News stories from Friday November 19, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Patricia Hearst was freed from prison after her family posted bonds totaling $1.5 million, $100,000 of it in cash. Miss Hearst, who has been in prison for 14 months, is eligible to remain free pending appeal for a new trial on her bank robbery conviction. She was sentenced to seven years in prison on Sept. 24 by Federal District Judge William Orrick, who also allowed her release on bail. [New York Times]
- Inflation continued to abate in October as consumer prices registered their smallest increase since March, the Labor Department said. The October index of consumer prices was 173.3 percent of its base, which is 100 calculated on prices in 1967. The department reported that the increase in consumer prices in the 12 months ending in October was the smallest for any 12-month period since early 1973. [New York Times]
- A 12-hour strike ended as the United Automobile Workers and General Motors tentatively agreed on a new three-year contract. The accord is expected to be ratified by union members the week beginning Dec. 6. [New York Times]
- A reduction in its discount rate, from 5½ to 5¼ percent, was announced by the Federal Reserve Board. The Fed said that "the action will bring the discount rate into better alignment with short-term rates generally." But the reduction was widely interpreted as a response to growing signs of a "pause" in economic growth. [New York Times]
- A spurt in business spending was reported by the Commerce Department. It said that new orders for durable goods received by manufacturers rose in October in the first increase in four months, up $1.4 billion, or 3 percent, over the September level. [New York Times]
- Stock prices extended their broad-based advance, but the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 948.80, with a token loss of 1.33 points. Dow industrials rose 21 points in the week, after losing 37 points in the two previous weeks. [New York Times]
- The Morgan Guaranty Trust Company unexpectedly cut its prime lending rate from 6½ percent to 6¼ percent, effective Monday. No other banks followed suit immediately but the cut is expected to spread if money market conditions remain soft. [New York Times]
- The shift of industry and jobs from the North to the South has been greatly exaggerated, according to a report sponsored by the Office of Economic Research of the government's Economic Development Administration. The report said that "rhetoric and biased studies" that contribute to competition between the regions may harm the economic development of both. [New York Times]
- The New York Post, the oldest continuously published daily American newspaper, will be sold to Rupert Murdoch, whose publishing empire includes newspapers in Australia, England and this country. Dorothy Schiff, editor-in-chief and publisher of the Post, announced that she had agreed to sell the newspaper to Mr. Murdoch but details were not disclosed. They issued a joint statement about the proposed purchase. Mrs. Schiff has owned the Post since 1939. [New York Times]
- The Palestine Liberation Organization plans to open an office in Washington to lobby among American officials and members of Congress and provide general information about the Palestinian cause. [New York Times]
- Brazil's military government has come under the strongest attack by the Roman Catholic Church since President Ernesto Geisel took office in 1974. The bishops accused the right-wing regime of allowing policemen to go unpunished for torture and killing, of presiding over unjust distribution of rural land and of failing to protect the dwindling Indian population against encroachment by white settlers. [New York Times]
- A 27-year alliance between West Germany's conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union party and the Christian Democratic Union ended with a vote by the Social Union, led by Franz Strauss, to break away from the Christian Democrats. An aide said that Mr. Strauss wanted to make his regional party a national force and would seek to do so in the 1980 elections. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 948.80 (-1.33, -0.14%)
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* |
| November 18, 1976 | 950.13 | 101.89 | 24.00 |
| November 17, 1976 | 938.08 | 100.61 | 19.90 |
| November 16, 1976 | 935.34 | 100.04 | 21.02 |
| November 15, 1976 | 935.42 | 99.90 | 16.71 |
| November 12, 1976 | 927.69 | 99.24 | 15.55 |
| November 11, 1976 | 931.43 | 99.64 | 13.23 |
| November 10, 1976 | 924.04 | 98.81 | 18.89 |
| November 9, 1976 | 930.77 | 99.32 | 19.21 |
| November 8, 1976 | 933.68 | 99.60 | 16.52 |
| November 5, 1976 | 943.07 | 100.82 | 20.78 |