News stories from Monday April 5, 1982

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

A break in the budget stalemate is possible through direct negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders, both President Reagan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill agreed optimistically in a marked turnaround from their previous respective positions. It was the first time that Mr. Reagan had spoken favorably of a proposed "summit" meeting that would include Democrats who opposed his budget. Mr. O'Neill, who had advocated such a meeting, had not been hopeful that it would take place. [New York Times] The mining of minerals on public lands will be encouraged by the Reagan administration under a new policy announced by the President aimed at making the United States less dependent on foreign mineral sources. The new "national materials and minerals" program would make it easier to "withdraw" lands now federally protected and make them available for the exploration and mining of key resources. [New York Times] Job seniority systems are legal regardless of their impact on women or members of minority groups as long as they were not adopted for a discriminatory purpose, the Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 4. The decision reversed a ruling by an appellate court which held, in a suit brought by black workers in a Richmond, Va., tobacco factory, that seniority systems adopted or modified after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 could be challenged on the ground of discriminatory impact alone. The Court thus made it more difficult to challenge the racial or sexual fairness of seniority systems established after the law took effect in 1965. [New York Times] A nuclear pump safety report was altered by Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials after the manufacturer involved was allowed to review it, according to agency documents and company and commission officials. The report followed a safety investigation of the Hayward-Tyler Pump Company of Burlington, Vt., manufacturer of pumps that have been purchased by 30 nuclear plants around the nation. [New York Times] Britain's Foreign Secretary resigned because of what he said was the "humiliating affront" of Argentina's seizure of the Falkland Islands last week. The resignations of Lord Carrington and two of his principal assistants were announced as a large part of the British fleet was on its way to the South Atlantic. Lord Carrington will be replaced by Francis Pym, the Conservative leader in the House of Commons. [New York Times] President Reagan will address a disarmament conference at the United Nations in New York in June, and he urged Leonid Brezhnev to do the same to provide an opportunity for them to meet. Mr. Reagan indicated that he was not necessarily proposing "a full-blown summit conference" but made a point of saying at least twice, "I think it would be well if he and I had a talk." [New York Times] Hoping to bolster ties with Peking, Secretary of State Alexander Haig urged the Chinese Ambassador to accept an American proposal for dealing with the issue of American military sales to Taiwan. The State Department declined to provide details of the meeting with Ambassador Chai Zemin, but officials have told key members of Congress that the administration would make public in the next two weeks plans to sell Taiwan $60 million in promised American military spare parts. [New York Times] Restoration of home rule in Ulster is the goal of a consultative assembly proposed by Britain for Northern Ireland. British officials in London said they were determined to hold elections for the 78-member assembly in the fall. The leaders of Catholic and Protestant factions in Ulster criticized the proposal. The Irish government in Dublin said the plan was "unworkable and mistaken." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 835.33 (-3.24, -0.39%)
S&P Composite: 114.73 (-0.39, -0.34%)
Arms Index: 1.25

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	739	18.03
Declines	719	21.88
Unchanged	423	6.99
Total Volume		46.90

* 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 2, 1982	838.57	115.12	59.86
April 1, 1982	833.24	113.79	57.10
March 31, 1982	822.77	111.96	43.37
March 30, 1982	824.49	112.27	43.99
March 29, 1982	823.82	112.30	37.07
March 26, 1982	817.92	111.94	42.40
March 25, 1982	827.63	113.21	51.96
March 24, 1982	823.34	112.97	49.38
March 23, 1982	826.67	113.55	67.12
March 22, 1982	819.54	112.77	57.61