News stories from Thursday November 21, 1974

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

The Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose substantially in October, but less than in most other months this year. The October increase in the Consumer Price Index was nine-tenths of 1 percent, both before and after adjustment for normal seasonal changes in some prices and was much higher than normal, but lower than in August and September. Sugar and sugar-based products had a big role. [New York Times] The General Motors Corporation announced further layoffs and the Ford Motor Company reduced the price of its sub-compact Pinto by $66 in moves against the slump in car sales and large inventories of unsold cars. General Motors said that 30,000 workers at nine of its 22 assembly plants would be laid off for one to two weeks in December. [New York Times] Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota withdrew as a Democratic campaigner for the presidential nomination in 1976. A year of exploratory travel, speeches and fundraising taught him, Mr. Mondale said, that "I do not have the overwhelming desire to be President which is essential for the kind of campaign that is required." [New York Times] The jury at the Watergate cover-up trial heard four more previously undisclosed White House tape recordings that showed, among other things, that Richard Nixon wanted two top aides to help "put the wagons up around the President" to protect him from the testimony of a third aide. [New York Times] The House, prodded by President Ford and bipartisan congressional leadership, passed a landmark six-year, $11.8 billion mass-transit bill authorizing federal funds for municipal operating subsidies and providing New York City with $170 million of the more than $200 million needed this fiscal year to save the 35-cent fare. The vote was 288 to 109. The Senate had approved the bill Tuesday, voting 64 to 17. Mayor Beame said that he had "very high hopes" that the 35-cent fare would be kept through 1975. [New York Times] Despite opposition by industry and labor, the New Jersey state Senate, voting 30 to 6, approved a controversial measure that will enable the state's citizens to take alleged environmental polluters to court. Governor Byrne had described the bill as "one of the most significant environmental measures I will propose during my term as Governor." However, the bill's principal sponsor, Assemblyman Thomas Kean, believes it is a weakened version of the original bill debated in the Assembly. [New York Times] President Ford's talks in Japan concluded with issuance of a joint communique with Premier Kakuei Tanaka saying the two countries would seek to strengthen economic cooperation. Secretary of State Kissinger said that the talks could lead to more specific agreements in the future and that the American initiatives were aimed at surviving any change of government in Tokyo. [New York Times] The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, in a vote dominated by Arab and Communist delegations, excluded Israel from its European regional group. The vote, which weakens Israel's position in the world community, was the second action taken against Israel in 24 hours during UNESCO's general conference in Paris. [New York Times] The United States reaffirmed in the General Assembly that "Israel has the right to exist as a sovereign, independent state within secure and recognized boundaries." Speaking in the Assembly's continuing debate on the "question of Palestine," John Scali, the chief American delegate, echoed the words of a Security Council Resolution of Nov., 1967. [New York Times] President Ford arrived in Seoul, South Korea, where he was greeted by President Park Chung Hee with full military honors. President Park greeted Mr. Ford "as our partner" in the common effort to find security in Asia. Mr. Ford said "I am here to reaffirm our friendship and to give it new life and meaning." [New York Times] Bombs destroyed two crowded pubs in the heart of Birmingham, England, killing 17 people and injuring about 120. It was the worst attack in a series of bombings in Britain in the last two years, and there was little doubt that it was the work of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 608.57 (-1.02, -0.17%)
S&P Composite: 68.18 (+0.28, +0.41%)
Arms Index: 0.82

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	639	6.19
Declines	675	5.34
Unchanged	461	2.29
Total Volume		13.82

* 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*
November 20, 1974	609.59	67.90	12.43
November 19, 1974	614.05	68.20	15.72
November 18, 1974	624.92	69.27	15.23
November 15, 1974	647.61	71.91	12.48
November 14, 1974	658.40	73.06	13.54
November 13, 1974	659.18	73.35	16.04
November 12, 1974	659.18	73.67	15.04
November 11, 1974	672.64	75.15	13.22
November 8, 1974	667.16	74.91	15.89
November 7, 1974	671.93	75.21	17.15