News stories from Thursday August 18, 1977

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

His physicians said that Senator Hubert Humphrey had cancer of the pelvis that was beyond surgical help. The Senator underwent an operation in Minneapolis to relieve an obstruction of the large intestine, and the surgeon said the cancer was "terminal." Mr. Humphrey underwent surgery for bladder cancer last year. The doctors said that he can continue his usual activities while being chemically treated for the inoperable cancer. [New York Times] Criminal prosecution of Bert Lance is not warranted, the Comptroller of the Currency, John Heimann, said in presenting a report on his office's investigation of the budget director's financial affairs. Mr. Heimann, however, criticized Mr. Lance's business practices when he was a Georgia banker.President Carter said that the Comptroller's report on Mr. Lance had re-confirmed "my faith in the character and competence" of the budget director and that Mr. Lance would remain in office. Mr. Carter left Camp David to introduce Mr. Lance at a Washington news conference. "Bert, I'm proud of you," the President said as he shook Mr. Lance's hand. [New York Times] The launching set for Saturday at Cape Canaveral of the first of two Voyager spacecraft will begin the farthest reaching reconnaissance of the outer solar system thus far. The unmanned vehicle, equipped with a camera and sensors, will examine Jupiter, Saturn and possibly Uranus. [New York Times] Bethlehem Steel said it would cut production 10 percent and lay off 7,300 employees in New York and Pennsylvania. Its retrenchment, the company said, will result in "a substantial one-time charge against income" and cause the company to report "a substantial loss" for 1977. About 3,500 new layoffs will be made at the Lackawanna, N.Y., plant. [New York Times] A brisk midday rally failed to save the Dow Jones industrial and transportation averages from finishing at a new 1977 low for the third consecutive trading session. The industrial average was ahead by nearly 7 points at noon but then began a steady decline, finishing with a token loss of 0.43 point at 864.26. The average has dropped nearly 60 points over the last four weeks. The transportation average, reflecting a decline in railroads and airlines issues, dropped 1.07 points to 215.33. Utilities also continued to move downward. [New York Times] Even though "certain officers" of his company had been "forced to resign" by Nevada's casino regulatory agency because of questionable associations, William O'Connell, president of the Bally Manufacturing Corporation, said he was confident that New Jersey would grant Bally a license to operate a casino in Atlantic City. He said his company, a manufacturer of pinball and slot machines, "never has had any association with organized crime." [New York Times] Mayor Beame of New York City disclosed that the day after David Berkowitz was arrested and accused of being the .44-caliber killer, a pretrial agency had recommended his release without bail on his own recognizance because he had a permanent residence and a steady job. "This monumental irony," the Mayor said, "underlines my contention that we must crack down on loopholes in the criminal justice system." [New York Times] Israel's decision to establish three new Jewish settlements on the West Bank were denounced lay the Carter administration as "illegal," and it said that there would be new "obstacles to constructive negotiations." The administration, in a statement issued by the State Department, also criticized Prime Minister Menachem Begin's decision to extend Israeli government services to Arabs living on the West Bank as "unhelpful." [New York Times] Britain's Labor Party won a solid victory in a Birmingham by-election to till a vacant seat in Parliament, raising the possibility that the worst of the party's electoral difficulties are over. The party, however, was daunted by a substantial gain in support in the Birmingham district for the candidate of the racist, right-wing National Front party. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 864.26 (-0.33, -0.04%)
S&P Composite: 97.68 (-0.06, -0.06%)
Arms Index: 0.76

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	658	9.65
Declines	695	7.77
Unchanged	510	3.62
Total Volume		21.04

* 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*
August 17, 1977	864.59	97.74	20.92
August 16, 1977	869.28	97.73	19.34
August 15, 1977	874.13	98.18	15.75
August 12, 1977	871.10	97.88	16.87
August 11, 1977	877.43	98.16	21.74
August 10, 1977	887.04	98.92	18.28
August 9, 1977	879.42	98.05	19.90
August 8, 1977	879.42	97.99	15.87
August 5, 1977	888.69	98.76	19.94
August 4, 1977	888.17	98.74	18.87