News stories from Friday February 19, 1971

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

The first major battle of the Laos operation took place at a South Vietnamese artillery base in Laos; medical helicopters and reinforcements have been unable to reach the base yet. Four American helicopters were shot down, bringing the total to 26 since the start of the operation. U.S. helicopter pilots are angry because South Vietnamese rescue pilots are refusing to fly missions in dangerous areas. South Vietnamese troops encountered Soviet-made tanks in Laos; the tanks were identified as PT-76s. North Vietnamese forces overran two Laotian outposts near Long Cheng and renewed their shelling of the CIA base at Long Cheng. [CBS] Two suspects were arrested after they attempted to firebomb U.S. officers quarters in Saigon. [CBS] At Lt. William Calley's trial, a defense psychiatrist's testimony was stricken from the record after it was discovered that the testimony was not based on interviews with Calley. Another defense psychiatrist's testimony was vague. [CBS] Israel reacted favorably to Egypt's offer to sign a peace treaty even though the offer was linked to Israel's withdrawal from Arab territory. Israel still demands direct peace talks. Egypt and the U.S. protested Israeli construction in occupied Jerusalem, and United Nations Secretary General U Thant charged Israel with bulldozing United Nations property. [CBS] The USSR is demanding that Belgium ban the World Jewish Conference from meeting in Brussels, claiming that the conference will be a forum for Zionist attacks on the Soviet Union. [CBS] The cost of living went up just 0.1% in January, the smallest monthly increase in four years. [CBS] At a Senate hearing, Federal Reserve Board chairman Arthur Burns recommended a wage and price review board although he expressed misgivings concerning mandatory wage and price controls, and warned that the extension of presidential power to freeze wages and prices should be for limited periods of time only. The current lack of consumer confidence is the most serious obstacle to economic development. [CBS] Labor Secretary Hodgson warned AFL-CIO leaders that the Nixon administration may impose a wage and price freeze on the construction industry if a voluntary agreement is not reached. Labor leaders attacked President Nixon's health plan as "inadequate." [CBS] Interior Secretary Morton says that he is impressed with arguments against the Alaska oil pipeline and is a long way from approving its construction; Morton stated that Alaska sold oil leases too hastily. [CBS] The Justice Department filed pollution lawsuits against U.S. Steel and DuPont for dumping into the Grand Calumet River in Indiana. [CBS] The Fair Campaign Practices Committee is looking into ads that were run during the last Senate elections in newspapers in eight states. Those ads stated that Democratic party candidates were the choice of radicals and extremists. [CBS] Seven mentally retarded patients were killed in a fire in Taft, California. The Taft fire chief declared the home a hazard two days before the fire, and a social worker said that the buildings would have been condemned as of March 1. [CBS] The U.S. and 59 other countries signed a treaty on licensing, penalties, import and export control and statistical reporting for the use of hallucinatory drugs, amphetamines, barbiturates and tranquilizers. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 878.56 (-6.50, -0.73%)
S&P Composite: 96.74 (-0.82, -0.84%)
Arms Index: 1.64

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	318	2.41
Declines	1,145	14.24
Unchanged	234	1.21
Total Volume		17.86

* 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 18, 1971	885.06	97.56	16.65
February 17, 1971	887.87	98.20	18.72
February 16, 1971	890.06	98.66	21.35
February 12, 1971	888.83	98.43	18.47
February 11, 1971	885.34	97.91	19.26
February 10, 1971	881.09	97.39	19.04
February 9, 1971	879.79	97.51	28.25
February 8, 1971	882.12	97.45	25.59
February 5, 1971	876.57	96.93	20.48
February 4, 1971	874.79	96.62	20.86