News stories from Friday May 4, 1979

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

Margaret Thatcher took office as Prime Minister of Britain after the Conservative Party's solid victory in Thursday's election. She is the first woman to be Prime Minister of a European country. The British seemed somewhat surprised that a woman would head the government, even though Mrs. Thatcher's victory had been anticipated. Her party will have a majority of 43 seats in the House of Commons.No changes in British foreign policy were expected soon by the Carter administration after the Conservative Party's election victory. The State Department said it was "confident" that Washington and the new British government would continue to work closely on most issues. President Carter telephoned his congratulations to Prime Minister Thatcher. Important implications for the U.S. are expected to follow the Conservative Party's victory in Britain, which is likely to lead to a far-reaching though gradual shift in political relations between Britain and Western Europe. diplomatic sources say. The Conservatives are expected to take a more active role in the continent's affairs than the Labor government did. [New York Times] A steady rise in jobholders halted in April. The Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly survey of households found that total employment declined by 670,000 last month. In the previous eight months, total employment had been rising by an average of 300,000 jobs a month. [New York Times] California may invoke a gasoline allocation system that several states adopted in the Arab oil embargo five years ago. Car owners with even-numbered license plates would be able to buy gasoline only on even days of the month and the others on odd days. Gov. Jerry Brown also proposed that gasoline sellers be fined or jailed for "topping up" any tank that was more than half full.Panic buying of gasoline struck much of California, especially Los Angeles. Lines of cars and other assorted vehicles were backed up a half mile or more near service stations in a rush for gasoline that appeared to be caused by a moderately tight supply. Fist fights broke out at some stations. [New York Times] President Carter lambasted critics of his inflation and energy policies in a speech in Iowa, a politically strategic Corn Belt state. Speaking in Des Moines to the Iowa State Association of Counties in a style that recalled Harry Truman's presidential campaign, Mr. Carter said, "Washington is full of people selling snake-oil cures for inflation or telling science fiction stories about energy." [New York Times] California politicians doubt that President Carter can shake Gov. Jerry Brown's grip on the state with a political visit this weekend. They view the visit as a test of the political waters. Mr. Carter went to San Francisco to attend an Opera House benefit concert for the family of the late Mayor George Moscone. He will be in Los Angeles tomorrow to address the Mexican-American community's celebration of the 1910 Mexican revolution. [New York Times] The rubber union was rebuffed in its request for a temporary injunction to prevent the government from "interfering" in collective bargaining procedures in the current rubber industry contract negotiations. However a federal judge in Washington said that the union appeared to have a good case and set May 17 for a hearing. Meanwhile, Peter Bommarito, the union's president, postponed a strike scheduled at midnight Saturday against Uniroyal Inc., a tire manufacturer. He said that the company had requested talks and that negotiations would be resumed Monday in New York. [New York Times] New York City faces suspension of $300 million in federal revenue sharing funds following a federal court decision that the city had discriminated against black and Hispanic police officers in economy dismissals. The city immediately sued to have the suspension stayed. The Guardians Association, an association of black police officers, had sued the city, charging that a hiring test given by the police department had led to discrimination when 600 black and Hispanic officers were dismissed in 1975. [New York Times] Cambodian refugees huddled in a Thai village face what they and their guards believe to be certain death within a week. Thai military authorities have decided that the refugees, mostly women and children, are well enough to be returned to Cambodia, but the Cambodians do not want to leave, fearing they will be killed by the Pol Pot regime, which considers all the refugees traitors. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 847.54 (-10.05, -1.17%)
S&P Composite: 100.69 (-1.12, -1.10%)
Arms Index: 1.29

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	378	5.90
Declines	1,067	21.48
Unchanged	449	3.25
Total Volume		30.63

* 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 3, 1979	857.59	101.81	30.86
May 2, 1979	855.51	101.72	30.51
May 1, 1979	855.51	101.68	31.05
April 30, 1979	854.90	101.76	26.44
April 27, 1979	856.64	101.80	29.63
April 26, 1979	860.97	102.01	32.41
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