News stories from Tuesday May 12, 1981

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

A $700.8 billion budget was adopted in the Republican-controlled Senate by a vote of 78 to 20. The budget, endorsed by President Reagan, is intended to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. [New York Times] Cuts in Social Security benefits were proposed to Congress by President Reagan and were assailed at once by some legislators and groups representing the elderly. The planned reductions generally apply to those who retire in the future. The prospects for congressional approval are expected to depend on the relative effectiveness of lobbying by the Reagan administration and spokesmen for the elderly. [New York Times] Cuts of about $1.5 billion in food stamps were approved by the House and Senate Agriculture committees. The action could mean reduced benefits for all 22 million Americans now aided by the program. The sharp cuts were voted by a conservative coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats. [New York Times] The death of a black youth in Atlanta may be linked to 26 other murders of young blacks in the last two years, according to police officials. The body of the 17-year-old was found hours after he was reported missing. [New York Times] The jury award won by Carol Burnett in her libel suit against The National Enquirer was cut in half, to $800,000, by a judge. He called the original award "clearly excessive," but he denied a motion by The Enquirer for a new trial and denounced the tabloid for "reprehensible" practices. [New York Times] A second Irish hunger striker died in a prison outside Belfast in his 59th day without food. Francis Hughes, a member of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, had been serving a life sentence for the murder of a British soldier. The latest death touched off new sectarian violence. [New York Times] Missiles were fired from Syrian soil at Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flying over Lebanon, apparently for the first time, the Israeli military command announced. But an Israeli spokesman said that the missiles had missed their targets and that the planes had returned safely to base. A Syrian military spokesman said that Syrian forces in Lebanon had shot down an Israeli military reconnaissance plane, but he did not specify how. [New York Times] Hopes of averting a Mideast conflict were expressed by Secretary of State Alexander Haig. But he said it was too early to predict whether Philip Habib, Washington's special envoy, would be able to prevent an Israeli-Syrian clash in Lebanon. [New York Times] The decision to admit the Shah of Iran to the United States, which ignited the 444-day hostage crisis, was based in significant ways on misinformation and misinterpretation of the nature and urgency of the monarch's medical problems. Among the revelations uncovered in a three-month inquiry is a confirmation that it was not medically necessary to treat the Shah in the United States. [New York Times] An independent Polish farmers union was granted legal recognition by a Warsaw court, ending an eight-month struggle by leaders of the country's 3.5 million private farmers to gain the same rights as industrial workers. The verdict set off waves of jubilation among thousands of farmers outside the courthouse. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 970.82 (+7.38, +0.77%)
S&P Composite: 130.72 (+1.01, +0.78%)
Arms Index: 0.59

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	815	24.15
Declines	685	11.89
Unchanged	421	4.40
Total Volume		40.44

* 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*
May 11, 1981	963.44	129.71	37.63
May 8, 1981	976.40	131.66	41.85
May 7, 1981	978.39	131.67	42.59
May 6, 1981	973.34	130.78	47.10
May 5, 1981	972.44	130.32	48.99
May 4, 1981	979.11	130.67	40.66
May 1, 1981	995.59	132.72	48.35
April 30, 1981	997.75	132.81	47.96
April 29, 1981	1004.32	133.05	53.34
April 28, 1981	1016.93	134.33	58.21