News stories from Thursday September 28, 1978

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

President Carter stepped in to end a nationwide rail strike, but railroad workers ignored his 60-day back-to-work order and expanded their picketing to eight more railroads. A top industry spokesman said the new picketing means virtually all U.S. lines now are affected. [Chicago Tribune] House-Senate conferees resolved the last remaining non-tax dispute on President Carter's energy package tonight after agreeing to toughen penalties on fuel-inefficient cars without banning their production. The negotiators tentatively accepted Carter's proposal to tax the worst-offending models. [Chicago Tribune] The Department of Housing and Urban Development is shutting down its disastrous "new towns" program, putting an end to a "sad, painful, and expensive" effort to build innovative new communities throughout the nation. Losses in the eight-year New Communities program now total $149 million, and the Office of Management and Budget has refused to release planning funds to revive the program. [Chicago Tribune] A former employee of Rep. Charles Diggs, granted immunity in the courtroom, testified that the financially troubled Congressman padded her salary so she could pay some of his personal bills. Jean Stultz, testifying for the government at Diggs' federal corruption trial, said the Michigan Democrat ignored her objections to the kickback scheme. [Chicago Tribune] President Carter disclosed Wednesday he has been assured by Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat that there are no remaining obstacles to an Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty now that the Israeli parliament has approved the Camp David accords. Carter said he has exchanged letters with Begin in an effort to work out their differences over Jewish settlements in the West Bank. [Chicago Tribune] Seizing the opportunity to wish President Carter an early "happy birthday," Democratic National Committee members presented the Chief Executive with a cake during a fundraiser in Washington. It was four days before Oct. 1, when Carter will be 54, but singer Diana Ross warbled the traditional "Happy Birthday" while the President proudly displayed his icing-capped fingers. [Chicago Tribune] Senate and House conferees agreed on a bill that would allow a tax credit of up to $250 per student each year to help offset college tuition costs. The provision was approved only after the House conferees reluctantly dropped their insistence that the credit also be made available to parents of pupils in private elementary and secondary schools. [Chicago Tribune] A new blood test that reveals hard-to-detect cancer before traditional symptoms appear has been developed at Massachusetts General Hospital, the New England Journal of Medicine reported. [Chicago Tribune] Sodium nitrite, a food preservative used to combat deadly botulism bacteria in meats, probably causes cancer, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Donald Kennedy said today. In testimony before a House subcommittee, Kennedy said nitrites are a "moderately weak" cancer-causing agent. The agency plans later this year to begin writing regulations that will stop the use of nitrites within several years. [Chicago Tribune] House and Senate negotiators reached a tentative agreement on key issues separating them on a revamp of the civil service system. Although details must still be worked out, the two sides decided to recommend that a three-member board be established to handle appeals in federal employee discrimination cases. The House and Senate had disagreed over whether the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a proposed merit systems protection board or a combination of the two should handle complaints. [Chicago Tribune] The stock market recovered slightly in late trading despite a spreading prime rate increase in the banking industry. The Dow Jones industrial average, down 2½ points earlier, rallied to finish 1.12 higher at 861.31. [Chicago Tribune] Prime Minister Menachem Begin said agreement is so near that a peace treaty with Egypt may be concluded within two weeks, but some of the peace euphoria was dispelled by the resignation of his commerce minister over the Camp David accords ratified by parliament. Earlier, the government said Defense Minister Ezer Weizman will leave for Egypt within two weeks for the treaty talks, while an Israeli advance communications team will leave Friday for Cairo. [Chicago Tribune] Hawkish defense minister Pieter Botha, 62, became South Africa's eighth prime minister. Botha, a moderate on race relations, immediately announced a quest to improve relations with the country's black majority, but also promised to maintain "law and order." Botha was picked at a three-hour caucus of the country's ruling National Party to succeed outgoing Prime Minister John Vorster, 63, who resigned, reportedly for health reasons. [Chicago Tribune] Shell fire hit the Lebanese presidential palace and the courtyard of the prime minister's office, as Syrian gunners and Christian militiamen dueled in their heaviest exchanges of gunfire since the Camp David summit ended nearly two weeks ago. Police said at least 5 persons were killed and 43 wounded. The Christian radio station accused the Syrians of escalating hostilities to undermine the Camp David accords. Syria heads the Arab coalition opposed to the accords. [Chicago Tribune] A Rome court has ordered the villa of actress Sophia Loren and her husband Carlo Ponti impounded in the interests of a bank that says Ponti owes it money. The villa at Marin, 13 miles southeast of Rome, has been unoccupied for more than a year. Ponti and Miss Loren are French citizens and live in France, but have been in frequent trouble with Italian authorities. [Chicago Tribune]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 861.31 (+1.12, +0.13%)
S&P Composite: 101.96 (+0.30, +0.30%)
Arms Index: 0.56

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	695	12.80
Declines	742	7.66
Unchanged	430	3.93
Total Volume		24.39

* 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 27, 1978	860.19	101.66	28.37
September 26, 1978	868.16	102.62	26.33
September 25, 1978	862.35	101.86	20.97
September 22, 1978	862.44	101.84	27.96
September 21, 1978	861.14	101.90	33.65
September 20, 1978	857.16	101.73	35.08
September 19, 1978	861.57	102.53	31.66
September 18, 1978	870.15	103.21	35.83
September 15, 1978	878.55	104.12	37.29
September 14, 1978	887.04	105.10	37.40