News stories from Monday April 10, 1978

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

Panama's Ambassador complained at a White House meeting that his government's patience with the Senate's handling of the Panama Canal treaties was running out. [New York Times] L. Patrick Gray, the F.B.I.'s former acting director, and two former executives of the bureau were indicted on charges of conspiring to deprive American citizens of civil rights by ordering agents to break into and search their homes without warrants. Soon after the indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Washington, the Department of Justice dismissed charges of illegal wiretapping and mail-openings lodged in the same case last year against John Kearney, a minor F.B.I. official formerly stationed in New York. Attorney General Griffin Bell said he had decided to dismiss the charges against Mr. Kearney when new evidence indicated that he had been acting under orders from superiors. [New York Times] The first American-made Volkswagen rolled off the assembly line in the recently completed plant of the Volkswagen Manufacturing Corporation of America in East Huntington Township, Pa. The white two-door Rabbit model was the forerunner of other cars that are expected to be produced by foreign manufacturers in the United States in future years. "Today, Volkswagen becomes the fifth American automobile producer," said Toni Schumecker, chairman of Volkswagenwerk of West Germany. [New York Times] The stock market advanced for the fifth consecutive day on the eve of President Carter's message on inflation, energy and the declining dollar. Prices rose through the afternoon and the Dow Jones industrial average gained 4.07 points, closing at 773.65. The average had gained more than 17 points in the four previous sessions. [New York Times] An overhaul of military pensions was urged by a presidential commission, which in a report to President Carter said that it was too expensive, "inefficient" and "inequitable." The nine-member panel said that the nation could eventually save $10 billion a year by ending lifetime pensions for 20-year veterans and by banning "double dipping" by retired military personnel who take government jobs. "The current system can no longer be justified," the commission's chairman, Charles Zwick, said. [New York Times] New Jersey banned smoking inside public places effective July 1. Violators will be fined $25 to $100. After almost a year of discussion, the State Public Health Council approved the regulations by a vote of 6 to 1, with one abstention. Though no legislation will be required to put the regulations in effect, the council dodged the issue of how to enforce them. Gambling casinos are among the places where smoking will be restricted. [New York Times] The Soviet Union's trade deficit with the capitalist countries was sharply reduced last year to $1.59 billion through cutting back imports and increasing exports to nearly every major Western country, according to trade figures published in Moscow. Diplomatic and business representatives of the United States, Japan and West Germany have noted stagnation or a decline in business with the Soviet Union over the last year. The Soviet statistics showed a sharp decline in trade with the United States, listing it in sixth place among capitalist trading partners. [New York Times] A top Soviet official defected and indicated through a New York attorney that he would not be returning to the Soviet Union, a State Department spokesman said. Arkady Shevchenko, who is an Under Secretary General, did not resign from his post at the United Nations, the world body announced. [New York Times] Secretary of State Vance began an administration campaign to build support for the projected strategic arms treaty with the Soviet Union with a pledge that the United States would sign an accord only if it improved Western security. In an address at the annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Mr. Vance said that he hoped to narrow the remaining differences with the Soviet Union but did not expect to conclude negotiations in Moscow this month. [New York Times] Transkei broke relations with South Africa, which established the black republic and is the only country that recognized it as a nation. The break was announced by the Transkei Prime Minister, Chief Kaiser Matanzima, who said that his country, which has a 300-member army, would eventually go to war against South Africa. The apparent reason for the break was South Africa's refusal to surrender East Griqualand. [New York Times] The Philippine government said that it was investigating alleged interference by foreign journalists in last Friday's disputed National Assembly election. The Department of Information and the Philippine News Agency also implied that some correspondents were "foreign subversive elements." In addition, the Foreign Secretary, Carlos Romulo, charged that some correspondents had helped to plan the protest march in Manila on Sunday in which 600 people were arrested. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 773.65 (+4.07, +0.53%)
S&P Composite: 90.49 (+0.32, +0.35%)
Arms Index: 0.71

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	793	13.69
Declines	618	7.59
Unchanged	463	4.46
Total Volume		25.74

* 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*
April 7, 1978	769.58	90.17	25.17
April 6, 1978	763.95	89.79	27.36
April 5, 1978	763.08	89.64	27.26
April 4, 1978	755.37	88.86	20.13
April 3, 1978	751.04	88.46	20.23
March 31, 1978	757.36	89.21	20.13
March 30, 1978	759.62	89.41	20.46
March 29, 1978	761.78	89.64	25.45
March 28, 1978	758.84	89.50	21.60
March 27, 1978	753.21	88.87	18.87