News stories from Monday December 29, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Iran may accept the United States counter-proposals to the multibillion dollar gurantees demanded by Iran and rejected by the United States, according to Iran's Minister of State for Executive Affairs, Behzad Nabavi. Mr. Nabavi said at a press conference that the main new condition would be that the new guarantees would have to be acceptable to Algeria, middleman in the negotiations.
Iranian leaders were deeply angered by President-elect Ronald Reagan's characterization of Iran's conditions for freeing the American hostages as "ransom" demanded by "barbarians." The Speaker of Parliament asserted that "few people in history" were "as barbarous as United States leaders." Members of Parliament shouted, "Death to America!"
[New York Times] - Additional Iranian-produced film of the hostages was shown on American television, but only one captive who had not been seen in previous telecasts appeared. Forty-three of the 52 Americans have now appeared in films or still photographs released by Iran since Christmas Day, according to the State Department's spokesman. [New York Times]
- Additional oil price increases ranging from $3 to $4 a barrel were announced by Libya and Indonesia in a move that analysts said was likely to be followed by other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, particularly African nations. The Libyan decision to raise prices by $4, to $41 a barrel, brought its price to the maximum level allowed by OPEC. The price of gasoline is now expected to rise by about 7 cents a gallon. [New York Times]
- A planned space journey approached as "Columbia," the shuttle that is to carry Americans into space for the first time in five years, was transported to its launching site at Cape Canaveral. The mission, to begin in mid-March, is to include placing in orbit the space telescope that will bring into view countless celestial features invisible from earth. [New York Times]
- A lethal new narcotic has been found by California police officers on an overdose victim and identified by federal experts after a long inquiry. The unfamiliar white powder is a synthetic drug that is said to be 80 times stronger than morphine. The potent narcotic can cause almost instant death by respiratory arrest. [New York Times]
- Curbs against involuntary sterilization without legal safeguards are sought in a class-action suit begun in Virginia. The suit was filed against six state mental hospitals, the Governor and two other state officials and the state agency responsible for the sterilization of more than 7,000 people in Virginia from 1924 to 1972. [New York Times]
- An inquiry into the Reichstag fire, which the Nazis used to consolidate their power, has led to the quashing of a 1933 verdict that found a Dutchman guilty of having set the blaze. The accused arsonist was executed in 1934. A West Berlin court ruled that the verdict was part of the overall Nazi perversion of justice, but it did not explore the question of who set the fire. [New York Times]
- Ayatollah Khomeini exhorted Iranians to stand fast despite battle casualties and fuel shortages. The revolutionary leader spoke to a group of crippled air force veterans and families of troops killed in the fighting with Iraq.
A U.N. rescue plan is snagged. The United Nations peace mission in the Persian Gulf sought to obtain a temporary cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq war for the freeing of 71 ships trapped in a border wrterway, but the proposal was blocked by a deadlock over an acceptable flag for the vessels.
[New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 960.58 (-5.80, -0.60%)
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 26, 1980 | 966.38 | 136.57 | 16.13 |
| December 24, 1980 | 963.05 | 135.88 | 29.48 |
| December 23, 1980 | 958.28 | 135.00 | 55.25 |
| December 22, 1980 | 958.79 | 135.78 | 51.96 |
| December 19, 1980 | 937.20 | 133.70 | 50.67 |
| December 18, 1980 | 930.20 | 133.00 | 69.57 |
| December 17, 1980 | 928.50 | 132.89 | 50.81 |
| December 16, 1980 | 918.09 | 130.60 | 41.62 |
| December 15, 1980 | 911.60 | 129.45 | 39.69 |
| December 12, 1980 | 917.15 | 129.23 | 39.53 |