Plummeting Stocks Ignore Nixon Forecast
NEW YORK, May 21ÛÓThe stock market thumped to another seven-year low today, ignoring President NixonÛªs assurances that the economic slump will end in the second half of the year.</br></br>Prices dropped sharply at the opening, but recovered part of their losses early in the afternoon. Mr. NixonÛªs statement reached brokersÛª news wires early in the afternoon and, far from helping the market, touched off a quick selling wave that had the Dow Jones industrial average down by slightly more than 20 points midway through the afternoon. A mild rally from there to the close cut the loss to 11.30 points and a close at 665.25.</br></br>16.7	million shares from 13.02 million shares on Wednesday. The exchangeÛªs ticker tape ran late sporadically through the day as the volume climbed to the highest tdlai-sinf-e March 25, when 17.5 million shares changec hands in the aftermath of cuts in banksÛª prime lending rates.</br></br>Analysts, however, were unwilling to say that the increases in volume indicate that the market may be approaching a ÛÏselling climaxÛÛÓa very high volume session of, say 25 million shares, in which prices first plummet and then recover sharply. They pointed out that market activity has become more fragmented than in the past, with many institutions trading in listed stocks in the over-the-counter markets, so that volume figures provide a poor indicator.</br></br>The PresidentÛªs reassurances hit Wall Street like the proverbial lead balloon. Brokers noted that stock prices showed no response at all until, finally, they dropped quickly. ÛÏWeÛªre a fine bunch for him to tell everything is going according to schedule,Û one broker complained.