News stories from Thursday April 26, 1979

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

The White House was set back when the House Rules Committee reported out for floor debate a bill to carry out the Panama Canal treaty that contains provisions that administration officials say violate both the letter and the spirit of the pact. [New York Times] The highest inflation in four and a half years has occurred in the last three months, according to the Consumer Price Index, which rose 1 percent in March. The index showed that prices rose by 10.2 percent in the 12 months that ended in March and were increasing at a compound annual rate of 13 percent thus far in 1979. Food, energy and housing again showed the sharpest increases. A 3.6 percent spurt for beef and veal accounted for 40 percent of the rise in food prices. [New York Times] Basic questions on nuclear safety and the cost of losing such power were being weighed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The panel said it would postpone until tomorrow a decision on whether to order the immediate shutdown of nine power plants with reactors like the one at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. The commission's staff has recommended such a step until doubts about the reactors' safety can be resolved. [New York Times] Teenagers' smoking has dropped by 25 percent since 1974, but for the first time more girls in that group are smoking than boys, according to Joseph Califano, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, He said that for the "first time in the history of the nation" smoking among females in a major age group, 12 to 18, exceeded smoking among males. [New York Times] Jimmy Carter the campaigner has emerged again. In New Hampshire Wednesday, in an informal town meeting format, he showed the political magic that worked so well in 1976. He projected himself as the accessible President, listening to voters' concerns, instructing aides to pursue complaints and inviting some questioners to visit the White House. He can no longer play the outsider, but he now acts as the outsider's insider. [New York Times] The recent flood has angered Jackson, Miss. The disaster, which caused about $500 million in damage there, has left behind recriminations, lawsuits and threatened grand jury inquiries. The state agency that operates a reservoir 10 miles north of the city is the target of much outrage. The Army Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service and the Small Business Administration are also under attack. [New York Times] A cease-fire was arranged by the U.N. peacekeeping force between Israelis and Palestinian guerrillas. The accord ended the heavy bombardment that shook southern Lebanon for four days. The truce seemed to be holding, although minor exchanges of artillery fire were reported in the border area. [New York Times] China rebuffed Vietnam's proposal for creating a demilitarized zone between the two countries and indirectly called instead, at peace talks in Hanoi, for the Vietnamese to withdraw their troops from Laos and Cambodia. China also said Hanoi should pledge not to grant military bases to Moscow.Kurt Waldheim began a peace bid to end hostilities between Vietnam and China. The U.N. Secretary General received a friendly reception on his arrival in Hanoi, but it was apparent that be faced a series of difficult talks with officials there and with Chinese officials in Peking. [New York Times] Campaign styles of Britain's leaders are startlingly different. Prime Minister James Callaghan of the Labor Party has a measured, low-keyed manner, while Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative leader, is intense and assertive. The polls show the Tories well ahead, but voters seem to be telling pollsters increasingly that they prefer his approach to hers. [New York Times] Caution over Rhodesia's elections was urged by Secretary of State Vance. He said it would be "premature" to judge the fairness of the balloting and he warned Congress against any hasty effort to end economic sanctions against Rhodesia. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 860.97 (-6.49, -0.75%)
S&P Composite: 102.01 (-0.49, -0.48%)
Arms Index: 0.95

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	519	10.39
Declines	913	17.35
Unchanged	438	4.66
Total Volume		32.40

* 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*
April 25, 1979	867.46	102.50	31.75
April 24, 1979	866.86	102.20	35.54
April 23, 1979	860.10	101.57	25.62
April 20, 1979	856.98	101.23	28.83
April 19, 1979	855.25	101.28	31.12
April 18, 1979	860.27	101.70	29.51
April 17, 1979	857.93	101.24	29.27
April 16, 1979	860.45	101.12	28.05
April 12, 1979	870.50	102.00	26.78
April 11, 1979	871.71	102.31	32.87