News stories from Friday December 31, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Statehood for Puerto Rico was proposed by President Ford in a statement issued in Vail, Colo., that asked that ''the people of Puerto Rico and the Congress of the United States begin to take those steps which will result in statehood for Puerto Rico." The announcement apparently took the government and the officials in Puerto Rico by surprise. Mr. Ford's aides said that they had not known it was coming, and the President said that he had not told the incoming Governor of Puerto Rico, Carlos Romero Bracelo, that he was going to make the announcement. [New York Times]
- The Carter administration's No. 2 man in the State Department under Secretary of State-designate Cyrus Vance will be Warren Christopher, a Los Angeles lawyer. Mr. Vance chose Mr. Christopher to be deputy secretary of state. They worked together in 1967 when Mr. Vance was a special representative for President Lyndon Johnson and Mr. Christopher was a deputy attorney general. The appointment was not news to the State Department. It was known for weeks there that Mr. Christopher would replace Charles Robinson, who will leave office when the new administration takes office. [New York Times]
- The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 5.56 points to 1,004.65, the second highest year-end closing in its history. Today's closing was exceeded only in 1972 when the index ended the year at 1,020.02. Eleven days later it reached its record daily closing high of 1,051.70. In 1976, the index advanced 152.24 points, or 17 percent. Stock prices moved in a narrow range. Analysts noted that the average stock price today will be used in figuring the taxable gain, if any, of future sales of inherited stocks as required under the 1976 Tax Reform Act. [New York Times]
- The ultimate success of the reforms being made in the Federal Bureau of Investigation under its director, Clarence Kelley, depend to a considerable extent on the man that President-elect Carter will choose to head the agency. The President-elect and Griffin Bell, the Attorney General-designate, have indicated they were considering keeping Mr. Kelley in the job, but sources close to the Carter camp believe that the director has no chance of staying on for more than a few weeks after Mr. Carter takes office. Meanwhile, an internal crisis is going on in the bureau. [New York Times]
- An attempt to buy the controlling stock of the New York Magazine Company was halted by the Washington Post Company, apparently leaving Rupert Murdoch, the Australian publisher, as the lone bidder. The controlling stock is owned by City Councilman Carter Burden and his former campaign manager, Bartle Bull. [New York Times]
- The Westway Interstate System highway proposed for Manhattan's West Side is expected to be approved Tuesday by William Coleman, United States Secretary of Transportation. The government will finance 90 percent of the project's $1.2 billion cost. A long fight with environmentalists is also expected before the six-lane highway is started, if it ever is. Mr. Coleman, an aide said, plans to go to New York Tuesday to make an announcement about the project. [New York Times]
- Indonesia announced a 6 percent increase in the price of its most widely used crude oil, a lightweight, low-sulfur crude. The rise was substantially below the 10 percent that it and 10 other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had voted two weeks ago. Analysts quickly pointed out that the announcement did not mean a break with OPEC, but was instead a part of a continuing effort by OPEC members to bring the price of various grades of crude oil into economic balance. It was also suggested, however, that Indonesia wanted to put itself into a better competitive position with Saudi Arabia, which increased its oil price by only 5 percent. [New York Times]
- Portugal's financially troubled young Socialist government will get a $300 million emergency loan from the United States under an agreement reached in Lisbon with the United States Under Secretary of the Treasury, Edwin Yeo. Negotiations had been going on for three months. [New York Times]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1004.65 (+5.56, +0.56%)
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 30, 1976 | 999.09 | 106.88 | 23.70 |
| December 29, 1976 | 994.93 | 106.34 | 21.91 |
| December 28, 1976 | 1000.08 | 106.77 | 25.79 |
| December 27, 1976 | 996.09 | 106.06 | 20.13 |
| December 23, 1976 | 985.62 | 104.84 | 24.56 |
| December 22, 1976 | 984.54 | 104.71 | 26.97 |
| December 21, 1976 | 978.39 | 104.22 | 24.39 |
| December 20, 1976 | 972.41 | 103.65 | 20.69 |
| December 17, 1976 | 979.06 | 104.26 | 23.87 |
| December 16, 1976 | 981.30 | 104.80 | 23.92 |