News stories from Thursday March 23, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Senate passed a bill raising the mandatory retirement age to 70 for most Americans and eliminating it completely for federal employees. The bill went to the White House. The vote was 62 to 10. The House approved the bill earlier this week. It is expected to be signed by President Carter. [New York Times]
- A federal grand jury indicted Representative Charles Diggs, Michigan Democrat, on charges that he took kickbacks from three of his congressional employees and kept three others on his payroll although they allegedly did no work for Congress. The indictment contains 21 counts of making false statements to the government and 14 counts of mail fraud, and charged that the alleged kickbacks and improper payments totaled more than $101,000. [New York Times]
- New car sales rose 36.3 percent in the mid-March selling period from the year-earlier level, Detroit's auto makers reported. They said their long-talked-about spring buying spree seemed to have begun. [New York Times]
- Stock prices advanced slightly, but the Dow Jones industrial average registered a token decline of 1.04 points, closing at 756.50, The average had lost more than 16 points in the previous two sessions, partly reflecting Wall Street's uncertainty over possible anti-inflation curbs. [New York Times]
- Sweden's economy is disintegrating and the country that had been a model of economic success may be entering a long period of decline. A series of statistics published since the beginning of the year have illustrated the country's plight. Shipbuilding, steel, iron ore and paper and pulp, the source of the wealth that helped pay for the Swedish welfare system, have all been deeply hurt by overcapacity in world markets, price-cutting competition from Asia and South America, and Sweden's wage and benefit costs, ranked as the world's highest last year. "The best times for Sweden have run out," a government official said. [New York Times]
- The leading industrial nations were called on by Prime Minister James Callaghan of Britain to coordinate a ''plan of action" for adoption at an economic summit meeting in July, to "pull the world out of the recession." Mr. Callaghan made the statement following a two and a half hour meeting at the White House with President Carter. He also praised the administration's energy conservation plan as an effort "of vital significance" for the world. [New York Times]
- Prime Minister Begin called on Americans for support at the conclusion of what he called "difficult" talks with President Carter that failed to dispel sharp differences with Washington over Middle East issues. Mr. Begin said Israel wanted the Middle East peace effort to proceed, but he was also adamant about Israel's having to make new concessions on the key questions that led to the impasse in the negotiations. President Carter told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "the diplomatic process has come to a halt," and asked for their help. [New York Times]
- Lebanon appealed for aid for the 200,000 Lebanese and 65,000 Palestinians who fled the Israeli invasion in southern Lebanon. [New York Times]
- A statute protecting marine life in Antarctica drafted by a 13-nation conference in Canberra, Australia, before any large-scale exploitation of the area is attempted, could become a landmark in international law. A conservation commission was proposed at the meeting, mainly to protect krill, a tiny, shrimp-like crustacean that is expected eventually to provide a major portion of the world's protein harvest from the seas. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 756.50 (-1.04, -0.14%)
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* |
| March 22, 1978 | 757.54 | 89.47 | 21.95 |
| March 21, 1978 | 762.82 | 89.79 | 24.41 |
| March 20, 1978 | 773.82 | 90.82 | 28.36 |
| March 17, 1978 | 768.71 | 90.20 | 28.47 |
| March 16, 1978 | 762.82 | 89.51 | 25.41 |
| March 15, 1978 | 758.58 | 89.12 | 23.33 |
| March 14, 1978 | 762.56 | 89.35 | 24.30 |
| March 13, 1978 | 759.96 | 88.95 | 24.07 |
| March 10, 1978 | 758.58 | 88.88 | 27.09 |
| March 9, 1978 | 750.00 | 87.89 | 21.82 |