News stories from Thursday September 25, 1980

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

Iraq reported new advances in Iran, announcing that its troops had seized the southern oil port of Khurramshahr. The statement was denied by Iran, but residents of the city, reached by telephone, said that people were fleeing after heavy artillery and air attacks. As air assaults were continued by both sides, Iraq said that its forces had cut the rail link between the southern oil centers and Teheran and had advanced at some points about 30 miles into Iranian territory. [New York Times] An effort to halt the war in the Persian Gulf is to begin tomorrow when representatives of Moslem nations meet at the United Nations to choose three high-level mediators to visit Iran and Iraq. The intervention was requested by the President of Iran and has been accepted by Iraq, according to the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, who is chairman of the Islamic foreign ministers' group.U.S. optimism about limiting the war was expressed by Secretary of State Muskie after a three-hour meeting in New York with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. Mr. Muskie said that both superpowers had affirmed their neutrality and he said he believed that the fighting would not grow into a larger regional war. Washington sought to show neutrality in the Persian Gulf fighting by suspending the export of six turbine engines that had been scheduled to power combat frigates for Iraq. [New York Times] Iraq's conditions for peace include recognition by Iran of Baghdad's claims to a frontier waterway and a promise not to interfere in Iraqi affairs, according to an envoy from President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The envoy, who is the Deputy Prime Minister, spoke to reporters in Paris. [New York Times] Rapid Deployment Force officers have been preparing for several months to fly a force to the Middle East, or any other crisis spot, if the President ordered such a move to deter Soviet or other incursions into areas vital to American interests. However, the new force is still a long way from being fully prepared. [New York Times] American yachtsmen were victorious as Freedom completed a successful defense of the America's Cup off Newport, R.I. In the 25th straight triumph for the United States in the 129 years of the event, Freedom sailed away from Australia with ease. [New York Times] A tax cut bid lost in the Senate as the Democrats defeated a Republican attempt to put before the chamber a Finance Committee bill proposing $40 billion in cutbacks next year for individuals and businesses. The vote of 54 to 38 marked a victory for President Carter and Democratic congressional leaders, who have said that tax relief should not be considered in an election campaign atmosphere. [New York Times] A Chicago school desegregation accord reached Wednesday between the city's school board and the Justice Department requires Chicago officials to take smaller steps toward integration than they had agreed to take a year ago, participants in the negotiatons said. Civil rights lawyers and the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan and John Anderson accused the Carter administration of political opportunism, which it denied. [New York Times] The Carter attacks on Ronald Reagan, under criticism by Republicans as the politics of the "low road," are designed to exploit what Democratic campaign officials maintain are Mr. Reagan's defects in the public's view. Officials of President Carter's campaign express satisfaction that the attacks have put Mr. Reagan on the defensive on a series of issues. [New York Times] The 1980 census was ruled invalid by a federal judge on the ground that it had undercounted blacks and Hispanic-Americans, and he ordered the government to revise the figures for those groups across the country. The challenge was brought by Detroit and supported by other cities that have large numbers of minority groups.New York City has lost a million people in the last decade and its population has dropped to the lowest level since the 1920's, according to preliminary census figures that put the city's population at 6,808,370. The figures were disclosed as city officials hailed a federal court decision ordering the Census Bureau not it publish its findings until an undercount of blacks and Hispanic people was adjusted. [New York Times] A tentative accord in the actors' strike was reached in Los Angeles after nearly 19 consecutive hours of bargaining between management and representatives of 60,000 movie and television performers. The negotiators for the two unions that have been striking for 67 days will unanimously recommend the pact, but ratification is not expected soon. [New York Times] A hard-line corrections policy was the probable cause of the riot at the New Mexico State Penitentiary last February, an investigation by the state Attorney General has concluded. It said that long-time prison policies had eliminated incentives and diminished inmates' self-esteem, leading to the rioting that killed 33 inmates. [New York Times] Japan's Premier opposes rearmament in the long-running debate on whether his country should increase military spending or remain dependent on Washington for defense. Zenko Suzuki, who was chosen Prime Minister in July, said he opposed Japan's becoming "a military power." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 955.97 (-8.79, -0.91%)
S&P Composite: 128.72 (-1.65, -1.27%)
Arms Index: 1.40

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	485	11.19
Declines	1,063	34.32
Unchanged	377	4.00
Total Volume		49.51

* 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*
September 24, 1980	964.76	130.37	56.86
September 23, 1980	962.03	129.43	64.39
September 22, 1980	974.57	130.40	53.14
September 19, 1980	963.74	129.25	53.74
September 18, 1980	956.48	128.40	63.39
September 17, 1980	961.26	128.87	63.99
September 16, 1980	945.90	126.74	57.28
September 15, 1980	937.63	125.67	44.63
September 12, 1980	936.52	125.54	47.18
September 11, 1980	941.30	125.66	44.77