News stories from Wednesday October 27, 1982

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

Working-class support for Democrats in next Tuesday's congressional elections is expected by experts to be much broader than it was in the 1980 elections. They believe that many working-class Americans who voted for President Reagan and other Republicans in 1980 will return to the Democratic coalition, primarily because of the 15-month recession and high unemployment. [New York Times] Distance from President Reagan is being staked out by many Republican candidates who have cast their campaigns in local and individual terms. Despite Mr. Reagan's stress on cutting social programs in favor of military spending, the Republicans stress their ability to deliver services and federal projects. [New York Times] A political stir at the White House was generated by what had been planned as a routinely favorable meeting. After a visit with President Reagan, George Stigler, the new Nobel laureate in economics, remarked that the economy was in "depression" and that the administration's supply-side antidote was somewhere between a "gimmick" and a "slogan." [New York Times] The decision by Chrysler workers to defer action on a strike and to resume negotiations in January for a new contract postpones a battle over what the workers expect and what the troubled automaker says it can pay. [New York Times] The apparent presence of a toxin at 15 to 55 sites in Missouri was reported in internal documents of the Environmental Protection Agency made public by the Environmental Defense Fund. The reports also said that the carcinogen dioxin had been detected at some sites at levels higher than at the abandoned Love Canal area at Niagara Falls, N.Y. [New York Times] Anxiety about trick or treating and the possible poisoning of Halloween candy have risen sharply because of the cyanide-tainted Tylenol that killed eight persons in the Chicago area and other contaminated non-prescription medications. As a result, some municipalities have banned trick or treating and others have urged parents to curtail their children's rounds sharply. [New York Times] U.S. foreign policy was denounced by Leonid Brezhinev, who linked Soviet overtures to China to the tense relations between Moscow and Washington. Addressing Soviet military leaders, the Soviet leader said the Reagan administration's foreign policy was marked by "adventurism, rudeness and undisguised egoism" that he said threatened to push the world into nuclear war. [New York Times] Three Ulster policemen were killed when a large bomb planted by Irish nationalists exploded under their car. Reports from the scene, 20 miles from Belfast, said the blast left a crater 60 feet wide and 40 feet deep and was heard five miles away. [New York Times] Argentina agreed to spending cuts that may be politically unpopular as a condition for obtaining $2 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund, Argentine officials announced. The plan represents an emergency first step intended to help bring Argentina up to date in installment payments on its nearly $40 billion of foreign debt. [New York Times] An election-eve meeting in Madrid between King Juan Carlos and political leaders symbolized the monarchy's key role in sustaining Spain's young and fragile democracy. Amid new rumors of a rightist coup attempt, the Socialists are expected to be returned to power for the first time since the civil war ended in 1939. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1006.35 (+0.28, +0.03%)
S&P Composite: 135.28 (+0.80, +0.59%)
Arms Index: 1.11

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,213	51.79
Declines	443	20.91
Unchanged	319	8.97
Total Volume		81.67

* 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*
October 26, 1982	1006.07	134.48	102.07
October 25, 1982	995.13	133.32	83.72
October 22, 1982	1031.46	138.83	101.13
October 21, 1982	1036.98	139.06	122.46
October 20, 1982	1034.12	139.23	98.68
October 19, 1982	1013.80	136.58	100.85
October 18, 1982	1019.22	136.73	83.79
October 15, 1982	993.10	133.57	80.29
October 14, 1982	996.87	134.57	107.50
October 13, 1982	1015.08	136.71	139.80