News stories from Wednesday September 27, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- In the most crucial vote in Israel's 30-year history, the parliament gave a strong endorsement to the Camp David Middle East accords -- including a commitment to abandon Jewish settlements in the Sinai Desert -- and opened the way to a peace treaty with Egypt within three months. The Camp David agreements were signed Sept. 17 by President Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. [Chicago Tribune]
- Despite the initial euphoria, "a great uncertainty" still surrounds the Camp David accords, French Foreign Minister Louis de Guiringaud told the 33d U.N. General Assembly. He said final peace in the Mideast must involve more than Egypt and Israel, and said an overall settlement demands that all interested parties be associated, including the representatives of the Palestinian people." [Chicago Tribune]
- The Senate Finance Committee approved individual tax cuts of about $14.2 billion as it neared a final vote on its version of a 1979 tax bill. The panel also approved a new benefit for persons who sell their homes. The difference between the committee tax cut and the $10.3 billion passed earlier this year by the House is composed of $2.1 billion realized through cuts due to tax rate changes and $1.8 billion in earned income credits. [Chicago Tribune]
- Labor Secretary Ray Marshall promised that he would act within 24 hours to get the nation's idled trains moving again if negotiators themselves fail to reach agreement in new round-the-clock talks. Two-thirds of the rail traffic in the United States now is affected by a strike begun as a walkout by the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks against the Norfolk and Western Railway. Employees of other railroads have joined in the strike, curtailing delivery of coal, food supplies, parts for manufacturers, and shutting down most Amtrak and commuter passenger service. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Senate approved the natural gas price deregulation by a vote of 57 to 42, ending 17 months of debate, deadlock and haggling for a compromise. The measure, the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, contains 66 pages of complicated regulations that will end federal controls by Jan, 1, 1985. Between now and then, consumers will pay increasingly more for gas, although the brunt of the increase is expected to fall on industrial users and utilities. [Chicago Tribune]
- The House voted 368 to 30 to approve a post-Watergate ethics bill requiring all senior government officials, federal judges, and members of Congress to make detailed public disclosure of their financial holdings. Among those required to report all their holdings and income are the President, Vice President, higher-paid career-government workers, Supreme Court justices, and candidates for Congress. Penalty for filing a false report would be a fine of up to $5,000. [Chicago Tribune]
- The House Ethics Committee recommended that the House censure Rep. Edward Roybal and that it reprimand Rep. Charles Wilson for their roles in the so-called South Korean influence buying scandals. The rulings against the two California Democrats were the first returned by the committee since it began its probe of the scandal nearly two years ago. [Chicago Tribune]
- In a move that caught opponents totally off guard, Senate Democratic leader Robert Byrd used a complicated series of parliamentary maneuvers and set a test vote for next Tuesday on legislation extending the ratification time for the Equal Rights Amendment. G.O.P. leader Howard Baker -- in a rare burst of anger -- accused Byrd of making the move "without any advance warning to anyone at all." Baker warned that Byrd's tactic would "chill efforts" to get time agreements on other legislation as the Senate seeks to adjourn Oct. 14. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Senate gave final congressional approval to a $10.2 billion public works bill and immediately began negotiating with President Carter, who vowed to veto it as wasteful and inflationary. [Chicago Tribune]
- The National Cancer Institute has agreed to test Laetrile on several hundred advanced cancer patients in an effort to resolve "once and for all" the debate about the controversial substance, Dr. Arthur Upton, the institute's director, announced. The Food and Drug Administration, which has led a federal fight against Laetrile, still must approve the cancer institute's plan to use Laetrile in the human experiment. [Chicago Tribune]
- The stock market fell sharply late today after five New York banks raised their prime lending rates to 9¾ percent, matching increases posted earlier this week by two other banks. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 7.97 points lower at 860.19.
Steel imports continued to surge for the second month in a row. August imports rose 4.8 percent, following a 31 percent jump in July. One U.S. steel industry leader said, however, the industry would wait several months before seeking legal remedies to curb the import tide.
[Chicago Tribune] - Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said he hopes the formal ending of the U.S. arms embargo against Turkey will lead to a new and positive era in Turkish-American relations. He also announced that Turkey and the U.S. soon would take up the issue of 25 U.S. defense installations on Turkish soil. Most activities at those installations were halted in 1975 in retaliation for the embargo. President Carter, with congressional approval, ended the embargo on Tuesday. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has published a strong defense of the late Pope Paul VI's ban on artificial contraception in an article marking the 10th anniversary of Paul's pronouncement on the subject, the encyclical "Humanae Vitae." The article is considered an indication that Paul's successor, John Paul I, does not intend to change the ban. [Chicago Tribune]
- Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky have nominated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, it was disclosed. [Chicago Tribune]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 860.19 (-7.97, -0.92%)
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* |
| September 26, 1978 | 868.16 | 102.62 | 26.33 |
| September 25, 1978 | 862.35 | 101.86 | 20.97 |
| September 22, 1978 | 862.44 | 101.84 | 27.96 |
| September 21, 1978 | 861.14 | 101.90 | 33.65 |
| September 20, 1978 | 857.16 | 101.73 | 35.08 |
| September 19, 1978 | 861.57 | 102.53 | 31.66 |
| September 18, 1978 | 870.15 | 103.21 | 35.83 |
| September 15, 1978 | 878.55 | 104.12 | 37.29 |
| September 14, 1978 | 887.04 | 105.10 | 37.40 |
| September 13, 1978 | 899.60 | 106.34 | 43.33 |