News stories from Thursday February 23, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Carter sent Congress a plan for consolidating federal administration of laws against job discrimination. He discussed his proposals at a gathering of several hundred people at the White House, and told them that "I believe this is the single most important action to improve civil rights in the past decade." The President's plan would concentrate most enforcement powers in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, whose chairman is Eleanor Holmes Norton, formerly head of New York City's Commission on Human Rights. [New York Times]
- President Carter was quoted as saying that he could not wait past the weekend to resort to government compulsion to end the coal strike, while federal officials were putting heavy pressure on the coal industry to persuade it to change its mind on contract proposals it has found unacceptable. "They've really found a way to squeeze," an industry source said. One of the things the government held over the industry's head was a threat to dissolve national bargaining and negotiate on a local level. [New York Times]
- Car sales increased 12 percent in the mid-February 10-day selling period, the Detroit automakers said. It was the first increase in a year-to-year sales period since mid-November. General Motors, followed by Chrysler, accounted for most of the sales.
Chrysler had a loss of $49.7 million, or 82 cents a share, in 1977's fourth quarter and the company said that it expected to report a loss in the first quarter of 1978. The loss was much larger than had been expected by investment analysts.
[New York Times] - A long-term policy on flu immunization was announced by Joseph Califano, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. He said Congress will be asked for a supplemental appropriation of $15 million to aid states with their flu inoculation shots next winter. Thereafter, $15 million to $20 million a year will be sought for the same purpose, he said, and the states could more than double the number of people who are now getting flu shots. [New York Times]
- G. William Miller said that "despite all the fussing around, there is no evidence that would detract from my being confirmed" by the Senate as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The confirmation has been held up by the Senate Banking Committee for six weeks while it investigated a $2.9 million payment in Iran by a subsidiary of Textron. Mr. Miller is Textron's chairman. "There is no substance to the issue," he said in an interview.
The White House is still pressing its nomination of Mr. Miller as the Federal Reserve's chairman, with a lot of help from Arthur Burns, the Federal Reserve's outgoing chairman. Mr. Burns is warning Senators that delay in Mr. Miller's confirmation is weakening the central bank and hurting the conduct of international monetary policy.
[New York Times] - The stock market rallied and made its first advance following nine consecutive losing sessions. The rally was attributed to an unexpected gain in sales of new cars. The Dow Jones industrial average overcame a loss of 4 points at noon and closed up 1.90 points at 750.95. [New York Times]
- A United States contribution of $1.7 billion to a $10 billion international aid fund for countries hardest hit by the current oil prices was approved by the House. The vote for the authorization bill was 267 to 125. [New York Times]
- The moon may still be wobbling from a colossal meteorite impact 800 years ago, according to astronomers' observations at the University of Texas and a calculation of the moon's status on the night of June 18, 1178. On that night, English monks recorded that "a flaming torch sprang up" from the crescent moon, "spewing out over a considerable distance, fire, hot coals and sparks." [New York Times]
- Prime Minister Ian Smith strongly defended his agreement with moderate black leaders for the transition to rule by the black majority and said it was "absolutely nonsensical" to suggest that his safeguards for the white minority could be used to perpetuate white rule in Rhodesia. He also said in in interview that the guerrillas fighting against him and the agreement would eventually give up. He criticized Britain and the United States for their insistence on a constitutional settlement that includes the Communist-backed Patriotic Front, saying their position was "incomprehensible" and that they had opted for a "Marxist dictatorship" instead of a democracy. [New York Times]
- China's return to normal after years of political turmoil was stressed in a communique issued by the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee following a six-day meeting. "Things are going much better than expected," the party chairman, Hua Kuo-feng, told the committee. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 750.95 (+1.90, +0.25%)
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 22, 1978 | 749.05 | 87.56 | 18.45 |
| February 21, 1978 | 749.31 | 87.59 | 21.86 |
| February 17, 1978 | 752.69 | 87.96 | 18.50 |
| February 16, 1978 | 753.29 | 88.08 | 21.58 |
| 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 |