News stories from Friday August 15, 1975

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

The Federal Reserve Board's index of industrial production moved up in July for the second consecutive month, providing further evidence that the nation's worst post-war recession has ended and that the economy has started to recover a bit of its vitality. [New York Times] Law enforcement authorities and the family of Samuel Bronfman II maintained a wary silence over efforts to renew contact with his kidnappers. There was no break in the case. [New York Times] The United States Court of Appeals upheld all the major provisions of the new federal election law that provides public funds for political campaigns and requires disclosure of campaign expenditures. The taw had been challenged by prominent politicians. In the first constitutional test of what contributors can give and candidates can spend, the Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit said that whatever "incidental impact" the new regulations have on freedom of speech are fully warranted by the history of big-money abuses of American politics. "The corrosive influence of money blights our democratic processes," the panel of eight judges said. They also dealt harshly with the challengers' contention that the new law constitutes "massive intrusion" into the political process. The law's challengers will take their case to the Supreme Court in the fall. [New York Times] Joan Little was acquitted of second-degree murder in the death of her jailer, Clarence Alligood. The jury of six whites and six blacks took just under 78 minutes to return the verdict. Miss Little, who is black, had contended that she stabbed Mr. Alligood, who was white, while he was forcing her to perform a sexual act. The state had contended that she killed him to escape from jail. [New York Times] The new government of Bangladesh moved swiftly today to consolidate its control following a pre-dawn coup d'etat in which the country's President, Sheik Mujibur Rahman, apparently was killed. The Bangladesh Radio, monitored in Calcutta, repeatedly issued bulletins assuring a quick return to normality under the new President, Khondakar Mushtaque Ahmed, the former Commerce Minister, who was a long-time associate of Sheik Mujibur. [New York Times] The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola said that it would not abdicate its government functions despite an announcement by the Portuguese high commissioner that he was resuming executive power. The Soviet-backed liberation movement was the only one of three rival nationalist groups with troops remaining in Luanda, the capital of Angola. There were reports of heavy fighting among the three liberation groups for the control of the vital southern port of Lobito. [New York Times] Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leader, reportedly has indicated that the Soviet Union will insist upon further discussions before implementing the humanitarian provisions of the European Security conference document signed at Helsinki. Some of the declaration's provisions were "of a binding nature," Mr. Brezhnev was quoted as having told a group of United States Representatives visiting the Soviet Union, and other provisions "will be fulfilled according to agreements on the part of the states." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 825.64 (+8.60, +1.05%)
S&P Composite: 86.36 (+0.76, +0.89%)
Arms Index: 0.73

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	822	6.46
Declines	453	2.61
Unchanged	439	1.54
Total Volume		10.61

* 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*
August 14, 1975	817.04	85.60	12.46
August 13, 1975	820.56	85.97	12.00
August 12, 1975	828.54	87.12	14.51
August 11, 1975	823.76	86.55	12.35
August 8, 1975	817.74	86.02	11.66
August 7, 1975	815.79	86.30	12.39
August 6, 1975	813.67	86.25	16.28
August 5, 1975	810.15	86.23	15.47
August 4, 1975	818.05	87.15	12.62
August 1, 1975	826.50	88.75	13.32