News stories from Wednesday October 23, 1974

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

William Seidman, Assistant to President Ford for Economic Affairs, hinted at a news conference that if the economy worsens the administration might revise its proposed tax surcharge and budget reductions. In a separate statement, Paul McCracken, an unofficial adviser, said the nation is in a recession and officials are "ill-advised" to say it is not. He predicted a very sharp decline and a very swift recovery. [New York Times] The President's press secretary sought to tone down Mr. Ford's charge in campaign speeches that Democratic gains in Congress could jeopardize world peace, disclaiming the intent to call the Democrats a party of war. The Democratic National Chairman, Robert Strauss, expressed resentment of the President's remarks and called that kind of rhetoric "irresponsible." [New York Times] The former White House counsel, John Dean, a witness in the Watergate cover-up trial, admitted joining in a plan to have former Attorney General John Mitchell, a defendant, take the blame for the Watergate break-in. Mr. Dean admitted doing so to save himself and conceded that he had no evidence that Mr. Mitchell had approved the bugging plan that led to the break-in. John Sirica, the presiding judge, said that former President Richard Nixon might be called as a "court witness," in which case, the judge added, "nobody would have to vouch for his credibility." [New York Times] Declines in sales, profits and stock prices have spread gloom throughout the automobile industry. Lynn Townsend, chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, said that if President Ford did not take immediate steps to restore consumer confidence, the automobile and housing industries would go into deep recession. If their present decline is not stemmed, he predicted that it could "spread generally throughout the economy." [New York Times] In New Jersey, Governor Byrne announced that he would require all members of public authorities from his state to make financial disclosures. The move was in reaction to the disclosure of a $550,000 gift to Dr. William Ronan, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, from his former chief, Nelson Rockefeller. [New York Times] Secretary of State Kissinger arrived in Moscow with "fairly concrete" ideas on strategic arms limitation to explore in three days of talks with Soviet leaders. Accelerated progress would prepare the way for a meeting between President Ford and Leonid Brezhnev, possibly next month. Other subjects on the agenda include detente and Middle East issues. [New York Times] The Greek government arrested and exiled George Papadopoulos and four other leaders of the military coup against the democratic regime in 1967. It accused them of "conspiratorial activities." With the first elections set for Nov. 17, opponents of Premier Constantine Caramanlis had been criticizing him for indecisive action against the former military dictators. [New York Times] Britain's Labor government is drawing closer to the Common Market and, despite threats of withdrawal, is expected to advocate a national vote to stay within the community. The agreement on sugar negotiated Tuesday in Luxembourg will be particularly helpful in persuading the British that the market has its good points. [New York Times] The paternalistic employment policy Japanese workers have enjoyed in two decades of boom is threatened in the slump as many companies reduce production. "Temporary home rest" at 90 percent of salary is one formula; another company this week agreed with its union on "voluntary retirement" of 10 percent of its 2,330 employees in the textile industry. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 645.03 (-17.83, -2.69%)
S&P Composite: 71.03 (-2.10, -2.87%)
Arms Index: 2.16

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	280	1.31
Declines	1,139	11.51
Unchanged	354	1.38
Total Volume		14.20

* 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*
October 22, 1974	662.86	73.13	18.93
October 21, 1974	669.82	73.50	14.50
October 18, 1974	654.88	72.28	16.46
October 17, 1974	651.44	71.17	14.47
October 16, 1974	642.29	70.33	14.79
October 15, 1974	658.40	71.44	17.06
October 14, 1974	673.50	72.74	19.77
October 11, 1974	658.17	71.14	20.09
October 10, 1974	648.08	69.79	26.36
October 9, 1974	631.02	67.82	18.82