News stories from Wednesday April 25, 1979

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

The closing of all nine reactors made by the manufacturer of the Three Mile Island, Pa., nuclear plant was recommended by the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission until their safety could be assured. The five members of the commission postponed a final decision until tomorrow. Joseph Hendrie, chairman of the panel, warned that such a shutdown would have a "profound importance to our power supply." [New York Times] President Carter faced protests over nuclear power and energy policies as he moved across southern New Hampshire, warning of probable gasoline shortages this summer and fall and continued inflation for several months. He revealed he had ordered that reserves of home heating oil be increased to 240 million barrels by October, from 110 million currently, to guarantee adequate supplies for next winter. [New York Times] Closed military bases are now a boon to many localities that have converted them into revenue producing centers. Yet political conflicts continue over such closings, and the issue has expanded from localities and states to regions, with political figures in the Northeast and Middle West accusing the Pentagon of favoring defense spending in the South and West. [New York Times] Rubber industry talks are snarled by the fragile contract negotiations between the United Rubber Workers and Uniroyal Inc., the tire manufacturer. The trouble erupted last week when the union said that the company had agreed on provisions of a pact, which the company promptly denied. [New York Times] The battle over federal land in Alaska resumed as the Carter administration warned that it would not accept a new House bill to allow oil and gas exploration in some regions now protected as wildlife ranges. [New York Times] Esquire magazine is up for sale. In a letter to his staff, Clay Felker, the editor and publisher, said that the British conglomerate that has controlling interest in the magazine had been negotiating with several companies but that no accord on a sale had thus far been reached. [New York Times] A prison-visiting plan to curb crime by youths was criticized by a sociologist who said the experiment did not deter crime and might cause it. The experiment, involving having teenagers visit a prison and be subjected to oral abuse by hardened criminals, was begun in New Jersey. It has been copied in some form by at least 11 other states and is the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, "Scared Straight." [New York Times] Verification of Soviet compliance with a strategic arms limitation treaty will be possible from the day a pact is signed, President Carter declared unequivocally. In a major address, the President warned that the alternative to the projected accord was "a dark nightmare of unrestrained arms competition." [New York Times] Iran's regime seems to be gaining authority over Islamic vigilante groups. The chief of the revolutionary committees that have been acting as a rival source of power announced the start of a purge of the groups and said that 4,000 of their armed militiamen would join a national police force. [New York Times] Thai rules on Cambodians' passage were disclosed by military sources in Bangkok. They said that troops of the deposed Cambodian regime could cross Thai territory to evade pursuit by Vietnamese invaders and re-enter Cambodia at the nearest possible point. The sources also said that the tens of thousands of civilians who had fled to Thailand were being pressed to return home as soon as possible at the safest available points. [New York Times] Israeli shelling continued in Lebanon. Bombardment from ships and artillery of Palestinian targets reportedly routed thousands of civilians. Israeli planes swept low over Beirut and other cities, stirring wide panic. More than 47 persons have been reported killed and 90 wounded in the Israeli action, which followed an attack in Israel. [New York Times] The Mideast peace treaty took effect formally as Israel and Egypt exchanged ratification documents in the U.N. buffer zone in the Sinai. [New York Times] The campaign in Northern Ireland, where political violence is common, is very different from that elsewhere in advance of Britain's parliamentary elections. In other areas, candidates talk about taxes, prices or union militancy. In Northern Ireland, they talk about life and death. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 867.46 (+0.60, +0.07%)
S&P Composite: 102.50 (+0.30, +0.29%)
Arms Index: 0.71

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	796	17.76
Declines	627	9.88
Unchanged	472	4.11
Total Volume		31.75

* 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*
April 24, 1979	866.86	102.20	35.54
April 23, 1979	860.10	101.57	25.62
April 20, 1979	856.98	101.23	28.83
April 19, 1979	855.25	101.28	31.12
April 18, 1979	860.27	101.70	29.51
April 17, 1979	857.93	101.24	29.27
April 16, 1979	860.45	101.12	28.05
April 12, 1979	870.50	102.00	26.78
April 11, 1979	871.71	102.31	32.87
April 10, 1979	878.72	103.34	31.90