News stories from Tuesday December 22, 1981

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

An inflation rate under 10 percent for the first time since 1978 was all but guaranteed as the Consumer Price Index rose only five-tenths of 1 percent in November. For the first 11 months of the year, the nation's most widely followed inflation gauge rose a total of 9.2 percent. [New York Times] Firm opposition to any new taxes has been repeatedly expressed by President Reagan in response to his advisers' advocacy of higher taxes in the next two fiscal years to reduce projected big budget deficits. The White House chief of staff said that the President would not consider proposals for "selective tax increases" until early next year. [New York Times] An $11 billion farm support bill was signed by President Reagan. The President also authorized the release of 30 million pounds of cheese from the government's stockpile of 560 million pounds to states that seek to give it to poor residents. [New York Times] The President criticized New Dealers in the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, asserting in an interview that many of them espoused fascism. Arthur Schlesinger, a Roosevelt biographer, said that Mr. Reagan's remarks represented "a gross distortion of history." [New York Times] Raymond Donovan tried to resolve a controversy over assertions that his former construction company in New Jersey had bribed a union official in his presence. Mr. Donovan, the Secretary of Labor, asked for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the assertions. A source at the Justice Department said that a special prosecutor was expected to be named within a day or two. [New York Times] Harrison Williams lost an appeal of his bribery conviction. The verdict was upheld by a federal judge who rejected the contention of Senator Williams, Democrat of New Jersey, that he had been illegally entrapped and victimized by federal undercover agents in the Abscam investigation into political corruption. [New York Times] William Milliken will leave politics when his current term as Governor of Michigan ends next year. By then, Mr. Milliken, a Republican, will have been Governor for 14 years, the longest time in the state's history. He said his decision to retire had been prompted by Michigan's troubled economy, and that a governor must be able to devote full time to economic problems, and not be "preoccupied with months of campaigning." [New York Times] Roman Catholic leaders are debating the morality of the nuclear arms positions of the United States and the Soviet Union. The American hierarchy is seeking a way to develop a Catholic position that takes the perils of nuclear weapons into account, and all participants agree that a powerful force is at work reshaping Catholics' attitudes and convictions on the issue. [New York Times] The military training of exiles from Central America is accelerating at a 78-acre camp near the Florida Everglades. The exiles say they are dedicated to the armed overthrow of the governments of Nicaragua, Cuba and Panama. This year, according to one leader, 800 exiles have been trained, and at least 100 Nicaraguans have been sent back to their country to topple the government. [New York Times] An emotional White House meeting was held by President Reagan and the former Polish Ambassador, who defected last weekend in protest over the military crackdown in Poland. Meanwhile, the administration continued to discuss a range of possible political and economic sanctions against Poland and the Soviet Union. [New York Times] Scattered groups of Polish rebels on the Baltic coast and in Silesia's coal mines continued to resist the military authorities, according to word-of-mouth reports reaching Warsaw. But sources close to the Roman Catholic Church said they believed that the military leaders were containing the opposition to martial law restrictions. [New York Times] Poland's coal mines are critical to the economy. The coal of Silesia, where at least two groups of miners are holding out underground in rebellion against martial law, provides nearly one-third of Poland's hard currency and is the primary source of its energy. The miners have many economic advantages, but their increasing militancy since the rise of the Solidarity union movement has sharply reduced coal production. [New York Times] The church sides with the workers in Poland and all countries, Pope John Paul II said in an address at the Vatican. He said he recalled "with emotion" his meeting last January with Lech Walesa, the leader of the Polish trade union, who is believed to be under house arrest. [New York Times] A U.S. reassessment in the Mideast was perceived by Kurt Waldheim, the outgoing Secretary General of the United Nations. In an interview, he said that the new strains in Israeli-American ties reflected "an objective reassessment" by Washington of its interests in the region and evidence that it "wants good relations" with both Israelis and Arabs. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 871.96 (-1.14, -0.13%)
S&P Composite: 122.88 (-0.46, -0.37%)
Arms Index: 0.98

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	601	16.11
Declines	879	23.04
Unchanged	480	9.17
Total Volume		48.32

* 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*
December 21, 1981	873.10	123.34	41.31
December 18, 1981	875.76	124.00	50.95
December 17, 1981	870.53	123.12	47.22
December 16, 1981	868.72	122.42	42.37
December 15, 1981	875.95	122.99	44.13
December 14, 1981	871.48	122.78	44.81
December 11, 1981	886.51	124.93	45.84
December 10, 1981	892.03	125.71	47.02
December 9, 1981	888.22	125.48	44.80
December 8, 1981	881.75	124.82	45.14