News stories from Thursday February 19, 1981

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

A refusal to negotiate with Iran would not have been preferable to the extended talks that resolved the hostage crisis, according to congressional testimony by former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie and former Deputy Secretary Warren Christopher. If the negotiations had not been held, Mr. Muskie said, "the hostages would still be in Teheran." [New York Times] Action on the entire economic program proposed by the administration was urged by President Reagan as he expressed optimism that Congress would approve it intact. His advisers began working with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to avert possible Democratic attempts to separate spending cuts from tax cuts and to reduce the size of the program. [New York Times] Senate Republican leaders pressed a strategy that they hoped would result in Senate approval of a "substantial" part of President Reagan's proposed budget cuts within four weeks. The Republicans seek to restrict eligibility, reduce benefits and place ceilings on spending for such programs as food stamps and Medicaid. [New York Times] A delay in action on tax cuts was predicted by House Democrats. They said that the administration's proposals could not be enacted in time to take effect on July 1, and Representative Dan Rostenkowski, the new chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that the panel could not complete a bill for floor action before mid-May "at the very earliest." [New York Times] Groups opposed to the budget cuts proposed by President Reagan began a concerted effort to blunt the impact on welfare, food stamps, child nutrition and medical help for the poor. A broad coalition of scores of organizations said they planned lobbying and letter writing campaigns to thwart reductions in major programs. [New York Times] Nominees to high-level posts in the administration that are expected to be annnounced tomorrow include John Behan, who is to head the Veterans Administration, a White House official said. Mr. Behan is a former leading Long Island athlete who lost both legs in the Vietnam war and who is now a New York state Assemblyman. [New York Times] An 18-cent postal rate was approved for letters by the Postal Rate Commission, which rejected a request by the Postal Service to increase the present 15-cent rate to 20 cents. The commission called for more modest charges to business than the service seeks. [New York Times] The Cleveland school system is again sliding into financial deficit amid charges of mismanagement. The school system, which is Ohio's largest, is under growing criticism by state officials over its "inability or unwillingness" to control costs. [New York Times] Arson was the cause of a fire Wednesday at the $75 million Harley of New York Hotel soon after it was officially opened, the New York City Fire Department said. Half a dozen fires had erupted during the construction of the midtown Manhattan building. Two of them, which were also attributed to arson, occurred during reported labor disputes. [New York Times] The insurgency in El Salvador has been transformed into "a textbook case of indirect armed aggression by Communist powers," according to a State Department memorandum. The memorandum summarizes what it says is documentary evidence that Nicaragua's leaders have cooperated with Cuba in shipping arms through Nicaragua to the leftist insurgents in El Salvador. [New York Times] Pope John Paul II was hailed in a spontaneously enthusiastic welcome to Cebu, the Philippines, which regards itself as the fountainhead of Roman Catholicism in Asia. In two sermons, the Pontiff deplored divorce, abortion, artificial contraception, sexual permissiveness and "the fear of permanent commitment." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 933.36 (-13.74, -1.45%)
S&P Composite: 126.61 (-1.87, -1.46%)
Arms Index: 1.97

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	418	6.03
Declines	1,117	31.81
Unchanged	376	3.79
Total Volume		41.63

* 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*
February 18, 1981	947.10	128.48	40.42
February 17, 1981	939.68	127.81	37.94
February 13, 1981	931.57	126.98	33.36
February 12, 1981	936.60	127.48	34.71
February 11, 1981	942.49	128.24	37.79
February 10, 1981	948.63	129.24	40.81
February 9, 1981	947.18	129.27	38.32
February 6, 1981	952.30	130.60	45.82
February 5, 1981	946.76	129.63	45.31
February 4, 1981	941.98	128.59	45.53