News stories from Tuesday March 30, 1982

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

The Columbia landed smoothly at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico after its third and longest voyage. The astronauts, Col. Jack Lousma of the Marine Corps and Col. Gordon Fullerton of the Air Force, agreed that the space shuttle had "performed magnificently." [New York Times] Four paratroopers were killed and and at least 24 were injured in a big training exercise in the southern California desert. The operation involved more than 2,200 paratroopers and 90 aircraft of the famed 82nd Airborne Division in a test of the new Rapid Deployment Force. [New York Times] Efforts to contain toxic water in northern California were frustrated by torrential rains. Workers gave up attempts to shore up a makeshift dam holding back the water, which is contaminated by 10,000 gallons of formaldehyde. They ripped out the dam and allowed the poison to flow into the Russian River, which provides drinking water for about 250,000 residents downstream. [New York Times] A black self-help program is flourishing in Virginia and North Carolina and is expanding into Georgia and South Carolina. The program is led by Donald Anderson, a former Capitol Hill lawyer who helped draft anti-poverty legislation in the 1960's. [New York Times] One year after the shooting of President Reagan and three other men, John W. Hinckley appeared in court under heavy guard to hear secret testimony by the actress Jody Foster about his earlier efforts to gain her attention. The Hinckley case exemplifies the procedural complexities and delays of the American criminal justice system. [New York Times] The top bidder for the New York Daily News is Donald J. Trump, the real estate entrepreneur, according to aides close to him and sources close to the troubled newspaper's owners. Mr. Trump has told business acquaintances that he expects to complete an agreement to buy the News this week, but its owner said that no final decision had been reached. [New York Times] An alternative arms control plan was endorsed by 58 Senators. The bipartisan resolution calls on the United States and the Soviet Union to freeze their nuclear arsenals at "equal and sharply reduced levels." The proposal has won general support from President Reagan. [New York Times] The five Salvadoran rightist parties that lost to the centrist Christian Democrats in Sunday's elections said they were trying to form a working majority in the constituent assembly and that they hoped to establish a coalition by the time the new assembly convenes in mid-April. A leader of the Christian Democrats, who won 41 percent of the vote, said that the right-wing move would cause "a tremendous polarization" of the nation. [New York Times] A Salvadoran rebel leader in exile warned that Sunday's elections had restored the power of the conservative oligarchy and could prolong the civil war. But the leader, Guillermo Manuel Ungo, who is president of the Democratic Revolutionary Front, renewed an offer to negotiate with the new leadership. [New York Times] Iraq acknowledged a retreat by its forces after a nine-day-long Iranian offensive in southwestern Iran. The pullback, which could be a major turning point in the 18-month war, came during what Iran called an "all-out offensive" to expel the Iraqis. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 824.49 (+0.67, +0.08%)
S&P Composite: 112.27 (-0.03, -0.03%)
Arms Index: 0.88

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	676	20.11
Declines	668	17.48
Unchanged	500	6.31
Total Volume		43.90

* 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 29, 1982	823.82	112.30	37.07
March 26, 1982	817.92	111.94	42.40
March 25, 1982	827.63	113.21	51.96
March 24, 1982	823.34	112.97	49.38
March 23, 1982	826.67	113.55	67.12
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