News stories from Wednesday November 17, 1976

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

President-elect Carter, meeting in Georgia with 15 Democratic congressional leaders, had one specific request -- restoration early next year of the President's power to propose government reorganization plans, subject to the veto of Congress. He emerged from the three-hour session voicing confidence of their support for his legislative goals. [New York Times] Less natural gas will be available this winter, according to industry and government experts, but the shortage will probably not affect residential or most commercial users. The impact is expected to be milder than last winter because industry has been largely successful in switching to other fuels and reducing its need for gas. [New York Times] NBC settled the federal antitrust suit against it on terms that will severely restrict the network's financial interest in entertainment programs that it broadcasts. Similar suits against CBS and ABC continue, with ABC announcing that it had no intention of settling. The Justice Department said NBC's settlement should minimize its incentive to select programs on the basis of financial interest in them. [New York Times] Stock prices rose, slipped back a little and closed with the Dow Jones industrials at 938.08, up 2.74 points for the day. Bond prices were firm in active trading as new issues, many of them international offerings, met an excellent reception. [New York Times] Tighter rules for drug safety will be proposed Friday by the Food and Drug Administration. The purpose is to prevent sloppy and fraudulent experiments on animals that might compromise the safety of food additives and other products for humans. F.D.A. investigations have raised serious questions about the dependability of such data under present regulations. [New York Times] Better civil defense is necessary, in the opinion of a Boeing Aerospace Company study team, to maintain nuclear deterrent balance with the Soviet Union. The study calls for more protection of industry and the population against nuclear attack. [New York Times] The first jail sentence for a high company executive in the grain export scandals was imposed in federal court in New Orleans. Phillip McCaull, former executive vice president of Cook Industries Inc., who pleaded guilty to conspiring to cheat customers, received three months. [New York Times] Samuel Bronfman II, frequently showing emotion, testified that Dominic Byrne, one of the two men on trial for kidnapping him, offered midway in his captivity to free him but he declined because he did not want to take a chance on anything going wrong. He also testified that he had told Mr. Byrne he would assist him financially and try to help him avoid prosecution. He had not mentioned Mr. Byrne's offer when interviewed following his ransom. [New York Times] Technology transfer to developing countries was the subject of a Ford administration conference with business, labor and educational leaders. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger urged a United Slates policy of taking a leading role in helping these countries in the development of their own technological bases. Otherwise, he said, the dispossessed would band together and all problems would be solved by contests of strength. [New York Times] Four Palestinian guerrillas, said to be members of the Black June group that opposed Syria's intervention in Lebanon, seized the Intercontinental Hotel in Amman but were overpowered by Jordanian soldiers. Three of the gunmen were killed, along with two soldiers and two hotel employees. The fourth gunman was seriously wounded. [New York Times] China's public charges against Chiang Ching, widow of Mao Tse-tung, and her three political associates have illuminated the private workings of Peking politics. It now appears that almost every issue, from farm mechanization and factory management to movie production and militia organization, tended to become personal. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 938.08 (+2.74, +0.29%)
S&P Composite: 100.61 (+0.57, +0.57%)
Arms Index: 0.67

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	963	12.88
Declines	469	4.18
Unchanged	434	2.84
Total Volume		19.90

* 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 16, 1976	935.34	100.04	21.02
November 15, 1976	935.42	99.90	16.71
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