News stories from Tuesday July 21, 1981

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

A mail strike was averted when agreement was reached by the Postal Service and two major unions on a contract covering 500,000 workers. The new contract promises an 11 percent wage increase, several bonuses and additional cost-of-living benefits over three years. Postmaster General William Bolger said the cost of the new contract would depend on government approval of a first-class rate of 20 cents and worker productivity. [New York Times] Cities with rent controls were upheld by House and Senate conferees. They killed a Senate-approved proposal that would have prohibited federal housing subsidies for municipalities that have rent controls on new and vacant housing. [New York Times] Preserving the Social Security floor for people now receiving the minimum benefit was approved by the House in a 405-to-13 vote that was a major rebuff to President Reagan. A parallel measure was voted down in the Senate by a 52-to-46 vote. [New York Times] A compromise on student loans was reached by House and Senate negotiators. Under the agreement, students from families earning above $30,000 a year would have to pass a needs test to qualify for the government-guaranteed and subsidized loans. [New York Times] Business dealings of William J. Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence, are being investigated by the Senate Intelligence Committee because of assertions that he took part in questionable securities practices. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York, charged that the Reagan administration had ignored repeated requests by the panel for confidential files. An administration spokesman denied any cover-up. [New York Times] The murder of a Libyan student may have been politically motivated, the F.B.I. said. The body of the victim was found Friday in the trunk of his car in Ogden, Utah. [New York Times] Biblical creationism must be taught along with evolutionism in public schools in Louisiana under a bill signed by Gov. David Treen. The law is similar to one that recently took effect in Arkansas. [New York Times] A quota for police promotions to sergeant has been set in New York City. Under an agreement prompted by civil rights suits, 16 percent of the officers who are promoted to sergeant will be black, Hispanic or female candidates. The settlement, which will be submitted to a federal judge for approval, also calls for experts to work out new procedures to select police sergeants within three years. [New York Times] Preparations for the royal wedding in London next week were disrupted as Spain announced that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia had declined their invitation in a protest. Their decision resulted from the plan of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer to board the royal yacht Britannia at Gibraltar for a honeymoon cruise. Spain's political leaders have been demanding a British withdrawal from Gibraltar, the long-time British naval base and crown colony. [New York Times] The economic summit conference held by the United States and six other major industrial democracies ended with a pledge to revitalize their economies, but with no agreement on how to accomplish this. President Reagan made no concessions to the other leaders on some grievances, particulary high interest rates. [New York Times] Israel linked a cease-fire in Lebanon to a broad withdrawal by forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Israelis rejected a United States appeal for an immediate truce and reiterated their longstanding refusal to deal with the P.L.O., but they authorized Philip Habib, the special American envoy, to act as an intermediary in negotiations with Lebanon. [New York Times] U.S. diplomatic efforts were pressed to promote a truce in southern Lebanon. A senior Reagan administration official said that preliminary reports from a meeting between Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Mr. Habib offered "some basis for forward movement" toward a cease-fire. [New York Times] New Israeli land and air attacks in two regions of southern Lebanon were reported by Palestinian guerrillas. They said that a battle was raging near the Palestinian stronghold of Beufort Castle, a ruined 12th-century Crusader fortress atop a bluff overlooking the Israeli frontier. [New York Times] An immediate cease-fire in Lebanon was urged in a resolution unanimously approved by the United Nations Security Council. The brief resolution, largely drawn up by Western countries, avoided any rebuke of Israel or threat of sanctions. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 934.46 (-6.08, -0.65%)
S&P Composite: 128.34 (-0.38, -0.30%)
Arms Index: 0.63

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	387	15.35
Declines	1,088	27.19
Unchanged	389	4.74
Total Volume		47.28

* 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*
July 20, 1981	940.54	128.72	40.24
July 17, 1981	959.90	130.76	42.78
July 16, 1981	955.48	130.34	39.01
July 15, 1981	954.15	130.23	48.95
July 14, 1981	948.25	129.65	45.23
July 13, 1981	954.34	129.64	38.10
July 10, 1981	955.67	129.37	39.95
July 9, 1981	959.00	129.30	45.51
July 8, 1981	953.48	128.32	46.00
July 7, 1981	954.15	128.24	53.55