News stories from Tuesday January 25, 1977
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The dissident physicist Andrei Sakharov was summoned by legal authorities in Moscow and formally warned that he would face criminal prosecution for continuing to make statements such as his recent observation that the state security organization might have caused the recent subway explosion. [New York Times]
- Word from President Carter and his budget director is that the first impact of the new administration's economic plan would be on taxes, not jobs. Carter revealed the details of his plan at a breakfast meeting, saying that he hopes to have rebate checks in the mail by April. OMB director Bert Lance filled in the details on the plan. House majority leader Jim Wright seemed reasonably optimistic regarding passage. Wright said he couldn't guarantee it, but both Congress and the President want to make the program succeed. [CBS]
- A $31.3 billion extra spur to the economy over the next 20 months has been set by President Carter, widening his stimulus program for both big business and individuals. Bert Lance, his Budget Director, said that the package would include a $50 cash rebate on 1976 taxes for nearly every American, including those who pay no income tax because they fall below the poverty line. The President will also offer corporations a choice between a 4 percent credit on payroll taxes as a hiring incentive and a 12 percent investment credit for equipment purchases, up from the present 10 percent. [New York Times]
- The Senate confirmed Griffin Bell as Attorney General; fellow Georgian Andrew Young was confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be United Nations ambassador. Carter nominated Republican Elliot Richardson to be ambassador-at-large and special representative to Law of the Sea Conference. Richardson was formerly Commerce Secretary under President Ford and served in the Nixon administration as well. [CBS]
- Defense Secretary Harold Brown went before the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss the defense budget. He ran into concerns regarding maintaining military strength without a draft.
Committee chairman John Stennis reported that his committee will study reinstating the draft. Brown was noncommittal regarding reinstatement, and refused to confirm reports that he is trimming Gerald Ford's 1978 defense budget, but admitted that some cuts were coming. Brown stated that top Pentagon staff will be consolidated; other reductions might include cuts in aircraft programs including the B-1 bomber. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General George Brown, said that the U.S. has sold Hawk missiles to the Middle East, though those missiles were needed by NATO forces. Defense Secretary Brown stated that changes in the 1978 budget would be submitted to Congress by the end of February.
[CBS] - Guidelines on the withdrawal of life-support systems from patients such as Karen Anne Quinlan, who are in a vegetative, comatose state with no prospect of recovery, were issued by the State Medical Society of New Jersey. State health officials said it was the first state to adopt a set of guidelines. [New York Times]
- Vice President Walter Mondale continued his foreign tour and talked in Bonn, West Germany, with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt regarding the spread of nuclear technology. [CBS]
- A Carter administration bill to authorize federal allocation of natural gas supplies and temporarily suspend federal price ceilings for extra gas sold to interstate pipelines was being drafted for submission to Congress. The emergency bill could be passed next week, but as President Carter was urging maximum speed on Democratic legislative leaders, there were signs of regional and political differences that could cause delay. [New York Times]
- The Supreme Court vacated a lower court's upholding of a desegregation plan for Indianapolis under which black children from the city were to be bused to white suburban schools. By a 6-to-3 vote It ordered the lower court to reconsider the decision in the light of recent Supreme Court rulings that discriminatory intent must be shown before a constitutional violation may be found. The court also refused without comment to review the Louisville school busing order. [New York Times]
- Sales of new American cars increased in mid-January, in line with Detroit's expectations. For Jan. 11-20 they ran 15.3 percent above the rate for the corresponding period last year and 21 percent above the rate for the first 10 days of this year, compared with a normal increase of 14 percent for the first 10 days. [New York Times]
- Stock prices recorded a small gain for the third straight session, with Dow Jones industrials adding 2.32 points to close at 965.92. Bond issues in the corporate and tax-exempt fields sold slowly. [New York Times]
- Spanish workers struck by the tens of thousands in protest against a wave of violence that has taken six lives in Madrid in the last 48 hours. There is a growing conviction that a violent right-wing campaign is seeking to undermine Spain's progress toward representative institutions. The police reportedly arrested 24 rightists in connection with the killing of four Communists in a labor office Monday night. [New York Times]
- Quebec's independence appears inevitable, Rene Levesque, Premier of Canada's French-speaking province, told American businessmen at an Economics Club dinner in New York. He asked them to help in the process and not to oppose it. He pledged a moderate, democratic course and said that local and foreign private enterprise would both be respected. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 965.92 (+2.32, +0.24%)
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* |
| January 24, 1977 | 963.60 | 103.25 | 22.89 |
| January 21, 1977 | 962.43 | 103.32 | 23.93 |
| January 20, 1977 | 959.03 | 102.97 | 26.52 |
| January 19, 1977 | 968.67 | 103.85 | 27.12 |
| January 18, 1977 | 962.43 | 103.32 | 24.38 |
| January 17, 1977 | 967.25 | 103.73 | 21.06 |
| January 14, 1977 | 972.16 | 104.01 | 24.48 |
| January 13, 1977 | 976.15 | 104.20 | 24.78 |
| January 12, 1977 | 968.25 | 103.40 | 22.67 |
| January 11, 1977 | 976.65 | 104.12 | 24.10 |