News stories from Tuesday March 23, 1982

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

The inflation rate fell sharply again in February as consumer prices rose only two-tenths of 1 percent. Prices were held back by the recession and a further drop in gasoline and car prices. But at the same time, the eight-month recession pushed the unemployment rate to 8.8 percent in February and it has put many small companies out of business. [New York Times] The Columbia's astronauts performed nearly all the assigned tasks for their second day in space. They also coped with television camera failures, which might pose a problem, and a photographic inspection of heat-shielding tiles on the craft's nose. Officials termed the apparent loss of some tiles during launching not critical. [New York Times] A plan to aid declining urban areas through the creation of "enterprise zones" in which businesses would receive tax breaks and other incentives for investment was submitted to Congress by President Reagan. Under the plan, the government would designate up to 25 zones a year in which employers who create jobs would be eligible for concessions from federal, state and local governments. [New York Times] Curbs on most regulatory agencies were approved overwhelmingly by the Senate. Voting 69 to 25, the Senate backed a proposal to give Congress veto power overly nearly all new rules issued by the federal agencies. A similar measure has been approved by a House committee. [New York Times] The administration was rebuffed on its interim plan for basing the MX missile by a key Senate subcommittee. The panel voted unanimously to deny $1 billion in funding for the program to base the advanced intercontinental missile in existing Minuteman missile silos. [New York Times] President Reagan accepted an award for humanitarianism from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, which honored him in Manhattan. Seeking to counteract the image that he lacks compassion for those hurt by budget cuts, Mr. Reagan likened himself to Franklin D. Roosevelt and declared "the facts prove" he cares about the needy. [New York Times] More competition among doctors was encouraged by the Supreme Court. Voting 4 to 4, the Justices in effect upheld an order by the Federal Trade Commission requiring the American Medical Association to permit physicians to advertise, compete for business and enter into non-traditional financial arrangements for medical practice. [New York Times] A coup in Guatemala was carried out by dissident army officers. They denounced the March 7 presidential elections as fraudulent, installed a ruling military junta and pledged to restore "peace and authentic democracy to Guatemala." In broadcasts, the group made clear it intended to block the installation of another conservative general as President on July 1. [New York Times] A United States-Nicaraguan accord to resume direct negotiations on their differences as a result of mediation by Mexico was reported by diplomatic sources in Managua, the Nicaraguan capital. The sources said that the talks could begin next week and might be held in Mexico City. [New York Times] A tie vote in Israel's Parliament on motions of no confidence prompted Prime Minister Menachem Begin to ask his cabinet to resign, but the members voted 12 to 6 to remain in office. Parliament voted 58 to 58 on the issue of the government's handling of disorders in the West Bank, but the crucial erosion of Mr. Begin's strength resulted from right-wing opposition to Israel's final pullout from Sinai next month. [New York Times] A major protest by French farmers brought tens of thousands of them to Paris for a three-mile parade. They are angry at the Socialist government because real farm income has been dropping for eight years. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 826.67 (+7.13, +0.87%)
S&P Composite: 113.55 (+0.78, +0.69%)
Arms Index: 0.75

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	972	43.14
Declines	528	17.50
Unchanged	419	6.49
Total Volume		67.13

* 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*
March 22, 1982	819.54	112.77	57.61
March 19, 1982	805.65	110.61	46.24
March 18, 1982	805.27	110.30	54.27
March 17, 1982	795.85	109.08	48.89
March 16, 1982	798.33	109.28	50.23
March 15, 1982	800.99	109.45	43.37
March 12, 1982	797.37	108.61	49.59
March 11, 1982	805.56	109.36	52.95
March 10, 1982	804.89	109.41	59.44
March 9, 1982	803.84	108.83	76.06