News stories from Monday September 19, 1977

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

The Bert Lance hearings resumed with testimony by congressional staff members that he misled them before his confirmation as budget director about financial problems at his Georgia bank. It was clear from the testimony that neither the staff nor the Governmental Affairs Committee had vigorously investigated Mr. Lance's background. [New York Times] Minority group members got a strong endorsement from the Carter administration that they may constitutionally receive special consideration in university admissions, but the difficult question of whether specific racial quotas may be used to achieve that special consideration was avoided. The administration's position was stated in a Justice Department brief filed with the Supreme Court. It modified an earlier draft, which explicitly argued against such quotas. [New York Times] Housing starts at an annual rate or 2.02 million in August were one of the strongest segments of a softening economy. This was indicated by figures released by the Commerce Department. August housing starts were down slightly from the July rate of nearly 2.08 million, but still were 32 percent above the rate of 1.53 million in August 1976. A rise in building permits issued for future housing construction was also a good augury for the industry. [New York Times] Major production operations of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company will be transferred from Youngstown, Ohio, to its Indiana Harbor plant near Chicago and the company's headquarters will follow "in the near future," R. C. Rieder, the company's chairman said. About 5,000 Youngstown employees will be laid off in the shift to Indiana Harbor. [New York Times] Stock prices fell to their lowest levels in 20 months, bringing down the Dow Jones industrial average 5.29 points to 851.52. The average hadn't been that badly off since Dec. 23, 1975, when it closed at 843.75. The average has lost about 150 points this year. Today's selling pressure was attributed by analysts to a decline in industrial production in August. [New York Times] The biggest fuel savers among the 1978 model cars are foreign and diesel-engine cars, the Environmental Protection Agency said in its annual report on mileage figures. Critics have said that the figures do not reflect the actual road performance of the automobiles tested. Douglas Castle, the E.P.A.'s administrator, conceded that the figures could not tell a car buyer what he could expect in gasoline mileage, but that they could give good indication of the relative performance of the tested cars. [New York Times] Jacqueline Onassis negotiated a settlement with her late husband's daughter, Christina, Miss Onassis's friends report, under which she will receive $20 million in return for abandoning all further claims to Aristotle Onassis's estate. Christina Onassis was said to have agreed to the settlement because she was eager to cut all ties to her stepmother and because she was advised that Mrs. Onassis would not consider anything less than $20 million without pressing her claims in court. [New York Times] The C.I.A.'s testing of LSD-25 and other psychochemicals on unsuspecting subjects was the greatest potential abuse of governmental authority or medical ethics, a Senate subcommittee has concluded, in the agency's highly secretive and long-running drug testing program in which mind control was an objective. An unusual relationship between the C.I.A. and a senior narcotics official is among new details that have been learned about the drug testing projects. [New York Times] Edward Koch defeated Mario Cuomo solidly in the runoff for the New York City Democratic mayoral nomination. Mr. Cuomo will still have a place on the ballot in November as the Liberal Party's nominee, but the Democratic candidate is the strong favorite. [New York Times] The Port Authority was rebuked by the chief judge of a federal appeals court for the Authority's 18-month delay on a decision setting noise standards the Concorde SST would have to meet to be able to use Kennedy International Airport. [New York Times] President Carter told Moshe Dayan, the Foreign Minister of Israel, that if there was to be a lasting Middle East settlement it was important for Israel and the Arab states to show "courageous leadership" and to make compromises. After their meeting, a White House statement issued with Israeli concurrence acknowledged that major gaps remained between Israel and the United States on such matters as Palestinian representation at a renewed Geneva peace conference and possible American dealings with the Palestine Liberation Organization. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 851.52 (-5.29, -0.62%)
S&P Composite: 95.85 (-0.63, -0.65%)
Arms Index: 1.20

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	449	4.05
Declines	935	10.08
Unchanged	518	2.76
Total Volume		16.89

* 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*
September 16, 1977	856.81	96.48	18.34
September 15, 1977	860.79	96.80	18.23
September 14, 1977	858.71	96.55	17.33
September 13, 1977	854.56	96.09	14.90
September 12, 1977	854.38	96.03	18.70
September 9, 1977	857.07	96.37	18.10
September 8, 1977	868.16	97.28	18.29
September 7, 1977	876.39	98.01	18.07
September 6, 1977	873.27	97.71	16.13
September 2, 1977	872.31	97.45	15.62