News stories from Friday October 16, 1981

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

Pressure for support of Awacs sales to Saudi Arabia was continued during a meeting President Reagan had with eight Senators. But there was no indication that the meeting had resulted in a change in the proposal's prospects. The proposal is scheduled for a vote in the Senate the week of Oct. 26. [New York Times] The defeat of new budget cuts proposed by President Reagan was predicted by Senate Republican leaders, according to participants in a closed meeting. The senators told White House officials that Congress would reject most of the new round of budget cuts for 1982. They urged instead that the administration focus on reductions in the budgets for the fiscal years 1983 and 1984, which they said would be more politically palatable. [New York Times] Deferment of an interest rate increase for passbook savings accounts was proposed by Treasury Secretary Donald Regan. The announcement was viewed as certain to delay the half-point increase in the maximum rate that had been scheduled to go into effect on Nov. 1. [New York Times] Residents blocked a toxic waste plant scheduled to be built in Westford, Mass. At a town meeting, the town agreed to drop a plan to rezone a granite quarry as residential land in exchange for a promise from its owner not to sell to a California waste disposal concern. The $100 million waste treatment plant was to be the nation's largest. [New York Times] The House dropped price supports for two commodities -- peanuts and sugar -- during consideration of a new four-year farm bill. The clear passage of the ammendments may have signaled an end to the traditionally firm coalition of farm state members, since many of these representatives voted to end the supports. [New York Times] A former military man was sentenced to life in prison for selling military secrets to the Soviet Union 18 years ago. Former Army Warrant Officer Joseph Helmich pleaded guilty in federal court in Jacksonville, Fla., to one count of espionage conspiracy on Sept. 28. His guilty plea came in the at the midpoint of his trial on four espionage counts. He will be eligible for parole in 10 years. [New York Times] Young Haitian refugees, who came to the United States in boats with other aliens but without their families, are being cared for and educated on a farm near Millbrook, N.Y. Since December a federal program has provided a home as well as educational, medical and recreational facilities for the teenagers while they wait to be sent to families or sponsors. [New York Times] Moshe Dayan died of a heart attack in Tel Aviv. The 66-year-old Israeli military leader and statesman was a former Chief of Staff, Defense Minister and Foreign Minister. He was a key architect of Israel's victories in the 1967 and 1973 wars as well as the Camp David accords that led to the peace treaty with Egypt. [New York Times] The Polish government accused the Solidarity union of trying to establish a "totalitarian dictatorship." In a television address, a government spokesman charged that the Solidary union was trying to usurp power by proposing the formation of a special council to work out an economic policy that would not be under Communist Party control. [New York Times] Margaret Thatcher held fast to her economic policies, firmly rejecting what she termed "false hopes and spurious remedies" for Britain's high unemployment and other problems. The Prime Minister brought the Conservative Party's contentious conference to a rousing conclusion with her resolute response to the warnings by critics in her party that the voters would repudiate her policies. [New York Times] Arrests of Moslem extremists in an extended government crackdown was reported in Egypt. Egyptian sources said President Hosni Mubarak, in a move to consolidate his rule, ordered a nationwide roundup of fundamentalists. The government would neither confirm nor deny reports that the police had arrested hundreds or even thousands of Moslem militants suspected of involvement in demonstrations and violence against the regime. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 851.69 (-4.57, -0.53%)
S&P Composite: 119.19 (-0.52, -0.43%)
Arms Index: 1.50

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	657	11.56
Declines	800	21.17
Unchanged	412	5.07
Total Volume		37.80

* 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*
October 15, 1981	856.26	119.71	42.82
October 14, 1981	850.65	118.80	40.25
October 13, 1981	865.58	120.78	43.07
October 12, 1981	869.48	121.21	30.05
October 9, 1981	873.00	121.45	50.06
October 8, 1981	878.14	122.31	47.08
October 7, 1981	868.72	121.31	50.02
October 6, 1981	856.26	119.39	45.45
October 5, 1981	859.87	119.51	51.28
October 2, 1981	860.73	119.36	54.57