News stories from Friday October 13, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Reacting strongly to persistent high inflation and the weak dollar, the Federal Reserve Board raised its discount rate to a record 8.5 percent. It was the sixth increase this year in the rate the nation's central bank charges its member banks for loans. Analysts said the increase signals further moves by the Federal Reserve to raise other interest rates in its fight against inflation. The Fed action came as many of the nation's major banks were raising their prime rates to 10 percent. This is the interest they charge their best corporate borrowers for short-term loans. It also came shortly after an unexpected spurt in food price inflation in September. Food prices, which rose sharply in the first six months of the year. had declined in July and August. [Washington Post]
- President Carter's energy plan passed an important near-final test in the House by a single vote, 207 to 206, as the 95th Congress continued its rush toward adjournment. In other developments, as both houses stayed long in session: The Senate passed, 70 to 19, and sent to the House a Humphrey-Hawkins "full employment" version that would set national goals for reducing inflation as well as unemployment. House-Senate conferees wrote a new tuition tax credit bill that they hoped would be acceptable to both chambers, but it seemed increasingly likely that no tuition tax credits would be passed this year. The House concurred in the recommendations of its Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and voted to reprimand two California Democrats, John McFall and Charles Wilson, who accepted money from would-be Korean influence buyer Tongsun Park. But it rejected the committee's recommendation that it go further and censure Edward Roybal (D-Calif.). Instead, it voted merely to reprimand him, too. [Washington Post]
- In an elaborate White House ceremony that rang with both hope and hype, President Carter signed into law the Civil Service Reform Act, which he said "changes the rules" of the federal bureaucracy in a monumental way for the first time in nearly a century. Carter said the bill will bring to government the kind of incentive-and-reward system upon which the country was founded, and give the taxpayers a better deal from their public servants. [Washington Post]
- Aside from evidence against Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.) it has turned over to the Justice Department, the Senate Ethics Committee has concluded that only two Senators -- both now deceased -- were guilty of wrongdoing in the Korean influence buying scandal. Only Sens. Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.) and John McClellan (D-Ark.) violated the law by receiving campaign contributions from Park and failing to report them, according to the panel's final report. [Washington Post]
- For the third time this year, the Federal Election Commission penalized President Carter's 1976 campaign committee for illegal use of campaign funds. In the latest case, the F.E.C. levied a $1,000 fine against Carter's general election campaign committee and ordered it to repay to the public fund more then $17,000. Carter's campaign committee cooperated completely in the investigation and agreed to the fine and the repayment. [Washington Post]
- A Superior Court judge overturned Alaska's Republican and Democratic gubernatorial primary election and ordered Lt. Gov. Lowell Thomas to set a date for another one. The judge set aside the Aug. 22 primary results that gave Gov. Jay Hammond a narrow victory over former Governor Walter Hickel and state Sen. Chancy Croft a slim win over Democrat Ed Merdes. Both Hammond and Croft immediately appealed the decision to Alaska's Supreme Court. [Washington Post]
- A little-noticed amendment in the closing days of Congress may shut off the flow of U.S. dues and other regular support to the United Nations, State Department officials said. The diplomats, alarmed at the potential impact of the withdrawal of American financing from the world organization and several of its specialized agencies, sought to arrange an 11th-hour legislative rider to reverse the earlier action. Chances for such a congressional reversal appeared slim. The sponsor of the original amendment, Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), informed of the possible sweeping effect of his legislative handiwork, said: "Excuse me while I get my handkerchief out and wipe my eyes." He said he would he pleased if U.N. funds are cut off, and a Helms staff aide said his boss would filibuster any effort to remedy the situation.
The Helms amendment, adopted by voice vote Aug. 3, struck out $27 million in U.S. dues payments for international organizations and specified that no part of the U.S. dues money may be used for technical assistance by the U.N. or any of its specialized agencies. The action did not raise much alarm at the time because the House has opposed this approach, and diplomats counted on the House-Senate conference committee to oppose the Helms amendment. The conferees followed expectations but, surprisingly. the full House at the urging of Rep. John Rousselot (R.- Calif.) voted two weeks ago to back the Helms amendment and the Senate approach. One of the most conservative members of Congress, Rousselot is a former official of the John Birch Society.
[Washington Post] - The United States has written and proposed a draft peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and has placed it before negotiators for those countries at the Blair House talks, an official spokesman said. State Department official George Sherman, the authorized spokesman for all three delegations, said the U.S.-drafted treaty has been accepted by both the Mideast parties as "the vehicle for negotiations." According to Sherman, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and other members of the U.S. delegation are going through the American draft line by line in separate meetings with the Egyptian and Israeli teams to isolate and clarify any differences of view. Vance, winding up the second day of negotiations, expressed the belief that a treaty can be concluded and ready for signing by Nov. 19, the first anniversary of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem, and perhaps even earlier "if everyone works fast." [Washington Post]
- Lebanese army regulars moved into a volatile Christian suburb of Beirut between Syrian and Christian forces, in an attempt to assert its authority. But a string of cease-fire violations kept tensions high. Three rocket-propelled grenades slammed into one of the city's Christian suburbs, but no casualties were reported. [Washington Post]
- Ola Ullsten, leader of the small Liberal Party, became Sweden's new Prime Minister after an unusual parliamentary election in which a majority of members abstained from voting. The vote was necessitated by the collapse of Center Party leader Thorbjorn Falldin's three-party coalition last week. The next general election is due in 11 months. [Washington Post]
- Black guerrillas who control parts of Rhodesia's countryside forced 35 more black rural schools to close in the past 2½ weeks, throwing another 6,000 children out of classes, government officials said. The Education Ministry said 234,000 black children, about a fifth of the projected enrollment, are out of school because of guerrilla-ordered closures. The military said that the closing of schools and hospitals and disruption of rural veterinary services are designed to undermine civil administration. [Washington Post]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 897.09 (+0.35, +0.04%)
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* |
| October 12, 1978 | 896.74 | 104.88 | 30.17 |
| October 11, 1978 | 901.42 | 105.39 | 21.74 |
| October 10, 1978 | 891.63 | 104.46 | 25.47 |
| October 9, 1978 | 893.19 | 104.59 | 19.72 |
| October 6, 1978 | 880.02 | 103.52 | 27.39 |
| October 5, 1978 | 876.47 | 103.27 | 27.81 |
| October 4, 1978 | 873.96 | 103.06 | 25.10 |
| October 3, 1978 | 867.90 | 102.60 | 22.54 |
| October 2, 1978 | 871.36 | 102.96 | 18.52 |
| September 29, 1978 | 865.82 | 102.54 | 23.62 |