News stories from Monday June 27, 1977

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

Two witnesses near the scene of the latest attack by the New York City gunman who calls himself "Son of Sam" early Sunday morning told the police they saw a man dressed in a beige leisure suit get into a car and speed away. One witness was reported to have seen a portion of the car's license plate. [New York Times] The United States trade deficit in May was the smallest of the year, the Commerce Department said. Imports exceeded exports by only $1.2 billion -- less than half of the $2.6 billion high in April -- mainly because shipments of coffee and oil to this country declined. Coffee imports were said to be off because of consumer resistance to high prices. Oil shipments declined because of a steep buildup of domestic inventories, the Commerce Department's chief economist said. [New York Times] The Supreme Court ruled 9 to 0 that federal courts may order school districts to provide remedial education programs to help children recover from the effects of going to segregated schools. An opinion by Chief Justice Warren Burger found that school reassignment alone was not always enough to erase the effects of segregated education. The ruling specifically upheld a court-ordered desegregation plan for Detroit and also upheld a lower court judgment requiring Michigan to pay part of the cost of the remedial program called for in the new plan. The Court, in another case, reaffirmed by a vote of 8 to 0 the right of federal courts to order citywide school desegregation plans, including citywide busing. [New York Times] Cyanide fumes and carbon monoxide pouring from a padded cell apparently set afire by a juvenile inmate were said to have caused the deaths of 42 inmates and visitors at Maury County jail in Columbia, Tenn., Sunday. The gases were generated by the fire in the padding. On the basis of tests, the padding was said to be non-flammable, but those tests "may not have been appropriate," a fire official said. [New York Times] Blue-chip stocks, including the principal steel issues, U.S. Steel and Bethlehem, led a general market decline. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 924.10, down 5.60 points. The steel issues were affected by a report that July steel orders were down and fears by the steel industry that it would be in a slump in the second half of 1977. [New York Times] A $250,000 Rembrandt portrait of a rabbi, stolen in France in 1971, was recovered with other valuables in the breakup of a stolen-goods operation in Buffalo. Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state and local policemen arrested 23 suspects. Other suspects were being sought. [New York Times] Adoptable Caucasian babies have become so scarce in this country that prices paid for them on the illegal market now run as high as $20,000, with brokers getting most of the money. An extensive black market has developed that includes international connections and is under investigation by prosecutors in New York and other major cities. [New York Times] Lawyers cannot constitutionally be prevented front advertising fees charged for routine legal services, the Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 4. The Court, upsetting bar association rules and state laws against such advertising in virtually every state, said that prohibitions against lawyers' advertising violated the free speech guarantees of the First Amendment. [New York Times] In a policy statement directed at Israel's new government, the Carter administration said that in return for an Arab agreement for a true peace, Prime Minister Menachem Begin should agree to an Israeli withdrawal from some occupied lands on all fronts and to the formation of a Palestinian homeland. The statement, affirming previous administration positions, had the effect of warning Mr. Begin in advance of his trip to Washington next month that he faced a dispute if he refused to negotiate a withdrawal from at least part of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [New York Times] The era in which one country directed the Communist movement is over, the Spanish Communist leader, Santiago Carrillo, said at a news conference, brushing aside an attack on him by the Soviet Union. He likened the attack to "excommunication by the Holy Office." He said Moscow might attempt to set up a rival Spanish party to battle the new doctrine of Eurocommunism, "but if they do I am sure they will fail again." He recalled the futile Soviet maneuvers against his leadership after the Spanish party criticized the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 924.10 (-5.60, -0.60%)
S&P Composite: 100.98 (-0.21, -0.21%)
Arms Index: 0.93

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	710	8.56
Declines	708	7.96
Unchanged	455	3.35
Total Volume		19.87

* 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*
June 24, 1977	929.70	101.19	26.49
June 23, 1977	925.37	100.62	24.33
June 22, 1977	926.31	100.46	25.07
June 21, 1977	928.60	100.74	29.73
June 20, 1977	924.27	100.42	22.95
June 17, 1977	920.45	99.97	21.96
June 16, 1977	920.45	99.85	24.31
June 15, 1977	917.57	99.62	22.64
June 14, 1977	922.57	99.86	25.39
June 13, 1977	912.40	98.74	20.25