News stories from Thursday April 6, 1978

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

President Carter is leaning toward an indefinite delay in the production of the neutron bomb, according to administration officials, who believe that the President will stick to his earlier opposition to producing the bomb. They said he has agreed not to cancel the bomb outright and has adopted a formula for leaving open the choice of moving ahead at a later date. Mr. Carter is expected to make an announcement of his stand tomorrow.Former President Gerald Ford called for the development of the neutron bomb. He told fellow Republicans, "We must and we will resist those policies that weaken or cripple our security." Mr. Ford, speaking at a Republican Party fundraising dinner in Los Angeles -- one of 14 held around the country -- said in his most serious criticism of his successor that the Carter administration "did not fully fund the national defense program" and allowed real "and perceived" military weakness to encourage Communist expansion. Mr. Ford appeared to be initiating a debate on a strategic arms limitation treaty. [New York Times] Age 70 became the mandatory retirement age for most Americans under a bill signed by President Carter. The potential impact of the law on workers and on the national economy is a matter for speculation. The bill had been opposed by industry and universities, among others, but a report by the Labor Department indicated that its effects would be limited. [New York Times] An abatement of inflationary pressures in March was reported by the government, which, in a separate analysis, warned that the rate of price increases would be "hopelessly" stuck at a high level unless stronger measures are taken. Wholesale prices in March rose by 0.6 percent compared with 1.1 percent in February. Improved food supplies after the bad winter were credited for the slowed rate. The smaller advance in March was at an annual rate of 7 percent. [New York Times] Stock prices rose slightly in heavy trading in which institutions increased their buying. The market was also stimulated by a rise in the government's wholesale price index that was less than Wall Street had anticipated. Rising issues outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of almost 8 to 5. The Dow Jones industrial average, however, closed only with a token gain of 0.87 point at 763.95. [New York Times] Eastern Air Lines said that a contract had been signed for the purchase of 23 European A300 Airbuses for $778 million. The contract still must be approved by the lenders -- banks and insurance companies -- which are providing the financing, but this seems to be forthcoming. Frank Borman, Eastern's chairman, said, "I believe our lenders are extremely pleased." [New York Times] Israel informed United Nations officials that it would begin a two-stage initial withdrawal from southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Israel said this week that it had begun a "significant" thinning-out of forces, but the two-stage pullout involves yielding some territory. [New York Times] Thousands of Filipinos held a noisy protest in Manila against President Ferdinand Marcos's martial-law rule on the eve of an election for an interim National Assembly. The election, the first since martial law was imposed in 1972, is regarded as a serious test of the Marcos government. The newly formed opposition group, the People's Force, whose leader, former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., has been imprisoned, is running against the Marcos-controlled New Society Movement, but only in Manila, and thus has no chance of getting control of the 200-seat assembly. But whatever the outcome of voting, Mr. Marcos, under law, will remain President and Prime Minister with full power over the Assembly. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 763.95 (+0.87, +0.11%)
S&P Composite: 89.79 (+0.15, +0.17%)
Arms Index: 0.96

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	821	13.29
Declines	601	9.30
Unchanged	437	4.77
Total Volume		27.36

* 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*
April 5, 1978	763.08	89.64	27.26
April 4, 1978	755.37	88.86	20.13
April 3, 1978	751.04	88.46	20.23
March 31, 1978	757.36	89.21	20.13
March 30, 1978	759.62	89.41	20.46
March 29, 1978	761.78	89.64	25.45
March 28, 1978	758.84	89.50	21.60
March 27, 1978	753.21	88.87	18.87
March 23, 1978	756.50	89.36	21.29
March 22, 1978	757.54	89.47	21.95