News stories from Friday October 28, 1977

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

Jimmy Carter appears to have aged, as have other Presidents in office. After only 281 days of his administration, his brow shows new furrows, there are fresh lines around his eyes and more flesh beneath his chin. These all reflect the incessant demands of White House responsibilities, but do not surprise those who have observed his dawn-to-dusk discipline and appetite for increasing amounts of work. [New York Times] President Carter favors deregulation of natural gas prices eventually, he said, but added that a House bill that would raise the controlled price is preferable to a Senate measure that would end controls. In a telephone exchange with a newspaper group, Mr. Carter insisted that "we are working toward deregulation of natural gas," but added, "I just don't think we ought to do it all at once." [New York Times] The Carter energy bill was saved in the Senate when the chamber refused by a vote of 51 to 30 to kill it. The measure bears only a faint resemblance to the President's original proposal, but the chairman of the Finance Committee said the White House backed the current version. The revised bill contains more than $40 billion in tax credits for energy conservation and new production, but only one tax, a modest one on continued use of oil and natural gas by business. [New York Times] A slight economic upturn at the end of this year was indicated by government figures. The Commerce Department said that its index of lending indicators increased by three-tenths of 1 percent in September. The increase followed a revised 1.4 percent rise for August, marking the largest increase since March and the second largest in two years. [New York Times] Stock prices gained for the third consecutive session, The Dow Jones industrial average moved ahead 4.07 points lo close at 822.68, The key indicator rose 14.38 points this week. [New York Times] A salesman performed surgery for doctors who had difficulty in completing operations, New York State Assemblyman Alan Hevesi charged. Mr. Hevesi, who is chairman of the Assembly's Health Committee, said that the salesman of medical equipment had only an elementary school education, no medical certifications and had taken part in at least 12 operations. [New York Times] A key Representative in the Korean inquiry acknowledged he was under federal investigation for allegedly informing Seoul diplomats that a senior South Korean intelligence officer was about to defect. The Representative, Edward Derwinski of Illinois, denied the allegation. He is the senior Republican member of a House subcommittee inquiring into Seoul's efforts to influence American policy. [New York Times] Increased control over the Pentagon budget by civilians is sought by Defense Secretary Harold Brown. He has issued an order placing tighter rules on spending and calling for earlier submission of tentative budget plans to President Carter for approval. The order has stirred resentment and uneasiness among military leaders. [New York Times] A wealthy executive was abducted on a street corner in the center of Amsterdam. The victim, Maurits Caransa, is a 61-year-old real estate operator and developer in the Netherlands. Newspapers received a series of anonymous telephone calls declaring that West German terrorists belonging to what is known as the Baader-Meinhof gang were the kidnappers. [New York Times] Antiterrorist security measures have been taken by many businessmen in major industrial nations. Amid the wave of extortion, kidnapping and murder, industrialists are increasingly hiring bodyguards, using bulletproof cars, shunning publicity and even carrying guns. The security measures are said to be costing hundreds of millions of dollars and most businesses have continued to function normally. [New York Times] The U.N. censured Israel for establishing settlements in occupied Arab territories. A General Assembly resolution, calling Israel's actions illegal and damaging to Middle East peace efforts, was approved by 131 countries, with only Israel opposed. The United States and six small countries abstained, and 10 delegations were absent. [New York Times] A new Soviet missile submarine is under construction, according to American intelligence officials. The submarine, they said, is designed to launch at least 20 long-range ballistic missiles, equipped with multiple warheads. The 500-foot-long submarine is said to be the largest ever built by the Russians and comparable in size to the not-yet-deployed American Trident. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 822.68 (+4.07, +0.50%)
S&P Composite: 92.61 (+0.27, +0.29%)
Arms Index: 0.75

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	838	9.92
Declines	531	4.72
Unchanged	484	3.41
Total Volume		18.05

* 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 27, 1977	818.61	92.34	21.92
October 26, 1977	813.41	92.10	24.86
October 25, 1977	801.54	91.00	23.59
October 24, 1977	802.32	91.63	19.21
October 21, 1977	808.30	92.32	20.23
October 20, 1977	814.80	92.67	20.52
October 19, 1977	812.20	92.38	22.03
October 18, 1977	820.51	93.46	20.13
October 17, 1977	820.34	93.47	17.34
October 14, 1977	821.64	93.56	20.41