News stories from Thursday May 7, 1981

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

A key budget victory for the President was recorded in the Democratic-controlled House. A coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats prevailed in a pivotal 253-176 vote approving an administration-sponsored budget intended to sharply curtail the growth of federal spending. The budget calls for $689 billion in spending in the next fiscal year, with a projected deficit of $31 billion. [New York Times] Retention of a food stamp benefit for families with children who eat free lunches at school was approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee. The panel rejected a proposal by the Reagan administration to reduce the benefit. The administration proposal has also been discarded by the House Agriculture Committee. [New York Times] A plan to shift Election Day to a Sunday and to conduct voting at the same hours across the nation has been welcomed with reservations by three former Presidents. Letters from Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon were introduced at a Senate hearing by Representative Mario Biaggi, Democrat of the Bronx, who believes that Sunday voting would increase the turnout. [New York Times] Increased security precautions are being taken by a growing number of officials, celebrities and business executives as a result of the attempted assassination of President Reagan and the murder of John Lennon. Interviews with scores of public figures around the country revealed that many of them now employ bodyguards and wear bulletproof vests. [New York Times] A novel school desegregation plan in the St. Louis area that would provide college tuition for pupils who attend primary and secondary schools outside their districts has faced harsh criticism. Black and white students and parents repeatedly decried the proposal by the Justice Department as a "bribe" and "insult" that would likely be unworkable. [New York Times] The science adviser to the President is expected to be Dr. George Keyworth, a 41-year-old nuclear physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. His name came to the attention of the White House after 15 more nationally prominent scientists and engineers had declined to be considered for the post, which is to be downgraded by the Reagan administration. [New York Times] The Irish Republican Army staged a funeral procession in Belfast for Robert Sands, who died in prison Tuesday on the 66th day of a hunger strike. Seven commandos of the outlawed I.R.A., wearing masks and battle fatigues, led several thousand mourners in escorting Mr. Sands's body on a three-mile march through Roman Catholic sections of Belfast. [New York Times] Britain's Laborites scored a comeback in elections to local councils in England and Wales in the first major test of party strength in two years. The Labor Party took control from the Conservatives in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds and staged surprising upsets in some rural Conservative strongholds. [New York Times] U.S.-Japan consultations on matters of vital interest to Tokyo were pledged by President Reagan in a White House talk with Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki, according to a United States official. Japan has objected to a lack of consultations on such issues as Mr. Reagan's decision to lift restrictions on grain shipments to the Soviet Union. [New York Times] Terrorism accelerated in Madrid. A senior military aide to King Juan Carlos was seriously wounded when Basque separatists bombed his car. A colonel and two other soldiers were killed in the incident and 12 passers-by were injured. After the explosion, several hundred right-wing youths surged through the streets, singing a fascist hymn and calling for Spain's army to seize power. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 978.39 (+5.05, +0.52%)
S&P Composite: 131.67 (+0.89, +0.68%)
Arms Index: 0.61

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	909	27.44
Declines	610	11.17
Unchanged	407	3.98
Total Volume		42.59

* 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 6, 1981	973.34	130.78	47.10
May 5, 1981	972.44	130.32	48.99
May 4, 1981	979.11	130.67	40.66
May 1, 1981	995.59	132.72	48.35
April 30, 1981	997.75	132.81	47.96
April 29, 1981	1004.32	133.05	53.34
April 28, 1981	1016.93	134.33	58.21
April 27, 1981	1024.05	135.48	51.08
April 24, 1981	1020.35	135.14	59.90
April 23, 1981	1010.27	133.94	64.20