News stories from Thursday October 27, 1977

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

Large Social Security tax increases for persons earning more than $20,000 a year won House of Representatives approval. Voting on one motion indicated widespread sentiment for enacting a Social Security financing bill this year as sought by the Democratic leadership and President Carter. The bill now goes to the Senate where a significantly different measure is expected to be drafted. [New York Times] President Carter plans a slower pace in office. He told newsmen that the legislative activism of his first year in the White House would be followed by a time of consolidation. In signaling the change, he said that he probably would make few, if any, major new legislative proposals in the next two years to give Congress and the country a pause from a "multiplicity" of complex programs. [New York Times] A tax revision plan will be delayed further by the Carter administration. The President said that the proposed package, which was originally to be ready by late summer, would be sent to Congress only after it completed action on his energy and Social Security tax proposals. Mr. Carter told his news conference that his decision was based on the financial links of the three programs and the need to integrate possible tax cuts into the budget review for the 1979 fiscal year. [New York Times] An energy tax was revived in the Senate in modified form. The tax, a major part of President Carter's energy saving program, is designed to spur conversion by business from the use of oil and natural gas to coal. The proposal was killed six weeks ago by the Senate Finance Committee after having been adopted by the House. The modified proposal unexpectedly accepted by the Senate differs from Mr. Carter's proposal in that it applies only to oil and gas used in new boilers and in boilers able to burn coal. [New York Times] Stock prices continued to rally, but lost some momentum in late trading. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 5.20 points to close at 818.61, while the Dow transportation index rose 1.71 to 204.28. [New York Times] Hostility toward Seoul is increasing in Congress. A House committee called on the South Korean government to "provide complete access to all facts relevant" to the congressional inquiry into Seoul's reported bribery of members of Congress. The House is expected to adopt the resolution soon. [New York Times] A communications breakthrough of major importance was predicted by a team of atomic physicists. They said that the first human message ever to be sent directly through the earth rather than around it could be transmitted along a beam of neutrino particles as early as next year. The neutrino is a subatomic particle whose existence was proved in 1956. [New York Times] Telephones provided by the subscriber will be allowed under a ruling by the New York state Public Service Commission. The commission ordered phone companies to start allowing subscribers to buy and install their own telephone instead of having to rent them from the companies at monthly rates. Rate structures and billing procedures must be revised under the order. A spokesman for the P.S.C. said the directive would probably take effect in about two months. [New York Times] The U.S. will back mandatory United Nations sanctions against all arms sales to South Africa, President Carter announced. He also extended the existing American embargo on arms sales to include spare parts and other equipment. In answering questions at a news conference, he ruled out for the immediate future any American embargo on trade or any ban on private investment in South Africa, which have long been demanded by third-world governments. [New York Times] Three terrorist leaders were buried in Stuttgart, West Germany, as hundreds of mourners, many with masks and scarves shrouding their faces, vowed vengeance. The three died last week in their prison cells after other terrorists killed a kidnapped industrial leader. At least 1,000 policemen ringed the cemetery, and mourners who refused to show identity papers after the funeral were seized for questioning. [New York Times] Japan is celebrating Statistics Day as a major occasion. The Statistics Commission was introduced with the encouragement of American occupation forces 30 years ago. From there on the subject has become a national passion at every level, keeping pace with Japan's remarkable economic achievements. There were 29,836 entries this year in contests in collecting statistics and drawing graphs. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 818.61 (+5.20, +0.64%)
S&P Composite: 92.34 (+0.24, +0.26%)
Arms Index: 0.92

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	925	12.74
Declines	488	6.18
Unchanged	435	3.00
Total Volume		21.92

* 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*
October 26, 1977	813.41	92.10	24.86
October 25, 1977	801.54	91.00	23.59
October 24, 1977	802.32	91.63	19.21
October 21, 1977	808.30	92.32	20.23
October 20, 1977	814.80	92.67	20.52
October 19, 1977	812.20	92.38	22.03
October 18, 1977	820.51	93.46	20.13
October 17, 1977	820.34	93.47	17.34
October 14, 1977	821.64	93.56	20.41
October 13, 1977	818.17	93.46	23.87