News stories from Wednesday June 8, 1977

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

Cuts of $142 million in Medicaid payments to 20 states were announced by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. It said the states had failed to meet requirements for reviewing the quality and efficiency of nursing home care for the poor. Secretary Joseph Califano said he was ordering the cuts because the law required it, but that he would urge Congress to change the law and restore the funds. [New York Times] The House ethics committee voted to require every member of the House to disclose details of his association with South Korea to help determine the breadth of allegedly illegal Korean efforts to influence Congress. The panel voted to require all Representatives and family members to report all gifts from South Koreans. Meanwhile, another House panel got the former director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency to agree to testify publicly on Seoul's efforts to influence American policy toward Korea. [New York Times] Legal rights for homosexuals became a major national debate following the vote Tuesday by Miami area residents that revoked a statute protecting them. Both sides began forming plans to continue the struggle in Miami and in other parts of the country. Local homosexual leaders said they might take their cause to court. [New York Times] President Carter's income taxes in 1975 are being audited by the Internal Revenue Service. After this was disclosed, the White House sought to depict the audit as a voluntary effort by Mr. Carter to set a precedent in political ethics, but, in the face of skepticism by the press, retreated and said that assertion was misleading. The reason for the audit of his return, in which his taxes were cut by $41,000 through an investment tax credit in his peanut business, was not disclosed. [New York Times] An income tax vs. a sales tax as the way to provide increased state aid and meeting court-ordered refinancing of public education will apparently be the main issue in the November election for Governor of New Jersey. Governor Byrne has pledged an "improved" income tax program next year, while his Republican opponent, State Senator Raymond Bateman, has pledged to replace the income tax with "moderate" increases in the present 5 percent sales tax if necessary. [New York Times] A big 1977 winter wheat crop almost matching the bumper yield last year was forecast by the Agriculture Department. As the Texas and Oklahoma harvest gained momentum, the department predicted a crop of 1.53 billion bushels, about 3 percent less than in 1976, but 3 percent more than the agency forecast on May 1. [New York Times] The stock market rally broadened in stepped-up trading. Advancing issues led declines by 2 to 1, and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.32 points to close at 912.99, bringing its gain for the last two sessions to nearly 10 points. [New York Times] The whereabouts of Idi Amin, the President of Uganda, dominated the opening in London of the conference of Commonwealth leaders. Mr. Amin had threatened to attend the meeting despite British warnings that he would be barred from entering the country. He was thought to be on his way to London by plane Tuesday, but some African leaders at the conference who know him well said they doubted he had left Uganda. [New York Times] The 4½-year guerrilla war is causing mounting pressure on the Rhodesian government to reach a political settlement with the black majority. Economic strains are approaching a breaking point, military casualties are rising and civil administration has collapsed in remote tribal areas. [New York Times] Two American missionaries told Rosalynn Carter they had been "treated like animals" in a Brazilian jail. Mrs. Carter's meeting with the missionaries while visiting Brazil was a dramatic gesture underscoring President Carter's position on human rights, made in a country where her husband's position has caused considerable contention with the United States. [New York Times] Criticism of President Carter over his human rights campaign have been stepped up by Soviet press outlets. The attacks are an apparent prelude to a propaganda debate when the 35 countries that signed the Helsinki accord including provisions on human rights meet next week in Belgrade. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 912.99 (+4.32, +0.48%)
S&P Composite: 98.20 (+0.47, +0.48%)
Arms Index: 0.77

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	963	13.54
Declines	473	5.14
Unchanged	462	3.52
Total Volume		22.20

* 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 7, 1977	908.67	97.73	21.11
June 6, 1977	903.07	97.23	18.93
June 3, 1977	912.23	97.69	20.33
June 2, 1977	903.15	96.74	18.62
June 1, 1977	906.55	96.93	18.32
May 31, 1977	898.66	96.12	17.80
May 27, 1977	898.83	96.27	15.73
May 26, 1977	908.07	97.01	18.62
May 25, 1977	903.24	96.77	20.71
May 24, 1977	912.40	97.67	20.05