News stories from Thursday March 3, 1977
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Further funding for a proposed $2.2 billion nuclear-powered carrier was defeated in the House by 262 to 161. This was the first legislative victory for President Carter's leaner defense budget and a defeat for Adm. Hyman Rickover, who had strongly backed building the ship. It would have been the fourth of the Navy's nuclear-powered carriers. [New York Times]
- The bankruptcy of New York City can be averted, bank officials said they believed, and they were optimistic that a solution could be worked out. The banks are to present their proposals tomorrow on how to raise the $1 billion the city needs to pay short-term notes as required by the State Court of Appeals, which last fall declared the debt moratorium illegal. But union officials reiterated their opposition to the stringent financial controls that the banks are demanding. The unions say they will not lend the city any more pension-fund money, which the city needs to meet its operating expenses, until the moratorium issue is settled. [New York Times]
- The 10 largest retail chains, led by Sears, Roebuck & Company, reported that sales in February were up over the same month last year, but some chains had smaller gains, which they attributed to the extreme cold. [New York Times]
- Detroit automobile manufacturers reported that new-car sales in late February were just 40 units below last year, while deliveries for the full month were up 2.4 percent from 1976, despite lingering effects of the cold weather. Domestic sales in the Feb. 21-28 period of 249,300 cars compared with 249,340 last year. It marked the third time in the last four selling periods that sales trailed the year-ago levels. Sales of foreign cars, meanwhile, increased. [New York Times]
- The stock market responded with a modest rally to Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal's assurances to a group of New York businessmen that President Carter was committed to overcoming inflation. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.57 points to 948.64, but trading volume declined to 17.56 million shares from 18.01 million on Wednesday. [New York Times]
- Citibank, the second largest American bank, has had a leading role in turning the Bahamas, a tax haven for foreign corporations and individuals, into an international banking center. It has led the way in a pronounced shift by American banks toward booking international loans in offshore tax havens, of which the Bahamas is the most important. This has involved a substantial loss of tax revenue for New York City and New York state. It has also meant that more bank activity is outside the range of federal regulatory agencies and beyond the knowledge of Congress and the public. [New York Times]
- Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal at a meeting of New York business and financial leaders said he would seek "the counsel" of the business and financial community as his own ideas on stimulating new investment developed. He gave the Carter administration's endorsement to the idea -- strongly held by Republicans -- that American industry was running short of investment capital and needed tax concessions and other federal aid to encourage new investment. [New York Times]
- Joan Irvine Smith appeared to have blocked the sale of some of California's most valuable real estate, 70,000 undeveloped acres in Orange County, to the Mobil Oil Corporation by a foundation established by her father. [New York Times]
- Delays in major sub-cabinet appointments in the Carter administration are hampering the functioning of various departments and agencies. The chief reason for the delay appears to be in the clearance procedures established by the White House and conducted at its request by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the White House Counsel's office and other government bodies. The appointment process is moving more slowly than in the Kennedy and Nixon Administrations. [New York Times]
- Refugees from Uganda continue to arrive in Nairobi, Kenya, telling stories of murder and brutality that have become commonplace in their country under President Idi Amin. Similar accounts of atrocities were affirmed by the International Commission of Jurists, which on the basis of evidence given by refugees concluded in 1973 that 25,000 to 250,000 people had been killed in Uganda. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 948.64 (+6.57, +0.70%)
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* |
| March 2, 1977 | 942.07 | 100.39 | 18.01 |
| March 1, 1977 | 944.73 | 100.66 | 19.48 |
| February 28, 1977 | 936.42 | 99.82 | 16.22 |
| February 25, 1977 | 933.43 | 99.48 | 17.61 |
| February 24, 1977 | 932.60 | 99.60 | 19.73 |
| February 23, 1977 | 938.25 | 100.19 | 18.24 |
| February 22, 1977 | 939.91 | 100.49 | 17.73 |
| February 18, 1977 | 940.24 | 100.49 | 18.04 |
| February 17, 1977 | 943.73 | 100.92 | 19.04 |
| February 16, 1977 | 948.30 | 101.50 | 23.43 |