News stories from Thursday February 16, 1978

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

Negotiations in the coal strike moved to the Labor Department building, but the administration's intervention in the stalemate has met "resistance and difficulty," Labor Secretary Ray Marshall said. Members of a negotiating group appointed by President Carter were told to bring a change of clothing. [New York Times] Home construction slumped by a record amount last month because of bad weather. The Commerce Department said new housing starts dropped 29 percent in January, surpassing the previous record decline of 27 percent in January 1977. Construction picked up last year when the weather improved, and it became one of the best years in housing history. Another good year is predicted for 1978 but not so good as 1977, when 1.99 million housing starts were made. A total of 1.85 million is expected this year. [New York Times] More than $90,000 was raised by friends of Representative Daniel Flood for Stephen Elko, formerly an aide to the Congressman, and Mr. Elko's friend, Patricia Brislin, according to sources familiar with the transaction. The money was provided ostensibly for legal fees and living expenses while Mr. Elko and Miss Brislin were under investigation and indictment on charges of taking bribes. The sources said that federal investigators were trying to establish whether the money and legal services were given to obtain their silence during the investigation and the subsequent trial. [New York Times] The stock market decline continued with the dollar's squeeze in foreign exchange markets, depressing economic reports at home and the coal strike stalemate. The Dow Jones industrial dropped 8.40 points to 753.29, its lowest point in 34 months. The average hovered about midway in what some Wall Street analysts call a support level of 760 and 740 for stock prices. [New York Times] The sale of European airbus jets worth $500 million to Eastern Airlines has been put in doubt because of a technical problem. The issue is the maximum weight at which the planes should be allowed to operate on the taxiway portions of the overwater decks on which LaGuardia Airport runways extend into Flushing Bay. The planes are manufactured by Airbus Industrie, a French-Spanish-German consortium. Eastern Airlines, which is using four leased Airbuses, has delayed plans for the planes' landings at LaGuardia until the issue is resolved. [New York Times] H. R. Haldeman, Richard Nixon's chief of staff and close adviser, says that he thinks Mr. Nixon "initiated the Watergate break-in," participated in the subsequent cover-up from "day one" and erased 18½ minutes from a critical Watergate tape. Mr. Haldeman, who is serving a prison term for his role in the Watergate cover-up, makes these charges in his book "The Ends of Power."Mr. Haldeman also writes that Mr. Nixon turned down several overtures by the Soviet Union to the United States in 1969 proposing that the two countries make a nuclear attack on China's atomic plants. This assertion was promptly disputed by William Rogers, then Secretary of State, and by Henry Kissinger, who was Mr. Nixon's national security adviser at that time. [New York Times] A United States mission to Ethiopia will try to improve relations with Addis Ababa, which are in their worst state in years. The American delegation of three men is led by David Aaron, President Carter's Deputy Assistant for national security. One of the issues the group will have to deal with is Addis Ababa's charge that the United States is indirectly supplying arms to Somalia. [New York Times] The future of Rhodesia's armed forces was the subject of a broad agreement reached at talks between Prime Minister Ian Smith and three black leaders. Sources at the talks said that a general amnesty would be declared and that the guerrillas would also be offered retraining for entry into the existing army, or have the opportunity of educational or vocational training at government expense. Meanwhile, preparations for an interim government during the transition to black rule were being discussed. [New York Times] Japan and China signed a $20 billion trade pact in Peking, opening the way into the vast Chinese market for Japanese manufacturers, as well as providing potential improvement in their diplomatic and political relations. The eight-year agreement will give China a source of foreign exchange and assured supplies of steel and industrial equipment. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 753.29 (-8.40, -1.10%)
S&P Composite: 88.08 (-0.75, -0.84%)
Arms Index: 1.48

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	383	3.78
Declines	1,041	15.21
Unchanged	435	2.58
Total Volume		21.57

* 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*
February 15, 1978	761.69	88.83	20.17
February 14, 1978	765.16	89.04	20.47
February 13, 1978	774.43	89.86	16.81
February 10, 1978	775.99	90.08	19.48
February 9, 1978	777.81	90.30	17.94
February 8, 1978	782.66	90.83	21.30
February 7, 1978	778.85	90.33	14.73
February 6, 1978	768.62	89.50	11.63
February 3, 1978	770.96	89.62	19.40
February 2, 1978	775.38	90.13	23.05