News stories from Tuesday April 15, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Details of the life of the hostages in the American Embassy in Iran were reported by members of the group that visited them for eight hours on Monday. The visitors said that the captives were no longer bound, most sleep on mattresses on the floor of a large office complex, their rooms are generally tidy and none shows any obvious signs of brainwashing.
All 50 hostages are accounted for in the American Embassy compound in Teheran and many are being held in solitary confinement, administration officials said. They based the statement on reports from the Red Cross officials who had visited the Embassy.
[New York Times] - Bonn's support of Washington was indicated by leaders of the governing party, who said that West Germany was ready to impose a trade embargo against Iran and to advocate a boycott of the Moscow Olympics. [New York Times]
- Ford announced sweeping dismissals and said that it would close three plants, including its major auto assembly facility in Mahwah, N.J., and eliminate one work shift at four other assembly plants. New car and truck sales of Ford are down 30 percent in the United States so far this year. Company officials said that 6,100 salaried employees would be dismissed, effective May and that 9,000 hourly workers would be dismissed, beginning April 25.
The closing of the Mahwah, plant by the Ford Motor Company in June will put 3,732 employees out of work and cut off a payroll that totaled $85 million last year. A union official called the projected shutdown of the huge assembly plant "a total disaster." A Ford official described the closing as "permanent" and said that the company planned to sell the plant.
[New York Times] - A steel industry contract was ratified by the United Steelworkers of America. The three-year pact will substantially increase wages and benefits, but apparently conforms to the administration's wage guidelines. [New York Times]
- An extension of an energy-saving plan was ordered by President Carter. The largely voluntary program, which sets temperatures in nonresidential buildings of not less than 78 degrees Fahrenheit in summer and not more than 65 degrees in winter, was due to expire last night, but will remain in effect for nine more months. [New York Times]
- Dissident New York City transit workers failed in an attempt to block a ratification vote on their tentative contract as a judge dismissed their request. But the dissidents won a new order directing union officers to show cause on Wednesday why they should not be enjoined from such a vote and why there should not be another vote by the executive board, which split, 22 to 22, last Friday on acceptance of the pact with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. [New York Times]
- Curbs against arrests were expanded by the Supreme Court, which ruled 6 to 3 that the police must have a warrant to enter a suspect's home to make a routine arrest. The decision reversed a ruling by New York state's highest court and invalidated the laws of New York and 22 other states that permit arrests without warrants in homes. [New York Times]
- Talks on Palestinian autonomy in Israeli-occupied territories should be "accelerated and intensified" in Egypt and Israel in an effort to reach agreement by the May 26 target date, Prime Minister Begin of Israel said. Israeli sources said he had made the proposal at a White House meeting with President Carter. [New York Times]
- Jean-Paul Sartre died in a Paris hospital at the age of 74. Long regarded as one of France's reigning intellectuals, he influenced two generations of writers and thinkers throughout the world through his existentialist philosophy and expressed ideas on virtually every subject in novels, plays, biographies, essays and tracts. [New York Times]
- The Saudi monarchy is threatened because of its traditional methods of doing business, according to American officials and businessmen. The practices include the payment of multimillion-dollar commissions to members of the royal family acting as middlemen. American officials tend to view the practices as corrupt and fear that they will lead to instability in a country of pivotal importance to Washington. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 783.36 (-1.54, -0.20%)
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 14, 1980 | 784.90 | 102.84 | 23.06 |
| April 11, 1980 | 791.55 | 103.79 | 29.96 |
| April 10, 1980 | 791.47 | 104.08 | 33.95 |
| April 9, 1980 | 785.92 | 103.11 | 33.02 |
| April 8, 1980 | 775.00 | 101.20 | 31.69 |
| April 7, 1980 | 768.34 | 100.19 | 29.13 |
| April 3, 1980 | 784.13 | 102.15 | 27.96 |
| April 2, 1980 | 787.80 | 102.68 | 35.20 |
| April 1, 1980 | 784.47 | 102.18 | 32.03 |
| March 31, 1980 | 785.75 | 102.09 | 35.85 |