News stories from Friday March 18, 1977
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Consumer prices recorded their biggest rise in nearly two and a half years in February, the Labor Department said. Higher food costs, for which unusually cold weather was only partly responsible, contributed to much of the overall increase of 1 percent. Referring to the second straight seven-tenths of 1 percent advance in non-food commodities, Donald Wooley, chief economist of the Bankers Trust Company said: "This is worrisome, no question about it." [New York Times]
- Married couples would get a tax break under a change in the standard deduction made by the Senate Finance Committee. Nearing the end of its work in writing the tax provisions of President Carter's economic stimulus program, the committee decided to raise the standard deduction for married couples and lower it for some single persons. This would mean tax cuts of about $100 for 46 million couples or individuals using a standard deduction. [New York Times]
- In a report, the General Accounting Office charged that the Justice Department had spent $80 million in the last 10 years and still had not been able to set a definition of what organized crime is. The essence of the report is reflected in its title: "War on Organized Crime Faltering -- Federal Strike Forces Not Getting the Job Done." Attorney General Griffin Bell said that he was concerned, but had not read the report. [New York Times]
- A unified Department of Energy at cabinet level was endorsed by environmentalists, but they disagreed with the Carter administration's proposal in some particulars. The endorsement means that there is no general opposition to the establishment of the new department, which will not take shape however, at least until the fall because of expected delays in the House. [New York Times]
- Copper prices were increased for the second time in March by major copper companies in the United States. The invasion of Zaire, a principal African producer, and labor negotiations in this country were responsible. [New York Times]
- Copper and coal issues advanced on the New York Stock Exchange, but the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 3.82 points to 962.02. While the Dow had been making small declines throughout the session, it gained 17 points for the week, reflecting rallies early in the week. [New York Times]
- "Roots" has inspired parents to name their children for the main characters in the best-selling book and record-breaking television series. Kunta Kinte Reid, born in Harlem Hospital on Feb. 18 was named after the main character in "Roots." "Like Kunta Kinte, he should be free, and he should be somebody and know that he is somebody," his mother said, "Roots" has also stimulated an interest in travel to Africa, in the studies of Africa, in slavery in the Western Hemisphere, and in genealogy. [New York Times]
- The Zaire government flew troop reinforcements to Shaba Province in an attempt to halt the advance of invading forces from neighboring Angola before they reached the copper mining center of Kolwezi. The invaders, mostly former Katangan militiamen who fled the mining region into Angola exile in 1963, were estimated to number 2,000 men. [New York Times]
- The remains of 12 American pilots will be brought back from Hanoi to the United States by the special commission appointed by President Carter to get an accounting of the servicemen still listed as missing in the Vietnam War. The Hanoi government gave the commission 12 caskets, each containing the remains of pilots killed in raids between 1965 and 1968. Leonard Woodcock, the commission's chairman, said that Hanoi agreed to set up machinery to determine the fate of Americans still listed as missing. [New York Times]
- Riots continued in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, over the arrest of four of the principal opponents to the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar All Bhutto. More than 20 people were wounded by the police, who fired shotguns. Witnesses said that at least 150 rioters were taken away in trucks, but no official information was available under a news blackout imposed by the government. [New York Times]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 961.02 (-3.82, -0.40%)
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 17, 1977 | 964.84 | 102.08 | 20.70 |
| March 16, 1977 | 968.00 | 102.17 | 22.14 |
| March 15, 1977 | 965.01 | 101.98 | 23.94 |
| March 14, 1977 | 958.36 | 101.42 | 19.29 |
| March 11, 1977 | 947.72 | 100.65 | 18.23 |
| March 10, 1977 | 946.73 | 100.67 | 18.52 |
| March 9, 1977 | 942.90 | 100.10 | 19.68 |
| March 8, 1977 | 952.04 | 100.87 | 19.52 |
| March 7, 1977 | 955.12 | 101.25 | 17.41 |
| March 4, 1977 | 953.46 | 101.20 | 18.95 |