News stories from Tuesday November 14, 1978

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

Federal budget tightening is approaching. High Carter administration officials report that, while no final decisions have been made, cabinet departments have been ordered to cut about $15 billion from the expected growth of a wide range of programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security disability insurance and cost-of-living increases for federal employees' retirement programs. [New York Times] The Wilmington 10 won support of the Justice Department. In an unusual move, the Department filed a brief supporting a defense contention that the civil rights activists, convicted in North Carolina in 1972 of arson and conspiring to shoot at policemen and firemen, might have been denied a fair trial. [New York Times] The Senate is less exclusive and its character is undergoing dramatic changes. Eight of the 20 new Senators are under 40, six have never held public office before and 48 members will be serving first terms. [New York Times] Some Vietnam veterans seek aid from the government in the form of medical, education and financial benefits. Robert Muller, executive director of the Council of Vietnam Veterans, said that many of the veterans are bitterly disappointed at "inaction" of Congress and the administration. [New York Times] Iran's oil strike collapsed in the refineries and the offshore installations under pressure from the Shah's military government. But resistance continued among some oilfield workers. Reports from the key oil centers said that while many workers had returned to their jobs at the facilities that can produce more than six million barrels of crude oil a day, some were engaged in a slowdown. [New York Times] Egypt will not accept the peace treaty being negotiated in Washington unless Israel relinquishes the Gaza Strip as well as the Sinai Peninsula, President Sadat reportedly declared at a meeting in Ismailia. The report caused uncertainty as to whether it represented a major change by Cairo or was merely a restatement of its insistence that the Gaza Strip must ultimately be turned over by Israel for Palestinian self-rule. The Camp David accords made no provision for a return of the Gaza Strip to Egypt. [New York Times] American-Chinese commercial ties may be moving closer to full resumption because of a proposal by the Treasury Department. It suggested that banks and other financial institutions be required to pay interest on frozen foreign assets, including Chinese accounts seized in 1950 after China intervened in the Korean war. [New York Times] Despite Finland's denials, Nordic military and political leaders say there is conclusive evidence that the Soviet Union proposed Finnish-Soviet military maneuvers during a visit to Helsinki by Defense Minister Dmitri Ustinov. The proposal for joint maneuvers, which would compromise Finland's neutrality, has shaken the country's Western neighbors. [New York Times] A government crisis faces Italy. It would bring about the resignation of Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti and collapse of the alliance between the Christian Democrats and the Communists, who together have provided a semblance of political stability. Relations between the two parties have soured because of sporadic labor strife around the country. [New York Times] Two new intercontinental missiles would be developed as part of a $2.2 billion supplemental budget request approved by the Pentagon that will be submitted to Congress in January, government officials said. They said the plans called for full-scale development of a new land-based missile and a longer range version of the Trident submarine missile that would form the backbone of the American nuclear deterrent in the late 1980's. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 785.26 (-6.75, -0.85%)
S&P Composite: 92.49 (-0.64, -0.69%)
Arms Index: 1.06

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	251	4.23
Declines	1,325	23.68
Unchanged	329	2.70
Total Volume		30.61

* 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*
November 13, 1978	792.01	93.13	20.96
November 10, 1978	807.09	94.77	16.75
November 9, 1978	803.97	94.42	23.33
November 8, 1978	807.61	94.45	23.56
November 7, 1978	800.07	93.85	25.32
November 6, 1978	814.88	95.19	20.45
November 3, 1978	823.11	96.18	25.99
November 2, 1978	816.96	95.61	41.03
November 1, 1978	827.79	96.85	50.45
October 31, 1978	792.45	93.15	42.72