News stories from Wednesday April 8, 1981

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

Preparations for the launching of the first space shuttle at 6:50 A.M. on Friday proceeded smoothly at Cape Canaveral, Fla. After three years of training, John Young and Navy Capt. Robert Crippen arrived at the space center and are to spend Thursday in briefings and flying jets to maintain piloting proficiency. Doubts about future space programs have been increasing because the administration has not yet expressed a long-range or detailed philosophy on the value of continued endeavors. The decision to press ahead with the manned-shuttle program is rooted primarily in short-run military and intelligence advantages rather than on a philosophical commitment to enhance national prestige and pride. [New York Times] President Reagan's hospital regimen includes two hours a day doing work and the rest of the time resting, reading and undergoing sometimes painful exercises and physical therapy for his injuries from the assasination attempt 10 days ago. Visitors say he has lost weight and looks drawn, but that his spirits are good. [New York Times] General Omar Bradley died in Manhattan at the age of 88. The Army leader was a World War II hero in Europe, the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the last of the nation's five-star generals. [New York Times] An attack on the economic program proposed by President Reagan was intensified by House Democrats. They criticized what they termed the administration's "bunker mentality" and called its planned tax cuts equivalent to "faith in a free lunch." But a statement of principles adopted by the 242-member House Democratic Caucus ex-pressed a commitment to reduced government growth, a strong national defense and the work ethic. [New York Times] An alternative tax relief bill designed to win support from conservative Democrats and Republicans was said to have been proposed by Dan Rostenkowski, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. The plan was reported to call for a cut in the maximum tax rate, to 50 percent from 70 percent, at once, rather than over the three years proposed by President Reagan. [New York Times] Mass transit may be most affected by President Reagan's planned cuts in aid to transportation. Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis has said that he wants to "save" as much as $31 billion by 1986 by trimming federal programs and to phase out operating subsidies starting in 1983, and possibly ending them in 1985 or 1986. [New York Times] A sharp increase in Asian students at the Berkeley campus of the University of California has generated academic, cultural and language problems. In 15 years the number of students of Asian origin has quadrupled, rising to 20 percent of the undergraduates. Some of the students say they are pushed into certain fields by counselors or by language difficulties. [New York Times] The NATO allies warned Moscow that military intervention in Poland "would have profound implications for all aspects of East-West relations." The Western defense ministers also expressed concern about what they said was an "unrelenting buildup and improvement" in Soviet nuclear arms. [New York Times] The United States accused the Kremlin of continuing military and political pressure on Poland despite Tuesday's announcement that the Warsaw Pact maneuvers had ended. [New York Times] Soviet troop arrivals in Afghanistan to bolster the units that have been trying to subdue Moslem guerrillas for 15 months were reported by a Western diplomat. The envoy said that Afghan informants estimated the reinforcements at from 10,000 to 60,000, with most citing about 20,000. [New York Times] Alexander Haig was in a good mood as he concluded a tour of the Middle East. The Secretary of State said that his mission had laid the groundwork for strengthened American ties with all countries in the region. [New York Times] Assassination attempts In El Salvador are being pressed by both left-wing insurgents and right-wing forces in efforts to weaken the government, in the opinion of American intelligence and State Department officials. The officials said that reports received in the last month documented about 30 attempts a week to kill government officials around the country. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 993.43 (+0.54, +0.05%)
S&P Composite: 134.31 (+0.40, +0.30%)
Arms Index: 0.71

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	863	27.85
Declines	656	15.13
Unchanged	405	5.02
Total Volume		48.00

* 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 7, 1981	992.89	133.91	44.54
April 6, 1981	994.24	133.93	43.11
April 3, 1981	1007.11	135.49	48.68
April 2, 1981	1009.01	136.32	52.57
April 1, 1981	1014.14	136.57	54.89
March 31, 1981	1003.87	136.00	50.97
March 30, 1981	992.16	134.28	33.49
March 27, 1981	994.78	134.65	46.93
March 26, 1981	1005.76	136.27	60.37
March 25, 1981	1015.22	137.11	56.34