News stories from Monday November 15, 1976

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

The United States vetoed Vietnam's application to join the United Nations, With all other members of the Security Council favoring it. The chief American delegate, William Scranton, said that no accounting had been given of missing American servicemen. [New York Times] An apparently conciliatory tone was taken by President-elect Carter toward Arthur Burns, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. At a news conference in Plains, Ga., Mr. Carter said he had received a pledge of cooperation from Dr. Burns and felt the two would find "substantial compatibility." The remarks followed a flurry over previous remarks by Dr. Burns that had been interpreted to mean that the two might clash over a possible tax cut to stimulate the economy. [New York Times] In foreign policy, Mr. Carter urged oil-exporting countries not to raise prices at their meeting next month and said he would feel tree to renegotiate any accords already made with the Russians on strategic arms. [New York Times] A Postal Service surplus for the first time since the agency was set up in 1971 was reported for the months of July, August and September. The $15 million margin contrasted with annual deficits of up to $1 billion. It was attributed to a slight increase in volume and a cutback in employees. [New York Times] Industrial production fell in October for the second successive month, the Federal Reserve Board reported. The decline was five-tenths of 1 percent from September, which was revised downward. Less than one-third of the October drop was attributed to strikes and the rest of it to reduced demand. [New York Times] American new car sales for Nov. 1-10 slipped 1.5 percent from a year earlier due in part to what analysts said was the impact of the Ford Motor Company strike. However, auto executives still expect the domestic share of the 1976 market to show a 25 percent gain over last year, to 8.8 million cars. [New York Times] Stock prices gained moderately in continued slow trading. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.73 points to close at 935.42, its high for the session. In credit markets, fixed-income security prices made a moderate advance and short-term interest rates eased a little. [New York Times] The comparatively low turnout in the presidential election was apparently due to demographic factors such as the sharp increase of young people in the electorate rather than disillusionment, according to a New York Times and CBS News survey. The poll found that, among both voters and non-voters, 55 percent believed that public officials had no concern for them. However, non-voters tended to feel more powerless toward government. [New York Times] The Syrian army took full control of Beirut, in effect ending the 19-month civil war in Lebanon. The Syrians, who overwhelmingly dominate an Arab League peacekeeping force, met almost no armed resistance as they advanced toward the center or the ravaged capital. The combatants vanished or peacefully surrendered key points to Syrian tanks and troops. [New York Times] The separatist Quebec Party, which seeks independence of the French-speaking province from Canada, was swept into power. In its third attempt since 1970, the party won a solid majority of seats in the National Assembly on a wave of votes protesting against the governing Liberal Party. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 935.42 (+7.73, +0.83%)
S&P Composite: 99.90 (+0.66, +0.67%)
Arms Index: 0.62

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	808	9.61
Declines	579	4.30
Unchanged	492	2.80
Total Volume		16.71

* 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*
November 12, 1976	927.69	99.24	15.55
November 11, 1976	931.43	99.64	13.23
November 10, 1976	924.04	98.81	18.89
November 9, 1976	930.77	99.32	19.21
November 8, 1976	933.68	99.60	16.52
November 5, 1976	943.07	100.82	20.78
November 4, 1976	960.44	102.41	21.70
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