News stories from Wednesday July 15, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A House pledge on tax cuts was won by President Reagan. In a telephone call, he received a promise from Speaker Tip O'Neill to try to have the House complete action on tax reductions as well as budget cuts before the August recess. [New York Times]
- Generous estate and gift taxes that would he larger than those voted by the Senate Finance Committee were approved by the House Ways and Means Committee. The Senate, meanwhile, began debate on the tax reduction bill drafted by the Senate Committee along the lines proposed by the Reagan administration. [New York Times]
- Lower inflation than it previously forecast was predicted by the Reagan administration in its midyear budget review. It asserted that its drive for a balanced budget by 1984 was on schedule and predicted that interest rates would decline significantly in the next few months. [New York Times]
- Ambivalence in civil rights policies was acknowledged by administration officials. President Reagan has privately assured black leaders that he will not seek to cripple the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but administration officials are reducing the Justice De-partment's action on civil rights complaints and weakening the regulations against racial discrimination in employment. [New York Times]
- Confidence in William J. Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence, was expressed by President Reagan despite two recent assertions of stock fraud that resulted in a court ruling against Mr. Casey and the resignation of his top deputy, Max Hugel. Mr. Reagan later expressed amazement to an aide that the press was interested in the "old news" that Mr. Casey was being sued on charges of misleading investors in a firm. [New York Times]
- An American cryptographer spied for the Soviet Union from 1963 to 1980 in exchange for $131,000, according to a four-count indictment issued in Jack-sonville, Fla. The accused man, Joseph Helmich, is a former Army warrant officer who had access to secret coding systems. He was arrested by F.B.I. agents. [New York Times]
- A new sweetener was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The artificial sugar substitute, called aspartame, is for use in dry food products such as drink mixes, puddings, fillings, cold cereals and instant coffee and tea. Saccharin is the only other approved sweetener. [New York Times]
- Mobil Oil announced a rollback of a fuel price increase it had set in New York to offset new state taxes on oil companies. The corporation, which raised its prices 3 cents a gallon Sunday, reduced the increase to 1.3 cents a gallon in response to a "clarification" of the new taxes by the state's tax commissioner. Meanwhile, Exxon announced it would increase wholesale prices on all petroleum products, except heating oil, in the state by three-fourths of 1 percent. [New York Times]
- Incidents of racial harassment and violence have been increasing in England in the last year, according to a government commission. In releasing the annual report, the panel's chairman asserted that the causes of this month's urban disorders were not primarily racial, but he called for pledges by government leaders that racial attacks by extremist groups on minorities would be halted. [New York Times]
- A milestone in the Soviet bloc was set by the Polish Communist Party as it agreed to elect its entire leadership by secret ballot with a choice of contenders. The delegates at the emergency party congress in Warsaw also voted to expel seven former high officials from the party. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 954.15 (+5.90, +0.62%)
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* |
| July 14, 1981 | 948.25 | 129.65 | 45.23 |
| July 13, 1981 | 954.34 | 129.64 | 38.10 |
| July 10, 1981 | 955.67 | 129.37 | 39.95 |
| July 9, 1981 | 959.00 | 129.30 | 45.51 |
| July 8, 1981 | 953.48 | 128.32 | 46.00 |
| July 7, 1981 | 954.15 | 128.24 | 53.55 |
| July 6, 1981 | 949.30 | 127.37 | 44.59 |
| July 2, 1981 | 959.19 | 128.64 | 45.09 |
| July 1, 1981 | 967.66 | 129.77 | 49.07 |
| June 30, 1981 | 976.88 | 131.25 | 41.55 |