News stories from Friday May 15, 1981

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

Pope John Paul II gained strength was described as "serene" by the Vatican spokesman, who said that the Pope, despite a mild fever, was strong enough to recite prayers and give blessings to doctors and nurses at his Rome hospital. Nevertheless, there was still the risk of peritonitis or another infection from his intestinal wound. [New York Times] The motive of the alleged assailant of Pope John Paul II perplexed Turkish officials. Some said that Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turk and a fugitive from a murder charge, was a psychopath with no links to any organization. Others said he was a militant right-wing terrorist linked to fascist organizations in Turkey and abroad. [New York Times] West German officials were informed on 10 occasions that Mehmet Ali Agca, the Pope's assailant and a fugitive from Turkey, was hiding in West Germany, where about 1.3 million Turks work. They disclosed that they were tipped at least 10 times in recent months, and defending the West German police from growing charges of negligence, they said some tips on the fugitive involved mistaken identity, nonexistent addresses or mistaken names. [New York Times] A tax-relief compromise with Congress on some details of President Reagan's proposals for cuts was indicated by the White House. The signal that a compromise might be discussed followed a finding by the House minority leader, Representative Robert Michel, Republican of Illinois, that his party could not pick up enough Democratic support to pass the tax bill unchanged. The opposition centers on the President's demand for three consecutive annual tax rate cuts of 10 percent. [New York Times] Columbia's second flight is scheduled for Sept. 30, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced, if the space shuttle's repairs, modifications and retesting at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are completed in time. [New York Times] Fear of crime has become the major source of dissatisfaction with urban living and the major reason for moving away, according to a Gallup poll made for the Naiional League of Cities and the Kettering and Mott foundations. The increasing expression of this fear coincided with the substantial increase in the number of crimes reported to the police and is threatening the renewal of centers of old cities. [New York Times] Roy Williams was elected interim head of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to replace Frank Fitzsimmons, who died May 6. In electing Mr. Williams, the executive board disregarded a Justice Department inquiry into allegations that he had illegally influenced degregulation legislation. It also ignored complaints among members that the union's election procedures are undemocratic. [New York Times] Changes in federal laws affecting employment of minority group members and in wage rates in federally financed construction and service contracts are being considered by Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, a spokesman for the Labor Department said. A spokesman for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. said the labor organization would oppose such changes, and that it had not been consulted. [New York Times] Saudi Arabia's intervention in the Israeli-Syrian dispute over the Syrian missiles based in Lebanon is being sought by the Reagan administration through the American special envoy to the Middle East, Philip Habib. American officials believe that an Israeli attack on the missile emplacements is imminent. The State Department ordered the United State Embassy in Beirut to hasten the evacuation of American dependents and to advise non-official Americans in Lebanon to leave. [New York Times] Israel will continue to use diplomacy to settle the missile crisis in Lebanon with Syria, Prime Minister Menachem Begin said following a meeting in Jerusalem with Mr. Habib, who was expected to remain in the Middle East at least several more days. Israel was expected to delay any military action against Syria until Mr. Habib's ends his attempts at peacemaking. [New York Times] African issues were discussed at the White House by President Reagan and South Africa's Foreign Minister, Roelof Botha. The meeting, described as "friendly" by a White House spokesman, followed discussions between Mr. Botha and Secretary of State Alexander Haig on the long-delayed plan to establish an independent state, Namibia, in the territory of South-West Africa, now administered by South Africa. The administration is continuing the policy established by the Carter administration that supports the United Nations Security Council's plan backing South Africa's withdrawal from South-West Africa after internationally supervised elections are held. South Africa has repeatedly found fault with this plan. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 985.95 (+12.88, +1.32%)
S&P Composite: 132.17 (+0.89, +0.68%)
Arms Index: 0.62

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,003	30.62
Declines	531	10.12
Unchanged	377	4.72
Total Volume		45.46

* 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 14, 1981	973.07	131.28	42.75
May 13, 1981	967.76	130.55	42.59
May 12, 1981	970.82	130.72	40.34
May 11, 1981	963.44	129.71	37.63
May 8, 1981	976.40	131.66	41.85
May 7, 1981	978.39	131.67	42.59
May 6, 1981	973.34	130.78	47.10
May 5, 1981	972.44	130.32	48.99
May 4, 1981	979.11	130.67	40.66
May 1, 1981	995.59	132.72	48.35