News stories from Friday December 3, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Wage-and-price control authority will not be sought from Congress by Jimmy Carter, who took a 180-degree turn from the position he maintained in his campaign. He always had said he needed the standby authority. Mr. Carter, at a televised news conference, explained that he would not seek the authority because anticipation of controls was causing companies to raise prices now. [New York Times]
- Two major cabinet posts in the Carter administration have been filled with the appointment of Cyrus Vance, a New York lawyer, as Secretary of State, and Bert Lance, a Georgia banker, as director of the Office of Management and Budget. The appointments were announced by Mr. Carter at a televised news conference in Plains, Ga. The men who had seemed to be the leading candidates for Secretary of the Treasury, A.W. Clausen and Irving Shapiro, asked to be withdrawn from consideration. [New York Times]
- Unemployment in the United States rose to 8.1 percent in November, the highest level this year, despite an apparent substantial increase in the number of employed people, the Labor Department said. The figures indicated that most of the new unemployed were adult men, a sign of economic deterioration. [New York Times]
- Gary Gilmore's execution by a firing squad Monday has indefinitely been postponed by the United States Supreme Court, which wants more time to consider his case. Only an hour before the Court's decision reached Salt Lake City, the Utah State Supreme Court ruled against further delay in Mr. Gilmore's execution. The U.S. Supreme Court did not, however, announce decisions on requests that it stay the executions of two convicted murderers from Texas who are scheduled to be executed next week. [New York Times]
- New-car sales were up 20.8 percent in the final third of November, compared with the similar period last year. The annual sales rate of new cars in November rose to 8.2 million from 7.8 million in October. November sales would have been up 500,000 more if there had not been a strike at the Ford Motor Company, analysts said. [New York Times]
- Stock prices were up, reflecting new optimism on Wail Street. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by 2 to 1, doing even better than the Dow Jones industrial average, which was up 3.91 points to 950.55. [New York Times]
- Karen Pomroy, 17, of Islip, Long Island, who was attacked and robbed Monday, was certified as "neurologically" and "clinically" dead Thursday and then removed from a life-sustaining apparatus in a Long Island hospital. A 27-year-old man has been charged with her murder. The Suffolk County District Attorney said he expected complicated legal consequences because the case had "Karen Quinlan overtones." [New York Times]
- President-elect Carter, responding to a sign of cooperation recently made by Leonid Brezhnev, said that he would move "aggressively" to get the deadlocked negotiations for a strategic arms limitations treaty "off dead center." The treaty would permit the United States and the Soviet Union each to have a total of 2,400 long-range bombers and missile launchers. The negotiations have been at an impasse over a question whether a new Soviet bomber and American subsonic cruise missiles should be included in the arms allotted to each side. [New York Times]
- A proposal for a Palestinian state on the West Bank of the Jordan River and in the Gaza strip will be taken up immediately at the start of talks next year by Arab negotiators on a Middle East settlement. The negotiators will attempt to bridge the division between moderate Arabs and the Palestinian leadership on the nature of such a new state and guarantees that should be offered to Israel. [New York Times]
- The Philippines will get $1 billion in economic and military aid over the next five years from the United States in return for the continued use of military bases there, State Department officials said. The accord will double the assistance the United States has been giving to the government of President Ferdinand Marcos. Approval by Congress next year is required, but it is not a certainty. [New York Times]
- Hard times in Britain have forced the closing of the hot mineral spring baths that gave the city of Bath its name. The National Health Service withdrew its support of the baths, and the town council said it could not afford to keep them open either. Tourists will also have less access to Stonehenge, which has been endangered by its increasing popularity. The awesome monument is to be roped off and surrounded by a picket fence. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 950.55 (+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* |
| December 2, 1976 | 946.64 | 102.12 | 23.30 |
| December 1, 1976 | 949.38 | 102.49 | 21.96 |
| November 30, 1976 | 947.22 | 102.10 | 17.03 |
| November 29, 1976 | 950.05 | 102.44 | 18.75 |
| November 26, 1976 | 956.62 | 103.15 | 15.00 |
| November 24, 1976 | 950.96 | 102.41 | 20.42 |
| November 23, 1976 | 949.30 | 101.96 | 19.09 |
| November 22, 1976 | 955.87 | 102.59 | 20.93 |
| November 19, 1976 | 948.80 | 101.92 | 24.55 |
| November 18, 1976 | 950.13 | 101.89 | 24.00 |