News stories from Monday March 5, 1979

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

President Carter will fly to the Mideast this week in a personal effort to negotiate the final terms of an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the White House announced. Both Israeli and Egyptian officials gave hints that some of the remaining obstacles had been reduced by new American compromise proposals. But it was still uncertain whether a pact would be signed during Mr. Carter's unexpected and dramatic visit to both countries.Washington's compromise proposals involved the language in linking key parts of the projected Israeli-Egyptian pact that have long been the obstacle to reaching final agreement. Some aspects of the new proposals became known despite official secrecy over wording that was presented by President Carter to Prime Minister Begin and approved by the Israeli cabinet, but not yet submitted in detail to President Sadat. [New York Times] Alimony for women only was rejected by the Supreme Court. In a 6 to 3 decision, the tribunal ruled that state laws providing that men, but not women, may be required to pay alimony violated the equal-protection clause of the Constitution. The ruling quashed an Alabama law and apparently invalidated similar laws in 10 other states, including New York [New York Times] Chicago's school desegregation plan has failed, according to a study made at the request of the Illinois school board. The report said that the $35 million "access to excellence" program "has had almost no discernible impact on desegregation levels" in the city's 600 public schools. The report generated heated disagreement. [New York Times] Alleged arms shipments to South Africa led lawyers for the Winchester arms division of the Olin Corporation to go over the head of the United States Attorney in Connecticut to negotiate an advantageous plea, federal law-enforcement officials disclosed. [New York Times] President Carter is losing support among some swing voting groups, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. Some of the sharpest declines were among independents, 18-to-29-year-old respondents and those in the Northeast. Major factors were such foreign policy issues as United States strength, links with China and Taiwan and the energy situation. [New York Times] Troubles for Mennonites who fled to Texas from Mexico two years ago because of land seizures and persecution have deepened. The small community in Seminole has been told that its members entered the country illegally and will likely have to leave. The group also faces the possible loss of its farmland and more than $500,000 that has been invested in it, but is enduring the adversity with stoicism. [New York Times] New Orleans Mayor Ernest Morial won a stunning victory in the abrupt collapse of a 16-day policemen's strike. The unexpected return to work apparently destroyed the Teamster-represented policemen's union as an effective force. [New York Times] Backing for Saudi aid to Yemen in its border war with Southern Yemen is being sought in Washington. Officials said the United States government was consulting on ways this might be accomplished. [New York Times] China said it had begun withdrawing its troops from Vietnam after they were said to have attained their goals in the 17-day border war. There was no immediate response from Hanoi, but earlier a Vietnamese Communist Party daily said the war was expanding. It called for a general mobilization to fight the Chinese. [New York Times] Peking failed to provoke a war between the Soviet Union and the United States, the Moscow press said. After calling on the Chinese to leave Vietnam "before it is too late" and leaving the fighting to the Vietnamese, Moscow now says it acted responsibly by using restraint in a dangerous crisis. [New York Times] The first civilian regime in Nigeria in 13 years is expected to be elected between now and Oct. 1. A debate is mounting over the government's failure to set a date for the elections and the form that an expected presidential runoff will take. [New York Times] Iranian unity was sought in a rally where all major revolutionary groups were represented. Tens of thousands jammed the demonstration around the house in Ahmadabad where Mohammed Mossadegh was isolated after being ousted in 1953 by a Central Intelligence Agency coup. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 827.36 (+11.61, +1.42%)
S&P Composite: 98.06 (+1.09, +1.12%)
Arms Index: 0.51

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,113	19.52
Declines	361	3.21
Unchanged	388	2.96
Total Volume		25.69

* 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*
March 2, 1979	815.75	96.97	23.13
March 1, 1979	815.84	96.90	23.84
February 28, 1979	808.82	96.28	25.09
February 27, 1979	807.00	96.13	31.47
February 26, 1979	821.12	97.67	22.62
February 23, 1979	823.28	97.78	22.75
February 22, 1979	828.57	98.33	26.30
February 21, 1979	834.55	99.07	26.05
February 20, 1979	834.55	99.42	22.01
February 16, 1979	827.01	98.67	21.11