News stories from Friday August 22, 1980

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

Billy Carter was sharply attacked at a Senate hearing for his motives in dealing with Libya, and a Republican Senator accused President Carter of altering United States foreign policy to help his brother. In his second and last day of sworn testimony before a subcommittee investigating his ties to Libya, Billy Carter did not waver from his position that he had never sought to influence policy, and that his relationship with Libya was an innocent one based on friendship. [New York Times] Consumer prices did not rise in July, the first time in 13 years that there was no monthly increase in the overall rate of inflation, the Labor Department said. The major factor for the zero change in the department's Consumer Price Index -- it had increased 0.9 percent or more in each of the preceding 18 months -- was the first decline in seven years in the cost of buying a house, reflecting a decline in mortgage rates last spring. [New York Times] Housing aid for middle-income renters was approved by the House in voting, 291 to 43, to extend federal housing and community development programs. The middle-inco:ne provision put the House at odds with the Senate, which flatly rejected expanding the low-income housing program. It is not certain if the provision will survive in Senate-House conference. [New York Times] Ronald Reagan gave his backing to evangelical Christians who advocate bloc voting for candidates sharing their views. In a speech prepared for delivery to thousands of conservative church leaders in Dallas, he brushed aside the argument that church-based politics conflicts with the Constitution. "When I hear the First Amendment used as a reason to keep tradtional moral values away from policymaking, I am shocked," he said. [New York Times] Less stringent strip mining controls were approved by the Senate. The bill now goes to the House, where Representative Morris Udall, who heads the Interior Committee, has vowed to try to have it killed. The Senate passed a similar measure last September, but it did not go beyond Mr. Udall's commitee. [New York Times] A New York-Washington air shuttle operated by Texas International Airlines was approved by airline executives at a meeting in Alexandria, Va. The Texas airline would not confirm that it planned to introduce the shuttle, which would provide the first broad competition for Eastern Air Lines, but most of the other airline officials believe it plans to do so. [New York Times] One of the Abscam defendants said he was "entitled" to an additional payment of $35,000, five months after taking a $50,000 payment from a federal undercover agent, according to a videotape played at his trial. Representative Michael Myers of Pennsylvania said he was entitled to the additional money because he had been deprived of a fair share of the $50,000, which he said had been divided among his three co-defendants. [New York Times] New York City's economy is healthy enough to cushion it from the harshest effects of the national recession, according to an analysis by the Chase Manhattan Bank. The city has not been entirely immune to the recession, but it has "held up better than expected" so far, the bank's metropolitan economist, Karen Gerard, said in a review of economic conditions during the first half of 1980. General agreement with the Chase report was expressed by other economists. [New York Times] Sympathy for the Polish strikers was expressed for the first time by the Roman Catholic Church, but it implicitly criticized their methods in seeking economic and political change. A statement expressing "understanding for the strikers who seek to improve their lot, both in material well-being and matters concerning human rights" was issued after Lech Laczmarek, the Bishop of Gdansk, the center of the strike movement, conferred in Warsaw with Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, Primate of Poland. [New York Times] West Germany's Chancellor called off a visit to East Germany next week, saying that because of the labor unrest in Poland the visit would be ill-timed. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt made the decision despite the urging of his aides, who argued that cancellation of the visit would be an unnecessary dramatization of the Polish upheaval. [New York Times] Israeli archeologists in Jerusalem have unearthed what they believe was probably the palace-fortress of King David or King Solomon, and found evidence that ancient Israelites worshipped idols, at least in the privacy of their homes. Digging in one of the largest archeological excavations ever made in Jerusalem, the researchers say they have found the earliest signs of habitation there. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 958.19 (+3.16, +0.33%)
S&P Composite: 126.02 (+0.56, +0.45%)
Arms Index: 0.80

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,007	35.88
Declines	538	15.43
Unchanged	379	6.90
Total Volume		58.21

* 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 21, 1980	955.03	125.46	50.77
August 20, 1980	945.31	123.77	42.56
August 19, 1980	939.85	122.60	41.93
August 18, 1980	948.63	123.39	41.88
August 15, 1980	966.72	125.72	47.80
August 14, 1980	962.63	125.25	47.65
August 13, 1980	949.23	123.28	44.37
August 12, 1980	952.39	123.79	52.04
August 11, 1980	964.08	124.78	44.69
August 8, 1980	954.69	123.51	58.86