News stories from Wednesday March 29, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Executives of grocery store chains met with Treasury Secretary John Connally, Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz and economic adviser Herb Stein. Connally requested that weekly price reports from the major grocery chains be made to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and said that the Nixon administration is determined to make the Pay and Price Boards work. Safeway Foods president William Mitchell declared that beef prices will go down.
At Price Commission hearings, Harvard economist Otto Eckstein called for another freeze -- including agriculture -- if the cost of living goes up again. Ralph Nader called for a tough new antitrust policy to restore "genuine" free enterprise.
[CBS] - Two American soldiers were killed in Vietnam when they triggered a Communist booby trap near Saigon. Two others were killed in a freak accident at Long Binh Air Force Base, when they fell into a fuel tank. [CBS]
- Protestants in Northern Ireland returned to work after a two-day strike in protest of direct British rule. Two bombs exploded in Belfast, and British troops exchanged fire with IRA gunmen at the Irish border. [CBS]
- The Berlin Wall was opened today for the first time in six years; West Berliners crossed the wall to visit relatives in East Berlin during Easter week. The opening was permitted in order to prod West Germany into ratifying a pact with the Soviet Union and Poland. [CBS]
- In a meeting with Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, King Hussein asked the U.S. to increase military aid to Jordan. [CBS]
- President Nixon may stop in Iran on the way home from his upcoming trip to Russia. [CBS]
- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights criticized President Nixon's anti-busing proposals, saying they would slow school integration and undermine the integrity of federal courts. The commission chairman is Notre Dame's Father Hesburgh. [CBS]
- Senate Judiciary Committee chairman James Eastland will hold a closed session to decide whether to continue the probe of ITT. Senator Edward Kennedy believes that the evidence shows a link between the ITT antitrust settlement and ITT's pledge to contribute to the Republican national convention. ITT president Harold Geneen maintained that there is no evidence of wrongdoing and noted once again that his company's contribution was made to the San Diego convention and tourist bureau, not to the Republican party.
A Connecticut judge threw out a 1970 lawsuit brought by Ralph Nader against ITT's acquisition of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company.
[CBS] - The Supreme Court upheld an antitrust ruling against Ford Motor Company, requiring the company to sell spark plugs. [CBS]
- AFL-CIO officials in Wisconsin reported that Alabama Governor George Wallace is running fourth in a Wisconsin poll. George McGovern is first, followed by Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie. McGovern predicted that he will win the Wisconsin primary. He is competing primarily with Humphrey the for votes of organized labor, civil rights and farmers. A snowstorm has slowed campaigning in Wisconsin, stranding Humphrey, Lindsay and McGovern at various spots throughout the state. [CBS]
- The House passed a $24.6 billion bill to clean up water pollution. [CBS]
- A federal grand jury in New York City indicted Dun and Bradstreet, among others, for overstating the financial ability of prospective homeowners and then foreclosing when the homeowners were unable to pay their mortgages. [CBS]
- Final defense arguments were made in the trial of Reverend Philip Berrigan and six others. Seminarians protested at the courthouse in Harrisburg, Pa., forming a human chain around it; arrests were made. Defense attorney Ramsey Clark denied the government's charges against the seven defendants, after which prosecutor William Lynch gave a rebuttal. Judge R. Dixon Herman will instruct the jury tomorrow. [CBS]
- A federal grand jury in Seattle indicted antiwar activist Leslie Bacon for perjury for claiming that she was not in Washington, DC when a bomb exploded there. [CBS]
- The judge in Angela Davis' trial asked jury members if the recent nearby jailbreak attempt of unrelated prisoners had any effect on them. Davis spoke in her own behalf, presenting the defense's opening statements. She denied all of the charges against her, especially the prosecution's claim that she was in love with "Soledad Brother" George Jackson. [CBS]
- The U.S. agreed to sell up to 36 Phantom jets to Greece. [CBS]
- The Agriculture Department declared a national emergency for the poultry industry due to an outbreak of Asiatic Newcastle disease; poultry in eight California counties are now quarantined. Three hundred exotic pet birds were shipped to Georgia after the quarantine went into effect, and the disease is feared of being capable of contaminating Georgia chickens. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 933.02 (-3.99, -0.43%)
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* |
| March 28, 1972 | 937.01 | 107.17 | 15.38 |
| March 27, 1972 | 939.72 | 107.30 | 12.18 |
| March 24, 1972 | 942.28 | 107.52 | 15.39 |
| March 23, 1972 | 944.69 | 107.75 | 18.38 |
| March 22, 1972 | 933.93 | 106.84 | 15.40 |
| March 21, 1972 | 934.00 | 106.69 | 18.61 |
| March 20, 1972 | 941.15 | 107.59 | 16.42 |
| March 17, 1972 | 942.88 | 107.92 | 16.04 |
| March 16, 1972 | 936.71 | 107.50 | 16.70 |
| March 15, 1972 | 937.31 | 107.75 | 19.46 |