News stories from Friday May 30, 1980

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

More evidence of a steep recession was indicated when the government index relied on to predict economic trends registered its sharpest drop in its 32-year history. The Commerce Department reported a 4.8 percent decline in the index of leading indicators in April. The previous record decline of 3 percent was registered in September 1974, when the economy was in the most serious slump since the Depression. [New York Times] The sheriff in Fort Wayne, Ind., arrested and later released a motorcyclist who had been observed riding erractically with three rifles sticking out from a saddle bag several hours after Vernon Jordan, head of the Na-tional Urban League, was shot. The weapons included a 30.06 caliber rifle, the same type the police believe was used in the shooting at a Fort Wayne motel. The rifles were sent to Washington for ballistics tests. The sheriff's office said that the man was not a suspect, however, and that a superficial examination of the 30.06 rifle indicated that it had not been fired in a long time. Mr. Jordan, meanwhile, was under intensive care. [New York Times] A decision not to prosecute Senator Herman Talmadge for allegedly mishandling his office and campaign finances was announced by the Justice Department with the endorsement of a federal grand jury. Sources said a review of the evidence indicated that a conviction would probably not be possible. [New York Times] A cutoff in unemployment checks may face 60,000 jobless people next week, including automobile workers, former servicemen and former federal employees, because a special unemployment benefit fund is running out of money. Congress, preoccupied with the federal budget, is not expected to act immediately on the administration's request for $1.1 billion more to keep the fund solvent through Sept. 30. [New York Times] Only minor mental stress among area residents followed the accident 14 months ago at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, according to a study sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health. The study found that psychological stress was at much lower levels than found in a study by the Pennsylvania Health Department. [New York Times] The Pentagon's records do not indicate that the Army had ever dumped toxic wastes in the Love Canal area, an official said, rebutting a a New York State Assembly commitee report that the Army and other federal agencies had dumped waste in five areas in and around Niagara Falls, N.Y. [New York Times] South Korea's military leaders were placed on the same level with civilian authorities. The government announced the establishment of a Special Commitee for National Security Measures, and said that the new military-civilian body "by no means represents a 'military government' in any sense." The committee was formed despite grave reservations expressed by the United States. [New York Times] A European initiative on the Middle East, designed to meet Palestinian aspirations, will be taken by the European allies, despite strong American resistance, France's Foreign Minister told reporters in Washington. [New York Times] The Kurdish rebellion is posing a serious threat to Iran's revolutionary government. The heavily armed Pesh Mergas of the autonomy-seeking Kurdish nationalist movement, which already have government troops under siege near the Iraqi border, are preparing for guerrilla war. [New York Times] Italy's Prime Minister is accused of protecting the son of the vice president of the Christian Democratic Party from being arrested as a terrorist. Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga was questioned for two and a half hours by a parliamentary commission. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 850.85 (+4.60, +0.54%)
S&P Composite: 111.24 (+0.97, +0.88%)
Arms Index: 0.54

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	837	22.74
Declines	610	8.87
Unchanged	419	3.21
Total Volume		34.82

* 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*
May 29, 1980	846.25	110.27	42.00
May 28, 1980	860.32	112.06	38.57
May 27, 1980	857.76	111.40	40.80
May 23, 1980	854.10	110.62	45.79
May 22, 1980	842.92	109.01	41.02
May 21, 1980	831.06	107.72	34.83
May 20, 1980	832.51	107.62	31.80
May 19, 1980	830.89	107.67	30.97
May 16, 1980	826.88	107.35	31.71
May 15, 1980	822.53	106.99	40.91