News stories from Tuesday July 19, 1977

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

An increase of up to 5 cents in the federal gasoline tax, replacing the stiffer standby gasoline tax rejected by the House Ways and Means Committee, will be sought by President Carter, according to administration officials. Its proponents hope to use the resulting funds for various transportation programs. [New York Times] A new threat to tobacco farming in North Carolina is a drive by anti-smoking forces to cut off federal price supports. The state's farmers, who raise 44 percent of the nation's yield, are in their most precarious position since the smoking and health scares of the 1960's. [New York Times] Efforts to reduce smog in American cities by changing drivers' habits have been marked so far by frustration, obstruction and inaction rather than proven diminution of pollution. In New York City, the pollution controversy will reach another high point when officials present Federal District Court with details of a parking ban in much of Manhattan. [New York Times] Incentives for capital investment are among possible tax revisions the Carter administration may propose, according to Michael Blumenthal, the Secretary of the Treasury. He told the Senate Budget Committee that these could include a combination of such elements as a cut in the corporate rate, faster depreciation write-offs and special help for small companies. [New York Times] Stock prices surged on a broad front, bolstered by strong earnings gains for the June quarter. The volume of trading was the heaviest this year. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at the day's high of 919.27 for a gain of 8.67 points, according to a preliminary tabulation. [New York Times] Load-shedding devices to cut off half the electricity to New York City and Westchester automatically should have saved the Consolidated Edison system from its total blackout last Wednesday, according to the heads of the company and of the State Public Service Commission. Both told a state legislative inquiry that they knew no reason for the failure of the devices. [New York Times] President Carter and Menachem Begin, the visiting Prime Minister of Israel, seemed eager to submerge their disagreements as their White House talks opened in an air of cordiality. They agreed to give priority to convening a new Geneva conference this year and to a "just and durable peace in the Middle East." A White House spokesman described Mr. Begin's views, to be made public tomorrow, as "forward-looking and worthy of consideration." [New York Times] The sale to Saudi Arabia of 60 F-15 fighter-interceptors is under serious consideration by the Carter administration. Congressional sources said President Carter had approved the deal in principle, although the Ford administration felt the planes were too advanced for the Saudi air force to handle. Serious opposition in Congress is expected. [New York Times] Peking wall posters said Teng Hsiao-ping, who lost out in last year's power struggle before the death of Chairman Mao Tse-tung, had been given back all his former posts as deputy chairman of the party, Deputy Prime Minister, deputy chairman of the Military Affairs Commission and Chief of Staff. Since the arrest of his leftist opponents, including Mao's widow, Chiang Ching, newspapers and wall posters have given indications of Mr. Teng's return to favor. [New York Times] Better goods and services for Soviet consumers were decreed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the government. The action seems aimed at challenging bureaucratic indifference. At the same time, social scientists disclosed at a news conference that there was official apprehension about labor productivity and the falling birth rate and that the authorities had been closely studying public attitudes on these subjects. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 919.27 (+8.67, +0.95%)
S&P Composite: 101.79 (+0.84, +0.83%)
Arms Index: 0.71

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	969	20.13
Declines	530	7.84
Unchanged	414	3.96
Total Volume		31.93

* 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 18, 1977	910.60	100.95	26.89
July 15, 1977	905.95	100.18	29.12
July 13, 1977	902.99	99.59	23.16
July 12, 1977	903.41	99.45	22.47
July 11, 1977	905.53	99.55	19.79
July 8, 1977	907.99	99.79	23.82
July 7, 1977	909.51	99.93	21.74
July 6, 1977	907.73	99.58	21.23
July 5, 1977	913.59	100.09	16.85
July 1, 1977	912.65	100.10	18.16