News stories from Tuesday February 24, 1981

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

Key changes in the way gasoline is sold in the nation are likely to result from President Reagan's abolition of price and allocation controls, many oil industry officials predict. They said that thousands of smaller wholesalers and retailers may be driven out of business, possibly generating lower pump prices in the short run. But consumer groups fear that the reduced competition will lead to higher prices. [New York Times] The governors endorsed budget cuts proposed by President Reagan, but only on condition that the states be given time to adjust to them, the poor be protected and tax burdens not be shifted to the states and municipalities. By a vote of 36 to 2, the National Governors Association pledged to work with the administration and Congress in a "restored federalism."Governor Carey assailed budget cuts proposed by President Reagan, terming some of them "obnoxious" and "regionally biased" against the Northeast. He said that New York would lose about $700 million in the next fiscal year if all of the planned reductions were approved by Congress. [New York Times] A scheme to avoid paying income taxes is said to be practiced by 3,500 Michigan workers, many of them in the auto industry. The Detroit office of the Internal Revenue Service is moving to quash the revolt by workers who have avoided having the taxes withheld from their pay by claiming spurious dependents. The office has sent cautionary letters to 1,100 workers who changed their withholding status. [New York Times] An effort to resolve bias charges made against a widely used Civil Service examination was reported by the Reagan administration, It told a federal judge that it had renegotiated parts of a settlement under which the Carter administration agreed to scrap the examination. The accord provides for deleting provisions that some critics say contain racial quotas. [New York Times] A drop in the use of public transit for commuting to work from 1970 to 1977 was reported by the Census Bureau in most of the 20 cities it studied. It said that only 7.3 percent of commuters used public transportation in 1977, compared with 10.3 percent in 1970, and that 91 percent of workers continued to commute by private vehicles. [New York Times] Jean Harris was convicted of murder in the second degree in the shooting nearly a year ago of Dr. Herman Tarnower, her lover for 14 years. The jury deliberated for nearly 48 hours in a 64-day trial. The penalties range from a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of 25 years to life in prison. Sentencing was set for March 20, and Mrs. Harris was taken to jail. [New York Times] The engagement of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, a 19-year-old aristocrat who has been a friend of Britain's royal family all her life, was announced by Buckingham Palace. Lady Diana is a London kindergarten teacher who avoids nightclubs and parties. Outside the palace, a smiling woman remarked, "It's the kind of news that makes you happy to be British again." [New York Times] Washington's policy on El Salvador was discussed by President Reagan at a brief news conference. He said he had "no intention" of involving the United States inextricably in the fighting there, but he said that his administration would continue to support the government against those committed to its "violent overthrow." [New York Times] Interest in opening U.S.-Soviet talks on specific issues was expressed by senior Reagan administration officials, but they said they were not eager for an early, unstructured summit meeting between President Reagan and Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leader. Secretary of State Alexander Haig said that "summitry must be carefully prepared." [New York Times] Spain's rightist uprising collapsed after 18 hours as a mutinous lieutenant colonel in the Civil Guard ended the seizure of Parliament and released the nation's political leaders. Exhausted and tearful, the legislators filed out of the building after the colonel surrendered to superior officers. Earlier, Civil Guardsmen abandoned him and leaped out of windows. King Juan Carlos, who denounced the attempted uprising, had rallied key military commanders to his side. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 946.10 (+0.87, +0.09%)
S&P Composite: 127.39 (+0.04, +0.03%)
Arms Index: 1.03

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	886	23.74
Declines	569	15.72
Unchanged	410	4.50
Total Volume		43.96

* 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*
February 23, 1981	945.23	127.35	39.59
February 20, 1981	936.09	126.58	41.90
February 19, 1981	933.36	126.61	41.64
February 18, 1981	947.10	128.48	40.42
February 17, 1981	939.68	127.81	37.94
February 13, 1981	931.57	126.98	33.36
February 12, 1981	936.60	127.48	34.71
February 11, 1981	942.49	128.24	37.79
February 10, 1981	948.63	129.24	40.81
February 9, 1981	947.18	129.27	38.32