News stories from Wednesday June 13, 1979

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

Action on chemical waste and oil spills was sought by President Carter, who asked Congress for legislation that would impose fees on businesses that create such hazards to pay for cleaning them up. The legislation would create a $1.6 billion fund over four years, 80 percent of which would be paid by industry and the rest by the federal and state governments. Prospects for eventual approval by Congress are considered fairly good. [New York Times] Presidential aspirations were denied by Senator Edward Kennedy, who said that he told President Carter in late March that he expected to support him for the Democratic nomination next year and not run against him. Mr. Kennedy spoke in an interview following reports that the President had predicted he would "whip" the Massachusetts Democrat if he opposed Mr. Carter for the nomination. [New York Times] George Meany may retire this year as president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., close colleagues said. The long pre-eminent labor leader is nearly 85 years old and is growing more frail. If he resigns, Lane Kirkland, now secretary-treasurer of the labor federation, is almost certain to be elected his successor, the labor officials said. [New York Times] Driving habits are changing among 50 percent of those surveyed in the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. Interviews with respondents indicate that the energy issue is affecting a wide range of decisions on how people work and play, shop and eat, keep warm and cool. The crisis, along with inflation, is causing some Americans to re-evaluate their lives and futures. [New York Times] Violence marked a truckers' protest when a truck driver's wife was critically injured by sniper fire in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Scores of truckers were arrested as convoys forced highway slowdowns and blockaded truck stops in a growing national effort to get more diesel fuel at lower prices. [New York Times] An end of the doctor shortage is expected by the late 1980's, a decade earlier than forecast, according to a major report. By 1985, the report said, 85 percent of Americans will have a doctor who takes continuous care of most general medical problems and, by 1990, the figure will be 94 percent. In 1976, it was 62 percent. [New York Times] Doubts over a broad health program were indicated by congressional leaders, who held out little hope for approval of one this year because of the high costs involved. [New York Times] Hopes for progress in summit talks this weekend were expressed by Secretary of State Vance, who said that the United States sought to achieve "a more stable relationship" with the Soviet Union and end the fluctuations of the past. Mr. Vance rebutted as "wrong" charges made by Senator Henry Jackson that the three most recent administrations had practiced "a decade of appeasement" toward the Soviet Union. [New York Times] Russians have resisted U.S. influence and have shown little interest in change in Soviet society despite their increased exposure to American society during detente. Since long before the Bolshevik Revolution, Western ideas of democracy have remained alien, incomprehensible and unattractive to broad masses of Russians, who have a mystical respect for authority and a yearning for order. [New York Times] The travails of Cambodian refugees continue as more than 40,000 have been forced to return home, and possibly to death, by Thai military authorities. Many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of them were certain of acceptance by a third country, but Thailand did not allow them to wait. [New York Times] Looting in Nicaragua's capital of Managua was widespread as government troops tried to dislodge young insurgents holding most of the outlying slum districts. In some areas, the rebels broke into supermarkets, granaries and meat refrigeration plants and gave out food to the poor. Civilians fleeing from the fighting broke into stores and offices without interference by government forces. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 842.17 (-3.12, -0.37%)
S&P Composite: 102.31 (-0.54, -0.53%)
Arms Index: 0.90

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	791	19.46
Declines	719	15.99
Unchanged	426	5.29
Total Volume		40.74

* 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*
June 12, 1979	845.29	102.85	45.44
June 11, 1979	837.58	101.91	28.27
June 8, 1979	835.15	101.49	31.47
June 7, 1979	836.97	101.79	43.38
June 6, 1979	835.50	101.30	39.83
June 5, 1979	831.34	100.62	35.05
June 4, 1979	821.90	99.32	24.04
June 1, 1979	821.21	99.17	24.57
May 31, 1979	822.33	99.08	30.31
May 30, 1979	822.16	99.11	29.25