News stories from Friday December 14, 1979

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

The release of some Americans by Iran before Christmas is hoped for by administration officials. They expressed guarded optimism as President Carter was said to be "moderately encouraged" by recent developments in the crisis over the hostages. [New York Times] An invasion scare in Iran was false. The government-run radio and television reported that Iraq had attacked Iran, but later the stations broadcast that there was no war. [New York Times] A plan to tax "windfall" profits gained as the Senate approved the basic outline of a levy that will divert $178 billion from the oil industry to the government over the next 11 years. The chamber acted informally after more than four weeks of wrangling and intermittent deadlock. The breaking of the deadlock raised the possibility that President Carter might receive a final draft before Christmas. [New York Times] Saudi oil production will be maintained at 9.5 million barrels a day, at least through April, the world's largest petroleum exporting country announced. The decision by Saudi Arabia offered increased hope that supplies would remain steady early next year. [New York Times] Chrysler will run out of cash by mid-January even if Congress approves a federal aid package before the Christmas recess, the auto maker and the Carter administration said in a joint announcement. Vice President Mondale called on interested parties to act immediately on interim aid to tide the company over until a complex, government-sponsored rescue package could be worked out. [New York Times] The propriety of Warren Burger was questioned by the American Civil Liberties Union. The Chief Justice sent a private letter last month to a member of the group's advisory committee, questioning the role of an A.C.L.U. staff lawyer in seeking a last-minute stay of execution by the Court for a condemned murderer in Nevada. In a letter to Justice Burger, the group questioned the decorum of such a private communication about a matter before the Court. [New York Times] Edward Kennedy is criticized unceasingly in Britain. The Senator has become a kind of emblem of the distasteful to Britons across the entire political spectrum. Virtually nothing is written or said about his record in the Senate and almost the entire focus has been on the fatal accident at Chappaquiddick, his marriage and his political ambition. [New York Times] Saving the California condor from the threat of extinction is the aim of a cooperative arrangement reached among federal, state and private agencies. An official said that the accord would allow the direct handling of condors for the first time. Their population has declined to an estimated 25 to 30. [New York Times] A return-to-work order was issued by President Carter to striking employees of the Long Island Railroad. He invoked a provision of the Railway Labor Act to direct the strikers to resume operations for at least 60 days while a three-member emergency board investigated the dispute over new union contracts and made recommendations for settling the seven-day-old walkout. If the workers return as anticipated, the railroad is expected to resume operations by Monday. [New York Times] Four Americans were slain in Istanbul by gunmen who escaped. A leftist group claimed responsibility for the shootings of a serviceman and three aircraft company employees returning home from a NATO depot. Seven Americans have been killed in a wave of violence in the country in the last two years, in which extreme left-wing or right-wing factions have slain more than 2,400 Turks. [New York Times] A Korean general selected allies to replace 16 key senior officers whom he had arrested in a series of gun battles, according to sources close to the military, and the general moved to force the new civilian government of South Korea to accept them. [New York Times] An effort for a cease-fire in Rhodesia was pressed by Britain, which set what it termed "the final session" of negotiations in London. The obstacle is opposition to one provision of Britain's peace plan by the Patriotic Front guerrilla alliance, which insists on further guarantees that, after a cease-fire, its forces will receive treatment equal to that accorded to Rhodesian regulars. [New York Times] NATO nuclear plans were denounced by Moscow, which said that the decision to produce and deploy 572 new missiles in Western Europe "killed the basis for talks on medium-range weapons" with the Soviet Union. Western diplomats in Moscow viewed the official statement as propaganda rather than an ultimatum. [New York Times] New Canadian elections were set for Feb. 18 and the House of Commons was dissolved after Thursday evening's stunning defeat of Prime Minister Joe Clark's Progressive Conservative government over its plans for higher energy prices and spending austerity. The major opposition Liberal Party was said to be split over the issue of leadership because of Pierre Trudeau's plans to step down. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 842.75 (+6.66, +0.80%)
S&P Composite: 108.92 (+1.25, +1.16%)
Arms Index: 0.57

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	994	27.51
Declines	553	8.69
Unchanged	395	5.60
Total Volume		41.80

* 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*
December 13, 1979	836.09	107.67	36.70
December 12, 1979	835.67	107.52	34.66
December 11, 1979	833.70	107.49	36.16
December 10, 1979	833.87	107.67	32.27
December 7, 1979	833.19	107.52	42.38
December 6, 1979	835.07	108.00	37.51
December 5, 1979	828.41	107.25	39.33
December 4, 1979	824.91	106.79	33.53
December 3, 1979	819.62	105.83	29.03
November 30, 1979	822.35	106.16	30.48