News stories from Monday November 7, 1977

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

To aid the domestic steel industry, a reference price system is being developed by the Carter administration under which the Treasury would monitor steel imports and determine whether they are coming into this country at "fair" prices. The basic purpose of the monitoring is to stop "dumping" of foreign steel as soon as it occurs and defuse the issue politically. Europeans and Japanese complain that the way the United State rules in dumping cases violates international trading practice. [New York Times] The nation's military command structure is being examined by the Defense Department at the request of President Carter and may be revised. The study, according to military officials who were interviewed, is resented by senior officers in the Pentagon who fear that Defense Secretary Harold Brown is trying to blunt their influence. Dissatisfaction with the setup of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a Pentagon official said, has brought about the review, which will seek to define the role of the Joint Chiefs and reorganize the separate military command structure under the military leaders. [New York Times] Stock prices rose sharply as hopes increased among investors that the Federal Reserve might not again tighten its credit policies. The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 6.50 points and closed at 816.44. [New York Times] Journalists cannot be compelled to disclose the thoughts and opinions they held when they were preparing a news story, even if the story is attacked in a libel suit, according to a landmark ruling by a federal appeals court in Manhattan. Lawyers in the case believe it is the first time a court has ruled that the First Amendment also provides protection against an inquiry into the thought process of a journalist. The 2-to-1 decision, written by Chief Judge Irving Kaufman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, reversed a ruling by a lower court that had ordered a broad inquiry in a libel suit against CBS. [New York Times] Amtrak's dream, a vision of rail passenger service restored to respectability, if not the glory of the 1920's, has dimmed. Moreover, a "rescue" of Amtrak last week by Congress, which appropriated enough money to forestall service cuts in the Northeast, falls short of guaranteeing the future of rail passenger service. Amtrak's biggest problems are caused by old equipment and bad tracks. Paul Reistrup, Amtrak's president, said the line's biggest physical problem is bad track. [New York Times] Sears, Roebuck elected Edward Telling chairman and chief executive officer, succeeding Arthur Wood, who will reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 Jan. 27. Mr. Telling had been the company's senior executive vice president in charge of field operations. His election ends months of speculation over who would succeed Mr. Wood. [New York Times] In the governorship race in New Jersey, Brendan Byrne, the Democratic incumbent, who has come back from his poor standing in the early polls, faces Raymond Bateman, Republican. A tight race for Governor of Virginia pits Henry Howell, Democrat, against John Dalton, Republican. Close mayoral races are expected in Cleveland, Houston, Pittsburgh and Seattle. [New York Times] Violence in Northern Ireland is gradually declining, but political dissatisfaction is growing. Roman Catholics and Protestants are increasingly frustrated by the stalemate that keeps Ulster controlled by London and withholds all but perfunctory power from the provincial government. Catholics are especially uneasy because they feel they may be drifting back to discriminatory domination by the Protestant majority. They have put pressure on the British government to force the Protestants into some form of power sharing with the Catholics. The British, meanwhile, are preparing for new interparty talks in Northern Ireland. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 816.44 (+6.50, +0.80%)
S&P Composite: 92.29 (+0.71, +0.78%)
Arms Index: 0.97

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,059	13.89
Declines	394	5.03
Unchanged	397	2.35
Total Volume		21.27

* 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*
November 4, 1977	809.94	91.58	21.70
November 3, 1977	802.67	90.76	18.09
November 2, 1977	800.85	90.71	20.76
November 1, 1977	806.91	91.35	17.17
October 31, 1977	818.35	92.34	17.07
October 28, 1977	822.68	92.61	18.05
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