News stories from Thursday December 30, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The California Supreme Court said that the system of financing the state's public schools with property taxes was unconstitutional, a decision that is likely to intensify pressure for school financing reform in other states. In its 4-to-3 decision, the court made California the second state in which the traditional method of school financing has been found to be illegal. New Jersey's highest court made a similar decision in 1975. [New York Times]
- The Argo Merchant's oil spill off Nantucket has raised fears among oil industry and government officials that the sale of oil leases in the area, scheduled for May or June, may be postponed because of environmental pressures. "This will produce far more aroused opposition to the leasing program from environmental interests," said Stanley Doremus, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, which runs the leasing program. [New York Times]
- Stock prices advanced in stepped-up trading, and the Dow Jones average closed up 4.16 points to 999.09. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of more than 2 to 1. Fixed-income securities continued to rise, but trading was light as some institutions increased their portfolios. Government securities started to move upward following the Federal Reserve's announcement that it would establish permanent reserves for the banking system. [New York Times]
- Mayors of major cities are saying that a disproportionate share of the $2 billion in federal public works funds is going to the suburbs and small cities. "A review of the grants shows clearly that the Ford administration awarded smaller local governmental jurisdictions a disproportionate share," Mayor Kenneth Gibson of Newark said on behalf of the United States Conference of Mayors. Meanwhile, the new House majority leader, Jim Wright of Texas, said that a bill would be introduced early in January to expand the public works program by $2 billion. [New York Times]
- Governor Carey, after a review of all the material relating to the 1971 prison uprising at Attica in upstate New York, pardoned seven former Attica inmates and commuted the sentence of another inmate who participated in the riot. He also said that no disciplinary action would be taken against 20 of the state troopers and prison guards who had helped quell the revolt. [New York Times]
- A court order released Santiago Carrillo, secretary general of Spain's Communist Party, his personal secretary and six members of the party's executive committee from a Madrid prison. They had been arrested earlier this month. All were released on bail. Soon after Mr. Carrillo was released, the government announced that it was abolishing the special Court of Public Order that reviewed political cases. The government also decreed that "terrorism" cases would no longer be considered by the Supreme Court of Military Justice but instead by ordinary civilian courts. [New York Times]
- An official in Peking said the situation in the North China city of Paoting, where political feuding erupted into armed conflict, was gradually improving. He said that factional disputes there dated from the Cultural Revolution of 1966-69 but gave no details of the latest clashes. [New York Times]
- The African nation of Liberia is without a natural harbor, but it has, at least on paper, the world's largest merchant fleet. The fleet was developed in less than 30 years under a "flag of convenience," an arrangement devised by a former Secretary of State of the United States, Edward Stettinius, that has been extremely beneficial to shipping interests and the producers of oil and steel. About a third of the Liberian fleet is owned by Americans. Five Liberian-flag vessels have been involved in oil spills or other mishaps in United States waters in the last two weeks. This has put the Liberian shipping operation under scrutiny. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 999.09 (+4.16, +0.42%)
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* |
| December 29, 1976 | 994.93 | 106.34 | 21.91 |
| December 28, 1976 | 1000.08 | 106.77 | 25.79 |
| December 27, 1976 | 996.09 | 106.06 | 20.13 |
| December 23, 1976 | 985.62 | 104.84 | 24.56 |
| December 22, 1976 | 984.54 | 104.71 | 26.97 |
| December 21, 1976 | 978.39 | 104.22 | 24.39 |
| December 20, 1976 | 972.41 | 103.65 | 20.69 |
| December 17, 1976 | 979.06 | 104.26 | 23.87 |
| December 16, 1976 | 981.30 | 104.80 | 23.92 |
| December 15, 1976 | 983.79 | 105.14 | 28.30 |