News stories from Friday May 22, 1981

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

Retail prices rose by 0.4 percent in April, the Labor Department reported. This was the lowest monthly increase since October 1977 except for a freak result last July. Analysts greeted the news enthusiastically and predicted that single-digit levels of inflation could continue over the next several months if there are no large increases in energy prices. [New York Times] Roy Williams was indicted, along with four other men, by a federal grand jury for allegedly conspiring to bribe Senator Howard Cannon of Nevada. Mr. Williams, interim president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the four other men were accused of promising Senator Cannon and some associates an exclusive right to purchase a parcel of land from the union's pension fund in an effort to forestall trucking deregulation legislation. [New York Times] Negotiations to end the coal mine strike in Eastern and Middle Western coal fields resumed in an atmosphere of optimism spurred by the relaxing of demands by the miners' union. [New York Times] A small bomb was safely detonated by the police after being found at a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Hamden, Conn. The device was the third such bomb found in the city in 24 hours. [New York Times] Inmates went on a rampage in the Southern Michigan Prison after guards began an unauthorized lockup of the inmates in preparation for a search for hidden weapons. Prison spokesmen said five inmates were injured in the melee. [New York Times] Collusion by National Park Service personnel and land owners was indicated by information received by Intenor Secretary James Watt. The Secretary ordered his department's inspector general to investigate the service's land-buying practices. [New York Times] In Partoun, Utah. the MX missile system was the subject of a speech given by Gov. Scott Matheson at the local high school graduation. The proposed system aroused the concerns of the Governor and many of the 150 people attending the commencement, who fear that the rugged way of life in the Great Basin of Utah and Nevada may vanish in the name of national security. [New York Times] The nominee for the human rights post in the State Department, with opposition to him mounting in the Senate, received new pledges of support from the White House. Ernest Lefever, the administration's nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs said nothing in his confirmation hearings that would lead President Reagan to withdraw his support, according to Larry Speakes, the Deputy White House press spokesman. [New York Times] American-West German friendship was stressed by President Reagan and Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they bade farewell at the White House after two days of talks. A joint statement issued later reflected no disagreements and highlighted the security priorities of the two governments. [New York Times] An Israeli pilotless plane was shot down during a reconnaissance mission over eastern Lebanon by one of the missile batteries whose removal has been demanded by Israel. Syria said its forces brought down two Israeli drones, but Israel confirmed the loss of only one. The action occured as Philip Habib, the special American envoy, arrived in Beirut to press his efforts to keep the situation from exploding into war. [New York Times] Confidence in the French franc dropped again on President Mitterand's first full day in office. Money continued to pour out of the country despite the tough new defenses set up by the new government. In a further bid to halt the flight of capital abroad, the French central bank said it would raise its key interst rate to a record 22 percent on Monday. [New York Times] A new French cabinet was named and the National Assembly was dissolved by President Francois Mitterrand on his first full day in office. His cabinet included three figures from the French political center, but no Communists were named. The moves reflected two of President Mitterrand's immediate priorities: to win a working majority in the National Assembly that will be elected next month, and to reassure the economic and financial community. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 971.72 (-4.87, -0.50%)
S&P Composite: 131.33 (-0.42, -0.32%)
Arms Index: 0.88

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	788	20.10
Declines	671	15.08
Unchanged	419	5.53
Total Volume		40.71

* 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 21, 1981	976.59	131.75	46.79
May 20, 1981	976.86	132.00	42.37
May 19, 1981	980.01	132.09	42.21
May 18, 1981	985.77	132.54	42.51
May 15, 1981	985.95	132.17	45.46
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