News stories from Wednesday July 6, 1977

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

The postal rate for first-class business mail would be raised to 16 cents while individuals would continue to pay 13 cents under a proposal by Postmaster General Benjamin Bailar. He said that the dual-rate system could almost erase the Postal Service's deficit of $1 billion a year. [New York Times] Cocaine is a serious drug of abuse, according to a research report of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, with side effects that can include anxiety, insomnia, paranoid delusions, and in rare cases death. The report was called the first federal effort to summarize knowledge in an area long dominated by impressions, hysteria and also by political rhetoric. [New York Times] Women who smoke are likely to undergo menopause earlier than nonsmokers, according to studies involving more than 3,500 middle-aged women in seven countries. The more a woman smokes, the earlier menopause was found likely to occur, while those who quit smoking, on the average, postponed it. These findings turned up accidentally in the course of a study of smoking and heart disease. [New York Times] New American cars sold in June at an all-time high for that month, with General Motors reporting record sales for any month. Sales of imported cars continued their four-month climb in June, but their share of the market declined from the over-20 percent level of April and May to 17.6 percent. [New York Times] Stock prices moved broadly downward under selling pressure on such blue-chip issues as the papers, steels and chemicals. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 5.86 points, closing at 907.73. Some observers were worrying about inflation, others about deflation, and the crosscurrents apparently affected investor psychology. [New York Times] Recommendations to reorganize the White House staff, which would be cut by 30 percent to set an example, and 17 associated agencies, have been given to President Carter by staff advisers. The plan calls for more political coordination and more emphasis on political implications of White House policy. Domestic policy makers would emulate the machinery now in use for foreign and defense policy. [New York Times] The New York Nets brought suit against the Knicks in federal court in Newark, challenging that part of the structure of professional sports that allocates franchises and protects "territories." It grew out of the Knick basketball team's resistance to the Nets' attempt to move their home games from Long Island to New Jersey. [New York Times] President Carter reassured leaders of American Jewish organizations at a White House meeting that the Arab states should establish full diplomatic relations with Israel as part of an overall Middle East settlement. He said there would have to be a real sense of peace. He sought to allay concern that the White House was demanding more of the Israelis than of the Arabs. [New York Times] Western Europe has withdrawn the welcome mat from the millions of workers from African, Asian and southern European countries who poured in during the boom of the 1960's to take lower paid and more menial jobs. With unemployment and inflation, they have now fallen on hard times, lacking bargaining leverage and often the sympathy of their neighbors. [New York Times] A leading Moscow journal on foreign affairs, apparently seeking to reduce the rift with several independent Communist parties in Western Europe, denied that there was any campaign to "excommunicate" the mavericks. The New Times article was conciliatory toward the Spanish Communist Party, but continued to attack its leader, Santiago Carrillo. [New York Times] West German officials in Bonn said there were signs that Soviet leaders were seriously annoyed with the Carter administration's stress on human rights. West Germans were concerned at the possible effect of such friction on strategic arms talks and detente in general as Chancellor Helmut Schmidt left for Canada and then for talks in Washington with President Carter. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 907.73 (-5.86, -0.64%)
S&P Composite: 99.58 (-0.51, -0.51%)
Arms Index: 1.36

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	577	5.96
Declines	848	11.95
Unchanged	475	3.32
Total Volume		21.23

* 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*
July 5, 1977	913.59	100.09	16.85
July 1, 1977	912.65	100.10	18.16
June 30, 1977	916.30	100.48	19.41
June 29, 1977	913.33	100.11	19.00
June 28, 1977	915.62	100.14	22.67
June 27, 1977	924.10	100.98	19.87
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