News stories from Thursday August 30, 1979

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

Two men were charged with the killing of Earl Mountbatten of Burma who was assassinated Monday. Irish authorities said both men were members of the Irish Republican Army, the anti-British organization that has taken responsibility for the bomb blast that blew up the Earl's boat.British and Irish leaders will meet next week to discuss the situation in Northern Ireland, which has worsened since the assassination Monday of Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Prime Minister John Lynch of Ireland agreed to meet with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain on Wednesday after the Earl's funeral. [New York Times] Vice President Mondale worked the crowds, American style, on his visit to a central Chinese province. Mr. Mondale, ignoring official plans, waded into throngs of smiling people, joking and shaking hands. [New York Times] President Carter discussed the split between blacks and Jews and sought to smooth the conflict and avert "deep and damaging divisions" that he said threaten their relationship in the aftermath of Andrew Young's resignation as the United States delegate to the United Nations. He made his attempt to reconcile the two groups in a speech he delivered at Emory University. [New York Times] Donald McHenry has been chosen to succeed Andrew Young as the top-ranking American delegate to the United Nations, according to qualified sources. Mr. McHenry, deputy chief of the U.S. Mission, reportedly will be named in a formal announcement expected later this week. [New York Times] Possible perjury by a presidential aide testifying in a federal grand jury investigation of an alleged plan to fix the legal problems of Robert Vesco, the fugitive financier, was reported by a top Justice Department official, Sources said the Justice official, Philip Heymann, told several members of the jury in July that Richard Harden, a special assistant to President Carter, appeared to have committed perjury. [New York Times] A ship and a barge collided on the Mississippi River, setting off a huge fireball. The ship, a Peruvian cargo vessel, veered out of control and rammed a butane tank barge, causing the ship to billow flames. Four Peruvian crewman died, three persons were missing and 18 were hospitalized. About 300 people living in riverside subdivisions downstream were ordered evacuated when the burning barge struck the river bank. [New York Times] Auto workers chose General Motors Corporation as the "target company" they will try to negotiate a pattern contract with and the company they will strike at midnight Sept. 14 if there is no settlement by then. Intensive bargaining between the United Automobile Workers union and the company is scheduled to begin tomorrow in Detroit. [New York Times] A new rash of bank robberies -- 11 today -- shattered the relative calm of recent days and pushed New York City's monthly total of such crimes to 137. There was no explanation of today's stepped-up activity, which came on what is normally a slow day for bank holdup men. [New York Times] Good weather and ample gasoline supplies -- two elements missing from most summer holidays this year -- have been promised for this Labor Day holiday. And that promise has given the tourist industry reason to hope it can end one of its most erratic business periods on a high note. [New York Times] Iran does not need U.S. shipments of American-refined diesel oil and kerosene -- shipments recently approved by the Carter administration -- and it plans to resell the products at a higher price on the international market. That announcement came from the president of Iran's national oil company, shortly after President Carter defended the shipments, saying they were needed to ward off a shortage of heating and cooking oil in Iran. [New York Times] The U.S. and China were denounced by Cuba in an attack that deepened the feud within the non-aligned nations, as the foreign ministers of the 89-member group began preparing for next week's conference of heads of government. The non-aligned movement, formed to develop a third world political force, has seen its membership and its disputes mushroom recently. [New York Times] The Russians are committed, under the terms of the strategic arms treaty with the U.S., not to improve the capabilities or production rate of their Backfire bomber, according to six visiting American Senators who said they received that assurance from Prime Minister Aleksei Kosygin. That bomber, which would enhance Soviet superiority in Europe, was one of the weapons worrying Senators who have reservations about the treaty. [New York Times] Cambodians are threatened with extinction by the continued fighting and resultant famine in their country, according to Prime Minister Kriangsak Chamanand of Thailand. In a speech to foreign correspondents, he offered the use of Thai territory and facilities for international efforts to send food to the starving Cambodians. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 883.70 (-1.20, -0.14%)
S&P Composite: 109.02 (0.00, 0.00%)
Arms Index: 0.74

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	710	13.91
Declines	725	10.45
Unchanged	439	4.94
Total Volume		29.30

* 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 29, 1979	884.90	109.02	30.81
August 28, 1979	884.64	109.02	29.43
August 27, 1979	885.41	109.14	32.06
August 24, 1979	880.20	108.60	32.73
August 23, 1979	880.38	108.63	35.72
August 22, 1979	885.84	108.99	38.45
August 21, 1979	886.01	108.91	38.86
August 20, 1979	886.52	108.83	32.30
August 17, 1979	883.36	108.30	31.63
August 16, 1979	884.04	108.09	47.01