News stories from Friday August 14, 1981

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

Stripping the controllers' union of its bargaining rights was recommended by a federal administrative judge on the ground that the controllers' strike was an "open and flagrant" violation of federal law. John Fenton, chief administrative law judge of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which oversees the government's labor-management relations, urged the agency to revoke the union's "exclusive recognition status." If the recommendation is accepted by the three-member board, the union's right to represent the controllers would immediately be taken away. [New York Times] Flight attendant unions rallied to support the striking controllers, although many of the union members individually expressed little sympathy for the controllers' strike. As notices of impending layoffs of pilots, attendants and ground crews were being issued by some airlines, representatives of six flight attendants' unions conferred urgently, concerned that if the controllers' union is broken their own unions might be imperiled. [New York Times] A principal inflation indicator rose by only four-tenths of 1 percent in July, the Labor Department reported in releasing the performance of the government's Producer Price Index for finished goods. Despite a large increase in the price of food, the index's rise was not as large as had been expected by many economists. In another report, the Federal Reserve Board said that production at the nation's factories and mines rose by three-tenths of 1 percent in July. [New York Times] The Secretary of State's reasons for opposing the mounting of the new MX missiles on aircraft, which is backed by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, will be presented to President Reagan at a meeting at his ranch in California on Sunday, administration officials said. [New York Times] The fruit fly infestation spread in California to the San Joaquin Valley, the nation's most productive farming region. [New York Times] Tennessee's former Gov. Ray Blanton was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $11,000 for extortion and conspiracy in selling liquor licenses while he was in office. Two former aides, James Allen and Clyde Edd Hood, were also sentenced and fined. All were freed on bond pending the outcome of appeals. [New York Times] Appeals for moderation in Poland were made by the leader of the Solidarity trade union and the Polish hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church on the observance of the first anniversary of the Gdansk Shipyards strike that led to Solidarity's founding. Lech Walesa, Solidarity's leader, told a gathering in Warsaw that it was time for the union to consolidate its gains over the last year. [New York Times] Poland's leaders went to Crimea for "a friendly working visit" with Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leader, who is vacationing there. The Polish party included Stanislaw Kania, the Communist Party leader, and Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski, who is also the Defense Minister. [New York Times] An Iranian gunboat was hijacked in the Bay of Cadiz off the coast of Spain, and responsibility was taken by an Iranian monarchist group. The boat, one of three sold by France to Iran, was recently released by the French government after a two-year embargo, and was, with the others, on the way to Iran. [New York Times] Bolivia is near bankruptcy, and is seeking help from the International Monetary Fund, which has been asked by the Bolivian government to approve desperately needed standby credit. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 936.93 (-7.42, -0.79%)
S&P Composite: 132.49 (-1.02, -0.76%)
Arms Index: 0.96

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	553	14.50
Declines	904	22.78
Unchanged	419	5.30
Total Volume		42.58

* 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*
August 13, 1981	944.35	133.51	42.44
August 12, 1981	945.21	133.40	53.65
August 11, 1981	949.30	133.85	52.59
August 10, 1981	943.68	132.54	38.37
August 7, 1981	942.54	131.75	38.38
August 6, 1981	952.91	132.64	52.07
August 5, 1981	953.58	132.67	54.27
August 4, 1981	945.97	131.18	39.47
August 3, 1981	946.25	130.48	39.65
July 31, 1981	952.34	130.92	43.47