News stories from Wednesday September 14, 1977

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

Two prosecutors in the office of the former United States Attorney in Atlanta told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that their chief, John Stokes, had ended an investigation of a bank headed by Bert Lance over their objections. Another former aide said Mr. Stokes had said that he was hoping to hold his job under the Carter administration long enough to qualify for a pension. [New York Times] Social policy initiatives of the Carter administration appear unlikely of winning congressional approval this year. They include proposals to limit hospital charges and make a major change in Social Security financing, while the sweeping proposals to overhaul the welfare system are already under attack before being taken up when Congress meets next year. [New York Times] Control of radiation by the Environmental Protection Agency has been inadequate, according to a draft report by the General Accounting Office. Noting that some 22,000 Americans a year develop cancers or genetic disorders because of exposure to radiation, it said the agency in six years has issued no standard that is currently enforced. An E.P.A. preliminary reply said the report's conclusions erred. [New York Times] Jody Powell, the White House press secretary, acknowledged that he had tried to encourage publication of damaging information concerning Senator Charles Percy, who had raised critical questions concerning Mr. Lance. After the Chicago Sun-Times had reported "an apparent guerrilla offensive" against Mr. Lance's detractors, Mr. Powell telephoned the Illinois Senator to apologize for his "inappropriate, regrettable and dumb" action concerning him. [New York Times] The Carter energy program suffered a major blow when the Senate Energy Committee tentatively agreed to put aside a section dealing with utility rate reform. The committee denied the federal government the authority sought by the Carter administration to order rates based on the cost of delivering the power. [New York Times] Domestic car sales were up in the first days of September by 11 percent over the corresponding period last year. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all gained significantly but American Motors continued its long slump with a drop of 28.2 percent. [New York Times] Stock prices bounced higher late in another day of light trading. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 4.15 points to close at 858.71, while the New York Stock Exchange composite index of all common stocks finished at 52.79, above the 52.50 mark considered by some Wall Street analysts as an important support zone for the general market. [New York Times] Mark Rudd was paroled on his own recognizance when the leader of the 1968 Columbia University student revolt emerged from seven years as a fugitive to surrender to the Manhattan District Attorney on misdemeanor charges. The former radical underground leader said nothing to shouting reporters. He flies to Chicago on Friday to face similar charges in that city. [New York Times] Obstacles to Mideast peace talks would best be removed, in the opinion of the Carter administration, by Israel dropping its objections to negotiating at Geneva with a unified pan-Arab delegation that could include Palestinians who accept Israel's right to exist. This view will probably be urged both on Israel and on those Arab countries that up to now have not accepted it. [New York Times] White South African opposition groups joined black leaders in demanding a judicial inquiry into the death in police detention of Steven Biko, the country's most influential young black leader. This was rejected by the government, which said the death followed an eight-day hunger strike. Some in the opposition suggested there had been foul play. The Minister of Justice said he was indifferent to the death. [New York Times] The West German coalition government agreed, after a difficult internal debate, on a modest package of measures to spur its economy. Tax cuts for individuals and businesses will pump an extra $5 billion into the West German economy. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 858.71 (+4.15, +0.49%)
S&P Composite: 96.55 (+0.46, +0.48%)
Arms Index: 0.64

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	823	10.05
Declines	547	4.27
Unchanged	479	3.01
Total Volume		17.33

* 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 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
September 1, 1977	864.86	96.83	18.82
August 31, 1977	861.49	96.77	19.08
August 30, 1977	858.89	96.38	18.22