News stories from Friday January 19, 1979

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

A federal agency withdrew most of its support for a 1975 study that concluded that a serious nuclear reactor accident was as unlikely as a meteor striking a major city. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a policy statement that it "does not regard as reliable the Reactor Safety Study's numerical estimate of the overall risk of reactor accident." The study had been used frequently by the nuclear industry and its supporters in Congress and universities to support the rapid expansion of the reactors. [New York Times] Consumers run cancer risks when they buy meat and poultry, according to a draft report of a government study, which estimates that 14 percent of these products sold in supermarkets contain illegal residues of chemicals suspected of causing cancer, birth defects or other toxic effects. [New York Times] John Mitchell was released from a federal prison, having served 19 months of a two-and-a-half to eight-year sentence for conspiracy and obstruction of justice in the Watergate investigation. [New York Times] Federal anti-pollution controls have added to inflation, but "the criticism of the environmental programs as inflationary has been greatly overstated," a study by government environmental agencies said. [New York Times] An F.B.I. agent has compiled a list of allegedly illegal and abusive practices within the bureau and given some of his information to Justice Department investigators. The agent, Wesley Swearingen, said he acted because the bureau was reluctant to undertake meaningful reforms. [New York Times] An investigation of the business affairs of Representative John Murphy of New York is being made by the Justice Department, with the aid of a special force of F.B.I. agents, sources close to the inquiry said. [New York Times] More than a million marchers showed their support for Ayatollah Khomeini in an eight-mile peaceful demonstration through Teheran's main thoroughfare. Their banners, slogans and chants all but ignored the government of Prime Minister Bakhtiar, but the demonstrators sounded their familiar cry of "Marg bar Shah" -- "Death to the Shah."Calling the Shah "already dethroned," Ayatollah Khomeini said at his headquarters in Paris that his followers in Iran would soon replace the Bakhtiar government and install an Islamic republic. "We will take power through the legitimate referendum of the streets," he declared. [New York Times] Saudi Arabia's full support for Egypt in the prospective signing of a treaty with Israel should be demanded in exchange for any additional American backing that the Saudis might seek as a result of the turmoil in Iran, the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said. Senator Frank Church's view was affirmed by Senator Jacob Javits, the committee's new ranking minority member. Their comments indicated that the Iranian crisis was becoming a political issue.Hundreds of Israeli troops attacked guerrilla bases in Lebanon. in an area near Israel's northeast corner. The guerrillas retaliated by shelling two northern Israeli towns. [New York Times] The four major western powers are considering development of a new intermediate-range nuclear missile that would be based in Europe and capable of striking the Soviet Union, American officials said. The missile would be developed by the United States. [New York Times] Vietnamese troops in Cambodia attacked the famous temple ruins of Preah Vihear, an 11th-century sanctuary on the Thailand border, Western analysts reported. [New York Times] The United States-Canadian fishing war might be ended by a treaty draft that proposes international management of the fishing grounds at Georges Bank in the North Atlantic. The negotiators failed, however, to agree on a permanent boundary line in the fishing area, which might contain oil and gas deposits. The boundary issue will be submitted to binding arbitration, perhaps before the World Court, State Department and congressional sources said. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 837.49 (-1.65, -0.20%)
S&P Composite: 99.75 (+0.03, +0.03%)
Arms Index: 1.05

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	792	12.36
Declines	606	9.94
Unchanged	461	4.50
Total Volume		26.80

* 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*
January 18, 1979	839.14	99.72	27.26
January 17, 1979	834.20	99.48	25.31
January 16, 1979	835.59	99.46	30.34
January 15, 1979	848.67	100.69	27.51
January 12, 1979	836.28	99.93	37.12
January 11, 1979	828.05	99.10	24.56
January 10, 1979	824.93	98.77	24.97
January 9, 1979	831.43	99.33	27.20
January 8, 1979	828.14	98.80	21.44
January 5, 1979	830.73	99.13	28.89