News stories from Wednesday December 9, 1981

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

Rising doubts on the economic plans of the Reagan administration are being expressed by Americans, according to members of Congress after returning from the Thanksgiving recess. The President's personal popularity remains strong, they said, but there is a growing belief that his program will not succeed. [New York Times] A victory for foreign aid was marked as 97 House Republicans heeded an appeal by President Reagan and joined the Democrats in approving a $5.7 billion assistance authorization for the current fiscal year. The vote was 222 to 184. Many of the Republican supporters had never before voted in favor of foreign aid. [New York Times] A shift on hiring striking controllers was announced by President Reagan. He rescinded his three-year ban on federal employment for the strikers, but he reaffirmed his refusal to rehire them in their former jobs or anywhere else in the Federal Aviation Administration. [New York Times] A new increase in military spending is sought by the Pentagon, according to Reagan administration officials. They said the Navy planned to add $6 billion to its previously projected budget for the 1983 fiscal year to speed the delivery of two more nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. [New York Times] An accord on sewer construction aid was virtually completed by House and Senate conferees. The legislation would provide about $10 billion in federal funds over four years for state and local governments. [New York Times] The auto union may meet demands by the manufacturers for reopening contracts well in advance of the expiration of the pacts at General Motors and Ford. The leadership of the United Automobile Workers announced it had voted to allow its leaders at each company to decide whether to consider concessions. This could lead to a loss of wages and benefits for the 1.2 million unionized auto workers. [New York Times] A bold new takeover bid by Mobil was disclosed. The corporation, stymied in its battle for the Marathon Oil Company against United States Steel, said it intended to buy 15 percent to 25 percent of the nation's No. 1 steelmaker. Mobil, the nation's second largest oil concern, has been buying U.S. Steel shares for weeks. [New York Times] A mercy killing has stirred Texas. A kindly 69-year-old rancher watched his 72-year-old brother J. K. lie helpless, his brain degenerating, unable to speak or care for himself and fed through tubes entering his nose and stomach. After some indecision, the rancher, Woody Collums, said he fired five quick bullets at the invalid, killing him. Mr. Collums was indicted today for the slaying. [New York Times] A shift on the Law of the Sea pact has been decided by top officials in the Reagan administration, according to senior American officials. They said that after a nine-month policy review, key departments had agreed that the United States should seek revisions in, rather than abandon, a draft treaty to regulate use of the seas and their mineral resources. [New York Times] A visa for Yelizaveta Alekseyeva was reported promised in Moscow. Miss Alekseyeva, in behalf of whose emigration effort Andrei Sakharov had gone on a hunger strike, said she had been told by a state security official that she would be allowed to leave and that Dr. Sakharov, as a result, had ended his 17-day fast. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 888.22 (+6.47, +0.73%)
S&P Composite: 125.48 (+0.66, +0.53%)
Arms Index: 0.64

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	751	23.89
Declines	717	14.51
Unchanged	475	6.41
Total Volume		44.81

* 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 8, 1981	881.75	124.82	45.14
December 7, 1981	886.99	125.19	45.72
December 4, 1981	892.69	126.26	55.04
December 3, 1981	883.85	125.12	43.77
December 2, 1981	882.61	124.69	44.50
December 1, 1981	890.22	126.10	53.99
November 30, 1981	888.98	126.35	47.57
November 27, 1981	885.94	125.09	32.77
November 25, 1981	878.14	124.05	58.57
November 24, 1981	870.24	123.51	53.37