News stories from Friday August 24, 1979

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

Consumer prices rose 1 percent in July, after seasonal adjustment, keeping the annual rate of increase in double-digit territory. Unadjusted prices in July were 11.3 percent higher than they were a year ago. With the July increase, consumer prices have gone up by at least 1 percent for seven consecutive months. [New York Times] The big increase in bank robberies in recent years has followed the proliferation of bank branch offices, especially in California and New York, according to law enforcement officials and bank executives. The increase in bank holdups has been highest in California and New York, which have, by far, the nation's largest number of branch banking offices. Many other states prohibit branch banking offices and on a per capita basis those states have far fewer bank robberies.New ways of dealing with bank holdups and the publicity given to the recent outbreak of bank robberies were the principal reasons, the New York City police department said, why there were only four robberies today and none on Thursday. [New York Times] Hamilton Jordan's alleged cocaine use at the Studio 54 discotheque last year will be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Attorney General ordered the preliminary inquiry under provisions of the Ethics in Government Act. Mr. Jordan denies the allegation by lawyers for Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the owners of the New York discotheque. The owners were indicted June 28 on charges of tax evasion, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. [New York Times] A subdued greeting was given President Carter when he ended his riverboat working vacation in St. Louis, in sharp contrast to the tumultuous receptions he had received at most of the 47 stops he made on his seven-day trip along the Mississippi River. Ten thousand people gathered under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis to greet the President. Local newspapers had predicted a turnout of 100,000. [New York Times] Neurotic ills can help a marriage and their cure can sometimes ruin it, according to evidence gathered by two British researchers, Their evidence confirms the observation of family therapists that when the mental health of one spouse improves the marriage sometimes deteriorates. [New York Times] Gerald Rafshoon had no assurances from New York political leaders when he asked them whether Governor Carey's potential role as a "favorite son" might be a threat to President Carter's re-election campaign. Mr. Carter's political adviser had a meeting in New York with Lt. Gov. Mario Cuomo, and then with Mayor Koch at City Hall. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is another "favorite son" possibility. [New York Times] The U.S. prevented the departure of a Soviet airliner taking the wife of Aleksandr Godunov, the Soviet dancer who has defected to the United States, back to Moscow. The State Department delayed the flight to determine whether Lyudmilla Vlasova, who boarded the plane at Kennedy International Airport, was leaving voluntarily. [New York Times] The U.S. succeeded in delaying a vote in the Security Council of the United Nations on a proposed resolution calling for Palestinian "self-determination, national independence and sovereignty." The delay, possibly for two months, was regarded by many delegates as a significant achievement for Andrew Young, the United States delegate, who had said that he would veto the measure if it was brought up for a vote by Arab delegates and their third-world supporters, Mr. Young reaffirmed the administration's view that the Palestinian issue could be resolved through Egyptian-Israeli negotiations. [New York Times] A Kurdish leader denied Iran's claim that government forces had taken a Kurdish stronghold, Saqqiz, in northwest Iran. The official Iranian press agency reported that Saqqiz fell after a three-day battle, but officials of the banned Kurdish Democratic Party said their forces were still in control of the town, and that they were preparing for a long war.The administration appealed to Iran and its Kurdish rebels to exercise restraint in fighting in western Iran. A State Department spokesman "regretted the use of excessive force by both sides" but gave the impression that the administration was more concerned about the survival of a strong central government than the Kurdish goal of political independence. [New York Times] Robert Strauss plans to ask the President to let him carry on as special Middle East negotiator on an unpaid basis. Working for the administration as a "dollar a year" man he said, would permit him to have some "limited role" with his old law firm and resume other personal interests. Under law, a dollar a year official works no more than 130 days a year. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 880.20 (-0.18, -0.02%)
S&P Composite: 108.60 (-0.03, -0.03%)
Arms Index: 0.75

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	624	14.05
Declines	818	13.85
Unchanged	455	4.83
Total Volume		32.73

* 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*
August 23, 1979	880.38	108.63	35.72
August 22, 1979	885.84	108.99	38.45
August 21, 1979	886.01	108.91	38.86
August 20, 1979	886.52	108.83	32.30
August 17, 1979	883.36	108.30	31.63
August 16, 1979	884.04	108.09	47.01
August 15, 1979	885.84	108.25	46.14
August 14, 1979	876.71	107.52	40.91
August 13, 1979	875.26	107.42	41.98
August 10, 1979	867.06	106.40	36.74