News stories from Friday November 29, 1974

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

In an historic breakthrough for a Roman Catholic country, France's National Assembly voted by a clear margin to legalize abortion during the first ten weeks of pregnancy. The vote overturned an anti-abortion law dating from 1920. [New York Times] A court-appointed panel of three physicians told federal Judge John Sirica that former President Nixon would not be physically able to testify at the Watergate cover-up trial before Feb. 16 and that he would not be able to testify by deposition until Jan. 6. Their opinions, the doctors said, were "subject to modifications by unknown future medical developments," and were conditioned on Mr. Nixon's continued recovery at the present "anticipated rate." [New York Times] President Ford, acting on the first recommendations from a nine-member clemency board established Sept. 16 as part of his "earned re-entry" program, granted full pardons to eight convicted Vietnam war resisters and gave conditional clemency to 10 others who will receive full pardons after completing periods of alternative service ranging from three months to one year. [New York Times] The Agriculture Department's Crop Reporting Board said that prices farmers receive for the raw agricultural products fell 1.5 percent from Oct. 15 to Nov. 15 following a 4 percent increase the month before. Lower prices for corn, cattle, soybeans, oranges and upland cotton were responsible for the decrease. Higher prices for milk and tomatoes partly offset the decline. [New York Times] Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, under orders from President Ford, apologized for telling an anecdote about Pope Paul VI's position on birth control. The anecdote was told in a mock Italian accent at a breakfast with newsmen. "I sincerely apologize for any part I played in it," Mr. Butz said. His apology was made public after he had been rebuked by President Ford at a private meeting. [New York Times] H. L. Hunt, the oilman who was reputedly one or the world's richest men, as well as a militant anti-Communist and ultraconservative, died at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas at the age of 85. [New York Times] The recession has given a new luster to civil service jobs and enlistment in the armed forces in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area. Recruiters only a few months ago had a hard time attracting applicants. The turnout at enlistment booths and civil service examinations is being led by recent high school and college graduates, and in some places has reached levels not seen since the Depression. Enlistment in the armed forces and applications for civil service jobs are highest in areas which jobs are scarcest. [New York Times] It was announced in Tokyo, after Secretary of State Kissinger had arrived from Shanghai, that President Ford would visit China next year. An American official said the trip would be made in the latter half of the year, following the scheduled visit to Washington of Leonid Brezhnev. [New York Times] Major grain-exporting nations met in Rome to work out details for an emergency food aid plan that aims to get $2 billion worth of food grains shipped over the next seven or eight months to South Asia and Africa to help prevent widespread starvation and malnutrition. The conference was sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, whose secretary general, Addeke Boerma, said there was "considerable progress in recognizing the problem, in getting countries to cooperate in helping assure that supplies are available and in exploring the financial aspects." [New York Times] Iran is believed to have acquired a substantial amount of the shares of the prosperous Daimler-Benz Company of West Germany, manufacturer of the Mercedes-Benz automobiles and trucks. A spokesman for the West Germany Economics Ministry said he did not know which country had bought the shares, but said it was in "the Middle East." A spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Bonn said he knew nothing about the purchase, but said "by Monday, we hope everything will be perfectly clear." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 618.66 (-0.63, -0.10%)
S&P Composite: 69.97 (+0.03, +0.04%)
Arms Index: 1.07

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	599	2.73
Declines	687	3.35
Unchanged	425	1.35
Total Volume		7.43

* 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 27, 1974	619.29	69.94	14.81
November 26, 1974	617.26	69.47	13.60
November 25, 1974	611.94	68.83	11.30
November 22, 1974	615.30	68.90	13.02
November 21, 1974	608.57	68.18	13.82
November 20, 1974	609.59	67.90	12.43
November 19, 1974	614.05	68.20	15.72
November 18, 1974	624.92	69.27	15.23
November 15, 1974	647.61	71.91	12.48
November 14, 1974	658.40	73.06	13.54