News stories from Wednesday September 15, 1982

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

A proposal to limit abortions was voted down in the Senate. The vote, which appeared to be stalemated, was 47 to 46, with Senator Jim Sasser, Democrat of Tennessee, providing the deciding vote. The vote came a few days after President Reagan threw his support behind the legislation which would have banned the used of federal funds for abortions. [New York Times] The President responded to criticism of his administration's treatment of the disadvantaged saying that blacks "would be appreciably better off today" if the Great Society had never occurred. President Reagan's remarks were aimed at rebutting criticism of some of his appointments to civil rights agencies. Many of those appointments were opposed by civil rights groups. [New York Times] A Navy and Air Force agreement that calls for a major new tactical role for the Air Force in the protection of the nation's sea lanes, once a jealously guarded province of the Navy, was disclosed by senior miliitary officers. The Naval and Air Force officers said it was the first significant interservice tactical agreement worked out under orders from Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. [New York Times] A proposal to cut the defense budget has reportedly caused a dispute between the Reagan administration and congressional leaders of both parties. The Congressmen have indicated that they want to cut $8.7 billion from the President's proposed $210 billion Pentagon budget for 1983. Senate sources said that Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the Republican whip, urged the President to have the Pentagon agree to the cuts but that Mr. Reagan "did not budge an inch." [New York Times] Israeli troops took positions in west Beirut in a drive prompted by the assassination on Tuesday of Lebanon's President-elect, Bashir Gemayel. The Israelis ran into some resistance from Lebanese Moslem and leftist militiamen. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shafik al-Wazzan called for the withdrawal of the Israeli troops. [New York Times] Prime Minister Menachem Begin reportedly told the American speical envoy, Morris Draper, that he ordered Israeli troops into west Beirut to prevent the reorganization of the Palestine Liberation Organization and leftist Moslem militias. The move was designed to salvage Israel's political gains in Lebanon following the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel. [New York Times] The United States expressed concern that Israel's sudden military move into west Beirut could worsen an already tense situation in the aftermath of the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel. The Reagan administration has urged that the Israeli troops leave west Beirut as soon as possible. [New York Times] The death of Princess Grace of Monaco brought a confused sadness to the small principality as hundreds of people filed past her bier in the Palatine Chapel of the Prince's Palace. Until the announcement of her death Tuesday, Princess Grace's condition was officially "stationary," leaving many of the mourners to ask about what actually happened after the automobile accident on Monday, which injured Princess Grace's 17-year-old daughter Stephanie. [New York Times] Moscow's positions on the peace plan for the Middle East were outlined by Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leader, who said that they were "not at variance" with the position taken by Arab leaders at their meeting in Fez, Morocco. [New York Times] Mexico and Venezuela requested help from the United States, Honduras and Nicaragua in reducing tensions and clashes along the Honduran-Nicaraguan border. The appeal was made in the first joint diplomatic initiative by Mexico's President, Jose Lopez Portillo, and Venezuela's President, Luis Herrera Campins. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 930.46 (+7.45, +0.81%)
S&P Composite: 124.29 (+1.19, +0.97%)
Arms Index: 0.63

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	980	45.86
Declines	553	16.42
Unchanged	399	7.40
Total Volume		69.68

* 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 14, 1982	923.01	123.10	83.06
September 13, 1982	918.69	122.24	59.51
September 10, 1982	906.82	120.97	71.07
September 9, 1982	912.53	121.97	73.08
September 8, 1982	915.75	122.20	77.95
September 7, 1982	914.28	121.37	68.96
September 3, 1982	925.13	122.68	130.90
September 2, 1982	909.40	120.28	74.73
September 1, 1982	895.05	118.25	82.83
August 31, 1982	901.31	119.51	86.36