News stories from Wednesday February 2, 1977

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

President Carter addressed the nation for the first time since his inauguration, asking Americans to unite in a spirit of cooperation and mutual effort to help him develop "predictable, long-range programs that we are sure we can afford and that we know will work." Speaking from a chair near a fireplace in the White House, he said he had learned there are many things a President cannot do -- that a federal program without public acceptance is of limited value. His 1977 program, he said, will seek a national energy policy, an economic stimulation package fair to all segments of society, a start on government reorganization, comprehensive tax reform, welfare reform to minimize abuse, a lean and efficient defense capability and a foreign policy showing concern about violations of human rights. [New York Times] Environmentalists who supported President Carter in his election campaign almost unanimously are concerned that no additional funds are planned for the Environmental Protection Agency, not even to restore cuts made by President Ford. Its former administrator has said that even before the cuts the budget was too meager for the E.P.A. to carry out its mission. [New York Times] New hope for Buffalo, where more snow fell, arrived with a massive airlift of men and machines from New York City and military bases around the country to help the city dig out of the worst blizzard in its history. [New York Times] The emergency natural gas bill, passed by Congress and signed by President Carter, gave him his first legislative success on his 14th day in office. It will let him shift natural gas from surplus areas to shortage areas to keep houses warm and essential services operating. It also suspends until July 31 the federal price ceilings for extra gas purchased by interstate pipelines to replenish reserves depleted by cold weather east of the Rockies. [New York Times] Home heating oil costs about 12 percent more than it did last winter, according to major dealers in the New York metropolitan area, and the rise shows no sign of abating. They ascribe it to higher prices of major oil companies. Oil executives say the upward pressure comes from the sharp jump in demand of nearly 17 percent brought on by cold weather. [New York Times] Rep. Al Ullman, chairman of the House tax writing committee, said it would change substantially the administration proposals for business tax credits but would probably leave the rebate of $50 a person on 1976 taxes unchanged. He said the committee felt the business element of the package did too little for job creation. [New York Times] Stock prices moved indecisively with Dow Jones industrials down 5.57 points to close at 952.79. Credit markets declined sharply with one-year Treasury bills selling at an average rate of 5.35 percent compared with 4.73 percent a month ago. [New York Times] Marijuana laws may be eased by the New York state legislature this year, with ranking Senate Republicans saying they very possibly might accept a bill reducing restrictions against possession of small amounts. But they ruled out a measure to reduce penalties for sale of the drug. [New York Times] Opponents of Indira Gandhi, India's Prime Minister, elatedly conferred following the surprise defection of a senior cabinet minister, Jagjivad Ram, on how to encourage further defections and unify opposition in the campaign for next month's elections. Mr. Ram's resignation posed the first serious threat to Mrs. Gandhi's party. [New York Times] Paul Warnke's nomination as America's chief arms control negotiator was formally announced by President Carter. Because of rumors he was having second thoughts about the nomination in the light of some Senate doubts about Mr. Warnke's views on arms cuts, administration officials said Mr. Carter and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance were solidly behind him. [New York Times] A fund for Soviet political prisoners and their families, established by the writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, has distributed the equivalent of $360,000 since 1974. The disclosure came in Moscow from his close friend Aleksandr Ginzburg, the fund administrator, who was accused in the paper Literaturnaya Gazeta of paying out large sums of money for anti-Soviet activities. He then came forward with his account of the origin and distribution of the money. [New York Times] The midyear meeting of President Carter and leaders of Western Europe and Japan may involve political as well as economic discussions, Vice President Mondale suggested. The hope, he said, was that all matters of mutual concern would be on the table. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 952.79 (-5.57, -0.58%)
S&P Composite: 102.36 (-0.18, -0.18%)
Arms Index: 0.94

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	729	11.57
Declines	723	10.76
Unchanged	440	3.37
Total Volume		25.70

* 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*
February 1, 1977	958.36	102.54	23.70
January 31, 1977	954.37	102.03	22.92
January 28, 1977	957.53	101.93	22.70
January 27, 1977	954.54	101.79	24.36
January 26, 1977	958.53	102.34	27.84
January 25, 1977	965.92	103.13	26.34
January 24, 1977	963.60	103.25	22.89
January 21, 1977	962.43	103.32	23.93
January 20, 1977	959.03	102.97	26.52
January 19, 1977	968.67	103.85	27.12