News stories from Thursday November 3, 1977

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

A compromise on abortions financed under Medicaid was rejected by the House despite the intervention of Democratic leaders who had hoped to break a four-month deadlock with the Senate on the issue. The vote was 193 to 172. Abortion guidelines are part of a $60.1 billion appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor and of Health, Education and Welfare. Because of the deadlock, financing for these departments had continued since Oct. 1 on a month-to-month basis, at last year's level. The House voted to continue the financing to Nov. 30. [New York Times] Higher food prices are expected to follow the largest gain in half a year in the government's Wholesale Price Index, which rose eight-tenths of 1 percent in October. The Labor Department said the figures, mainly reflecting sharply higher prices for farm products and processed foods, indicated an increase in the pace of inflation from the relatively moderate rates in the spring and summer, when farm prices were declining. [New York Times] Store sales surged in October, with 14 of the nation's 16 largest retail chains reporting double-digit gains over 1976. The figures -- Sears, Roebuck and K Mart had year-to-year gains of 18 percent and 18.4 percent, respectively -- lend support to those who contend that the nation's economic recovery is being sustained. They also indicate that a successful Christmas shopping season is ahead. [New York Times] Stock prices ended mixed and the Dow Jones industrial average, moving in a very narrow range, finished up 1.82 points at 802.67 despite a weakening of prices that started early in the session when the government reported the largest rise in the Wholesale Price Index since last April. [New York Times] South Korea has agreed to let American officials question Tongsun Park about alleged Korean influence buying in Washington, according to sources in Seoul, who said the questioning would take place in the United States Embassy there. Until now, Seoul had steadfastly refused to permit Mr. Park to be questioned on the ground that it would compromise South Korea's judicial sovereignty. The policy reversal was made shortly before the House of Representatives passed a resolution urging Seoul to cooperate with the American investigations. [New York Times] Amtrak dropped its plan for substantial reductions in service in New Jersey that were to begin this Sunday after being assured of an extra $8 million in operating funds from Congress. Amtrak said it would maintain its current schedule in the Northeastern rail corridors at least through January. In all, 22 trains in the corridor between Washington and Boston had been threatened. The decision to cancel the cuts was made at an emergency meeting in Philadelphia. [New York Times] The Crown of St. Stephen and other crown jewels will be returned to Hungary by the United States, which has held them in custody since the end of World War II. They were turned over to American military officials by their Hungarian guards to keep them out of Soviet hands. The crown, dating to the year 1000, is a symbol of Hungarian nationhood. Its return by this country is regarded as a major diplomatic move towards normalizing relations with Budapest, especially in the area of trade. [New York Times] France promised Quebec its "understanding, confidence and support" for any political direction it chooses to take. At a luncheon in Paris honoring Premier Rene Levesque of Quebec, President Valery Giscard d'Estaing dropped his past discretion about the Quebec separatist movement and said that the controversy in Canada "does not leave France indifferent" and that Quebec had the right to self-determination. He took the unusual step of making Mr. Levesque a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. [New York Times] Soviet authorities refused to let Santiago Carrillo, the Spanish Communist leader, deliver a speech at Kremlin ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Mr. Carrillo, a leading figure in the movement toward independence among West European Communist parties, said he had been invited to speak and had prepared a brief talk defending his party's independence of Moscow. [New York Times] Henry Kissinger told the World Jewish Congress that a separate Palestinian state would inevitably be dangerous to Middle East peace, however good its proclaimed intentions toward Israel might be. The former Secretary of State, addressing Jewish leaders from 41 countries at a luncheon in Washington, avoided direct criticism of the Carter administration's Middle East policies, which have upset much of the Jewish community. It was apparent, however, that Mr. Kissinger did not care for the administration's readiness to give priority to the question of a Palestinian state. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 802.67 (+1.82, +0.23%)
S&P Composite: 90.76 (+0.05, +0.06%)
Arms Index: 0.70

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	655	8.79
Declines	670	6.26
Unchanged	521	3.04
Total Volume		18.09

* 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*
November 2, 1977	800.85	90.71	20.76
November 1, 1977	806.91	91.35	17.17
October 31, 1977	818.35	92.34	17.07
October 28, 1977	822.68	92.61	18.05
October 27, 1977	818.61	92.34	21.92
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