Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 8 › Conversation 008-007

Lasker & Haldeman on Stock Market and Dow Jones Industrial Average

Monday, August 16, 1971 · 1:23 PM–1:40 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsLasker, Bernard J. ("Bunny"); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation008-007 on Tape 8 (tape position 00:04:45–00:08:07)StartMonday, August 16, 1971 at 1:23 PMEndMonday, August 16, 1971 at 1:40 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 008-007 ↗

AI Summary

Bernard J. "Bunny" Lasker contacted H.R. Haldeman to report on the surging New York Stock Exchange activity following President Nixon's August 15, 1971, economic address. The discussion focused on record-breaking Dow Jones gains and trading volume, which Lasker attributed to a newfound sense of national confidence. Lasker agreed to continue providing market updates to Rose Mary Woods to keep the White House informed of closing figures throughout the day.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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hello hi bob bunny yes how are you great see uh uh you're keeping busy today are you oh it's beautiful 20 million the first three hours i saw that uh rose just uh sent your report in yeah uh question was what what is the record gain do you know uh the record game was uh give me that dad jones uh
Okay.
Dow Jones says here the industrial average is now up 34 points.
I think it's 35 a minute ago.
The previous record gain was about 32 points.
About 32 points.
About 32, and you'll be wrong by five cents, you know.
Okay.
Do you know what day it was?
well that was the uh the big date of our uh day after your dinner of the dinner that's right so this breaks the dinner record well not necessarily because you haven't closed oh but i mean it's uh at the minute yeah what's the volume uh record it's 19 million no i got that but i mean what's the record volume the record volume is uh 28
$28,250, give or take one or two shares.
That was in February, wasn't it?
Yes, but that was occasioned by the fact that there was a cross of $3 million Studebaker that day.
It was one of those things that just happened.
$3 million, huh?
Yeah.
There are no blocks today, are there?
There are no big blocks.
Nothing like that today.
There was a big block.
Somebody bought and somebody sold $3 million.
So that's why it was up.
Previous to that, it was $25 million.
So, in any case, the $28 million I think will go through like breeze.
The way it's going now will be $30 or better.
They won't close the exchange, huh?
No, no chance.
This is the New York Stock Exchange, not Philadelphia.
What's your view on, will they start selling off now?
Profit-taking?
In other words, you'll drop below that $35, won't you?
Well, at this second, we're at the absolute top, which is $35.
Yeah.
What the hell do I know, Bob?
What does anybody know?
If you knew more, you'd get rich, huh?
Yeah, that's right.
I would say this, that the whole key to the stock market always is confidence, and the President's speech has given us all confidence, I think the whole country.
So even if it reacts 10 points from here, I think they're on the way up.
Right.
And I wouldn't be surprised.
You know, they could keep on going today, and they could close in a burst of glory and be above the 35.
Yeah.
Okay.
If you'd like, I'll send in word to you at the close just where we stand volume and averages.
Good.
Well, you've been keeping rows posted, so that'd be fine.
Yeah, that's what I always tell the president.
Good.
Right.
Call me that way.
Right.
In any event, I'll keep on giving the stuff to Rose.
Right.
Everything okay with you?
Yes, sir.
Great.
Okay, buddy.
Keep the flag flying.
That was beautiful.
Right-o.
Okay.

NARA Description

On August 16, 1971, Bernard J. ("Bunny") Lasker and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:23 pm and 1:40 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 008-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 8-7

Date: August 16, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:23 pm and 1:40 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Bernard J. ("Bunny") Lasker talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

[See Conversation No. 564-4/565-1R]

     Stock market figures
          -Lasker’s report
                -Rose Mary Woods
          -Record gain
                -Dow Jones
                      -Industrial average
                            -Figures
                -Previous gain
                      -Date
                            -Lasker’s dinner
          -Record volume
                -Figures
                -Date
                -Studebaker Corporation
                -Blocks
          -New York Stock Exchange
          -Profit taking
                -Selling
          -Confidence
                -The President's speech, August 15, 1971
          -Closing
                -Reports
                      -Volume and averages
                      -Woods

Also recorded on August 16, 1971

  • 008-001 1:08 PM · 37 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:08 pm and 1:18 pm.
  • 008-002 1:08 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:08 pm and 1:18 pm.
  • 565-001 1:08 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Rose Mary Woods, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, Charles W. Colson, John B. Connally, and Bernard J. ("Bunny") Lasker met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:08 pm and 1:40 pm.
  • 008-003 1:18 PM · 5 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:20 pm.
  • 008-004 1:18 PM · 7 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:20 pm.
  • 008-005 1:18 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:20 pm.
  • 008-006 1:20 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Charles W. Colson, and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:20 pm and 1:23 pm.
  • 274-001 1:40 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 2:40 pm.

All 88 conversations from August 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 008-007, August 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/008-007 (accessed October 12, 2026).