News stories from Thursday October 13, 1977

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

The Panama Canal treaties may have to be clarified in a joint statement by President Carter and Panama's leader, Gen. Omar Torrijos, after they meet tomorrow at the White House, Mr. Carter said at a news conference. He acknowledged that gaining Senate confirmation of the pacts "would be very difficult" unless differing interpretations between the two countries over key parts of the treaties could be settled. [New York Times] President Carter accused the oil industry of seeking to carry out "the biggest rip-off in history" and of being uninterested in solving the nation's energy problems. In the toughest language in his 38-week presidency, Mr. Carter warned at his news conference of "potential war profiteering" by the companies in an "impending energy crisis." He termed the petroleum lobby the major opponent of his energy program and suggested gasoline rationing as a possible alternative if Congress failed to produce an energy bill acceptable to him.Senate leaders of both parties criticized President Carter's comments about responsibility for Senate opposition to his energy program. They blamed the White House, accusing it of poor preparation and follow-through on his bill. A number of senators said that the President's comments would probably do little toward producing a more stringent energy program. The oil industry reacted to the President's sweeping denunciation with anger and some apprehension. The major oil companies termed Mr. Carter's charges misleading, grossly exaggerated and designed to make the industry the whipping boy for his energy defeats in the Senate. Some executives expressed concern that the oil industry would be irreparably labeled as an exploiter of the energy plight. [New York Times] "Simplistic" curbs on steel imports were rejected by President Carter as a way of protecting domestic producers from foreign "dumping." But at a White House conference on the industry's problems, the President declared: "Free trade has got to be fair trade," and said the administration was devising an aid package to try to stop mounting layoffs in the industry. [New York Times] Interest rates will keep rising, bond dealers predicted after the Federal Reserve confirmed their fears. It reported that the nation's basic money supply increased a massive $4.9 billion in the week ended Oct. 5, while the broader based supply soared $6.5 billion. Sizable increases had been projected by most money market analysts, but the ones reported were much larger than anticipated. [New York Times] Stock prices sagged in virtually all sectors of the market. The Dow Jones industrial average fell to a two-year low, dropping 5.81 points to 818.17. It was the poorest level since the Dow finished at 816.51 on Oct. 7, 1975. [New York Times] A third major sports and entertainment facility is scheduled for the New Jersey Meadowlands. The state's Sports and Exposition Authority decided to build a 20,000-seat arena near its race track and Giants Stadium. The enclosed, multi-purpose arena would open a third major area of competition to New York City-based facilities for sports and entertainment. The arena, scheduled for completion in January 1980, would be about a 15-minute ride from midtown Manhattan. [New York Times] The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three Americans for their pioneering research in the role of hormones in the chemistry of the human body. Dr. Rosalyn Yalow, a New Yorker, became the second woman to win a Nobel Prize in medicine and the sixth woman to win in any science category. The award was shared with Dr. Roger Guillemin and Dr. Andrew Schally. [New York Times] Israel divulged the contents of the working paper outlining procedures for convening a Geneva peace conference on the Middle East. The unexpected disclosure of the American-Israeli accord was made by Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan at a public session of the Israeli Parliament. He acted, a spokesman said, because of distorted leaks on the contents that gave an erroneous impression they contained many loopholes that might damage Israel's negotiating position. [New York Times] Expanded American-Yugoslav military ties were agreed upon in Belgrade talks between Defense Secretary Harold Brown and the Yugoslav defense chief. American sources said that Washington planned a "modest" expansion in arms sales to Belgrade and also an expansion of training of Yugoslav officers, visits by military officials and port calls by Yugoslav ships. Washington is expected to supply some antitank missiles and antiaircraft radar. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 818.17 (-5.81, -0.71%)
S&P Composite: 93.46 (-0.58, -0.62%)
Arms Index: 1.15

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	321	4.06
Declines	1,121	16.30
Unchanged	430	3.51
Total Volume		23.87

* 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*
October 12, 1977	823.98	94.04	22.44
October 11, 1977	832.38	94.93	18.11
October 10, 1977	840.26	95.75	10.58
October 7, 1977	840.35	95.97	16.25
October 6, 1977	842.08	96.05	18.49
October 5, 1977	837.40	95.68	18.30
October 4, 1977	842.08	96.03	20.85
October 3, 1977	851.96	96.74	19.46
September 30, 1977	847.11	96.53	21.17
September 29, 1977	840.09	95.85	21.16