News stories from Friday May 29, 1981

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

President Reagan has invited Democratic leaders to the White House on Monday for a "last chance" meeting on a tax compromise before deciding on whether to start a national publicity campaign to force them to accept his plan to cut income taxes. [New York Times] The leaders of striking miners approved a second proposed agreement to end the coal strike, which has lasted 64 days. The 36-to-2 vote by the union's bargaining council, then made unanimous, seemed to give the pact a better chance of ratification by the rank and file, which overwhelmingly rejected an earlier settlement. [New York Times] A plan to double the immigration limit on Mexicans and Canadians to 40,000 annually has been proposed by a cabinet-level advisory committee. The panel, in a report that will be sent to President Reagan soon, said that the proposed increase "recognizes the unique relationship with our neighbors" and "provides a means for reducing pressures for illegal immigration from Mexico." [New York Times] The selection of Joseph Reed as Ambassador to Morocco provides insight into the selection of ambassadors. In theory, the names of prospective ambassadors are passed on to President Reagan only after screening by committees. The recommendation of Mr. Reed, however, was made by Michael Deaver, the White House deputy chief of staff, who added Mr. Reed's name to a list of recommendations. [New York Times] An Air Force officer has been charged with making unauthorized visits to the Soviet Embassy in Washington without telling his superiors, Air Force officials said. The officer, Lt. Christopher Cooke, was a member of the missile-launching crew for the Titan, part of the nation's intercontinental ballistic missile system. [New York Times] The success of wines is producing growth pains for towns in California's lush Napa Valley, the center of the state's wine growing region. In St. Helena, the city council has approved a ban on the construction of new buildings for at least a year because the city is running out of sewer capacity. And in the town of Calistoga, officials warn that the community may run out of water by November. [New York Times] The 1982 version of a world's fair is scheduled to open May 1 of next year in Knoxville, Tenn. However, questions remain about the size of it, the quality of the exhibits, the people who stand to benefit from it and whether the taxpayers, whose $30 million in city-backed bonds were used to build the exhibition hall and office tower, will be left holding the bag. [New York Times] A negotiated end to the Middle East crisis is "achievable," said Philip Habib, President Reagan's special envoy, on his return from three weeks of negotiations in the Middle East. But he cautioned Syria and Israel against building up combat forces near the Lebanese border. Mr. Habib said he would return to the region next week. [New York Times] Heavy artillery and rocket exchanges erupted between Lebanese Christian militiamen in Zahle, 30 miles east of Beirut, and Syrian forces, sending the town's 200,000 people back to underground bomb shelters. [New York Times] The United States will aid South Africa in ending its "polecat status" in the world if it works to achieve a settlement for the independence of South-West Africa that would be internationally acceptable, according to documents purported to be State Department papers. [New York Times] The remains of three airmen found in Vietnam will be returned to the United States. The men, who have not been identified, were among some 2,500 servicemen still listed as missing in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. [New York Times] China declared three days of mourning after the death of Soong Ching-ling, the widow of Sun Yat-sen, who overthrew the Manchu Dynasty and founded the Chinese Republic. Miss Soong, who was 90 years old, died of leukemia. A state funeral has been set for June 3. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 991.75 (-2.50, -0.25%)
S&P Composite: 132.59 (-0.86, -0.64%)
Arms Index: 1.09

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	772	21.83
Declines	802	24.61
Unchanged	369	5.14
Total Volume		51.58

* 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 28, 1981	994.25	133.45	59.50
May 27, 1981	993.14	133.77	58.73
May 26, 1981	983.96	132.77	42.76
May 22, 1981	971.72	131.33	40.70
May 21, 1981	976.59	131.75	46.79
May 20, 1981	976.86	132.00	42.37
May 19, 1981	980.01	132.09	42.21
May 18, 1981	985.77	132.54	42.51
May 15, 1981	985.95	132.17	45.46
May 14, 1981	973.07	131.28	42.75