News stories from Friday January 23, 1981

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

A reunion of the freed hostages and their families is planned for Sunday at West Point. The families are expected to begin gathering in the Washington area on Saturday. They will be flown to Stewart Airport near Newburgh, N.Y., where they will meet the hostages. From there all will go to the Thayer Hotel at the United States Military Academy for two days before going to Washington for a round of welcoming events. [New York Times] Channels to seek Iranian compensation will be available to nearly every United States company and individual alleging claims for damages to them resulting from the Iranian revolution, a State Department lawyer assured lawyers for claimants at meeting in Manhattan. [New York Times] A sharp rise in consumer prices continued in December. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index rose by 1.1 percent and that the increase for all of 1980, which was the second consecutive year since World War I in which double-digit inflation rate was recorded, was 12.4 percent. The increase in 1979 was 13.3 percent. [New York Times] Coal is in short supply in the Northeast as homeowners switch because of the high cost of fuel oil, natural gas and even wood. In the past year from 100,000 to 300,000 coal systems have been purchased, according to Jerry Pell, director of the Department of Energy's anthracite division. Meanwhile, the price of coal soars with the increased demand. [New York Times] The nation's economic problems were discussed by President Reagan with Paul Volcker, the Federal Reserve chairman, whose monetary policies he has often criticized. Mr. Reagan announced his intention to appoint Murray Weidenbaum, an economics professor at Washington University in St. Louis, as chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers. The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation. Mr. Weidenbaum, who was also at the White House with Mr. Volcker, expressed full support for the Kemp-Roth tax-cut proposal. [New York Times] Confidence in the new space shuttle that will make its first orbital test mission on March 17 was expressed by the astronauts who will operate it. The space plane Columbia has been plagued by problems through the years of its development. The two astronauts said they would be "140 percent trained" by launching day at Cape Canaveral for the three-day, 36-orbit trip. [New York Times] Rupert Murdoch's purchase of The Times of London provides the best chance of making the paper commercially profitable while preserving its editorial independence, The Times said in an editorial explaining its acceptance of the controversial publisher's bid to buy it, The Sunday Times and several supplements, including the Literary Supplement. [New York Times] Poles were urged not to work on Saturday by Lech Walesa, head of the independent union Solidarity, in a further effort toward a five-day work week. In a dramatic appeal, Mr. Walesa said there must be an effective work boycott tomorrow to preserve the unity of the union movement. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union increased its anti-union pressure on Poland, and Warsaw was shut down by a four-hour strike. [New York Times] South Korea's martial law will be lifted at midnight, President Chun Doo Hwan announced a day after he commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence for the leading South Korean dissident Kim Dae Jung. Martial law was declared in May. Its removal will provide a freer atmosphere for presidential and parliamentary elections on Feb. 25, the President said. [New York Times] Three sons of a Druse sheik were charged by Israeli authorities with the murder on Jan. 12 of a Bedouin member of the Israeli Parliament, Sheik Hammad Abu Rabia. The suspects' father, Sheik Jaber Muadi, inherited the slain man's seat in Parliament. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 940.19 (-0.25, -0.03%)
S&P Composite: 130.23 (-0.03, -0.02%)
Arms Index: 0.89

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	683	16.58
Declines	780	16.76
Unchanged	413	3.88
Total Volume		37.22

* 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*
January 22, 1981	940.44	130.26	39.88
January 21, 1981	946.25	131.36	39.19
January 20, 1981	950.68	131.65	41.74
January 19, 1981	970.99	134.37	36.64
January 16, 1981	973.29	134.77	43.26
January 15, 1981	969.97	134.22	39.63
January 14, 1981	966.47	133.47	41.39
January 13, 1981	965.10	133.29	40.89
January 12, 1981	968.77	133.52	48.75
January 9, 1981	968.69	133.48	50.18