in October for the second consecutive month despite a drop in food prices, the Labor Department announced. The increase was six-tenths of 1 percent. Wholesale prices of industrial commodities, a major trend indicator, rose 1 percent. This was attributed largely to higher costs for fuels and cars. It was the largest monthly increase in wholesale industrial prices in a year. [New York Times]
- A $235 sticker price cut for the 1977 Gremlin was announced by the American Motors Corporation. The subcompact's new price of $2,995 involves a reduction of about 7.7 percent from the original price and makes the new Gremlin about the same price as the 1976 model and the lowest priced of all 1977 domestic cars. [New York Times]
- Stock prices rebounded from Wednesday's selloff, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 3.91 points to 960.44. The advance was led by many blue-chip issues. Credit markets also recovered and interest rates moved down. [New York Times]
- A massive, unexpected demand developed for new bonds being offered by the Municipal Assistance Corporation. Financial officials attributed the demand to new investor confidence in New York City produced in part by Jimmy Carter's election. As a result, the agency found customers in national credit markets for all $250 million of its new securities, at an interest rate lower than had been expected. [New York Times]
- Increased membership in the New York Stock Exchange to other qualified brokers and dealers would be possible under a major new proposal. The Big Board's membership roster has been fixed at about 1,370 since the late 1920's. A top-level committee named by the exchange's board proposed that brokers and dealers gain seats by paying annual dues, as well as by the traditional practice of buying memberships from other members. The plan must be approved by the directors and exchange members. [New York Times]
- East Germans are showing a new restiveness over the restrictions that have sealed them off from the West since World War II. Perhaps a hundred thousand East Germans have requested permission to emigrate and East German writers are not being punished for dissenting in books and periodicals published in West Germany. The trend was apparently started in part by detente, and Communist leaders are in a quandary over how to deal with it. [New York Times]
- Rhodesian independence under black majority rule by March 1, 1978 was proposed by Britain in an attempt to get the stalled Geneva conference on Rhodesia moving. The proposal brought bluntly negative replies by four nationalist leaders who demand independence within a year. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 960.44 (+3.91, +0.41%)
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* |
| November 3, 1976 | 956.53 | 101.92 | 19.35 |
| November 1, 1976 | 966.09 | 103.10 | 18.39 |
| October 29, 1976 | 964.93 | 102.90 | 17.03 |
| October 28, 1976 | 952.63 | 101.61 | 16.92 |
| October 27, 1976 | 956.12 | 101.76 | 15.79 |
| October 26, 1976 | 948.14 | 101.06 | 15.49 |
| October 25, 1976 | 938.00 | 100.07 | 13.31 |
| October 22, 1976 | 938.75 | 99.96 | 17.87 |
| October 21, 1976 | 944.90 | 100.77 | 17.98 |
| October 20, 1976 | 954.87 | 101.74 | 15.86 |