News stories from Wednesday August 19, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The nation's air lanes are "safe" despite the strike by 12,000 flight controllers, according to John O'Donnell, president of the 33,000-member Air Line Pilots Association. Earlier, Robert Poli, president of the controllers' union, said that he would step aside if his continued presence was impeding a settlement with the Reagan administration. [New York Times]
- Charges against James Watt, Secretary of the Interior, are planned by lawyers for environmental groups. They said they had informed a federal judge they would seek to prove that Mr. Watt was engaged in "collusion" with his former law firm in a suit it filed against his department in an effort to revoke a congressional ban on oil and gas leasing in a vast Montana wilderness area. [New York Times]
- Jailed Cuban refugees were upheld by a federal judge, who temporarily barred the government from carrying out plans to deport any of the 1,800 Cubans held in a federal prison in Atlanta while their cases were in his court. The judge issued the order hours after directing that 365 of the refugees were free to leave as soon as they could be united with American sponsors. [New York Times]
- Procedures in guarding the President were evaluated in a report by the Treasury Department. It concluded that the Secret Service and other Treasury agencies "performed well" during and after the attempt on President Reagan's life last March 30, but said there was room for improvement in the security procedures. [New York Times]
- In the search for new budget savings, Reagan administration officials are considering decreasing the government subsidy for military commissaries and post exchanges and setting up a system of user fees under which foreign travelers would finance the Customs Service. [New York Times]
- Continued produce exports to Japan from California were assured as Tokyo agreed to accept fruits and vegetables certified as free of infestation by the Mediterranean fruit fly. The last-minute accord continues present policy, which restricts the shipment of produce only from areas under quarantine by the federal government. The areas now ship little or no commerical produce. [New York Times]
- A foundation is selling its vast assets in insurance companies and real estate to comply with federal laws that limit the business ownership permitted for tax-free, private philanthropies. The MacArthur Foundation of Chicago is already one of the nation's wealthiest philanthropies, and experts say that the sale may realize $1 billion to $2 billion, making the foundation possibly second only to the Ford Foundation in assets. [New York Times]
- Two Navy Jets downed two Libyan jets about 80 miles from the Libyan coast after being fired on by one of the Soviet-built Libyan SU-22's, the United States announced. Officials said that the one-minute dogfight occurred in the final hours of a two-day United States Navy exercise in the southern Mediterranean and the northern part of the Gulf of Sidra. The gulf is a broad body of water claimed by Libya as part of its terroritial waters but regarded by the United States as international waters. [New York Times]
- Libya accused the United States of "international terrorism" as a result of the air clash over the Mediterranean, which it described as "aggression." Libya's official press agency asserted that one United States jet had been shot down, a statement that Washington denied. [New York Times]
- Skeleton issues of some Polish papers were run off on military and other presses, but the attempt to break a 48-hour printers' strike foundered when the walkout was backed by distributors and vendors. [New York Times]
- Mass arrests of South African blacks were carried out at a squatters' camp in Cape Town. About 2,000 men, women and children were forced into about 80 trucks and taken to prison. They are expected to be sent to a rural black homeland. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 926.46 (+2.09, +0.23%)
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* |
| August 18, 1981 | 924.37 | 130.11 | 47.26 |
| August 17, 1981 | 926.75 | 131.22 | 40.84 |
| August 14, 1981 | 936.93 | 132.49 | 42.57 |
| August 13, 1981 | 944.35 | 133.51 | 42.44 |
| August 12, 1981 | 945.21 | 133.40 | 53.65 |
| August 11, 1981 | 949.30 | 133.85 | 52.59 |
| August 10, 1981 | 943.68 | 132.54 | 38.37 |
| August 7, 1981 | 942.54 | 131.75 | 38.38 |
| August 6, 1981 | 952.91 | 132.64 | 52.07 |
| August 5, 1981 | 953.58 | 132.67 | 54.27 |