News stories from Friday May 18, 1979

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

The proposed federal budget deficit was cut to $23 billion, $5 billion less than President Carter's projection, in a plan approved by a conference of Senate and House committees. The plan authorizes the same amount of spending President Carter requested, but projects a smaller deficit by estimating larger revenues. [New York Times] A major verdict against nuclear power industries was handed down today when a federal court jury awarded $10.5 million to the estate of Karen Silkwood, a 28-year-old laboratory technician contaminated while employed at a plutonium plant located near Oklahoma City. Miss Silkwood, a union activist, was killed in an auto crash on Nov. 13, 1974. She had been on her way to meet a New York Times reporter and a union official to try to document her claims of inadequate safety practices at the Kerr-McGee Corporation plant. [New York Times] Billy Carter denied knowledge of any funds being diverted from his family's peanut business or its brink loans to his brother's 1976 presidential campaign. Mr. Carter said in an interview that he had made the statement under oath before a federal grand jury during seven hours of questioning by government lawyers. [New York Times] Florida has scheduled executions for two convicted murderers on Wednesday at 7 A.M. The executions would be the first in the United States since January 1977, when Gary Gilmore refused to appeal his sentence and was executed by a Utah firing squad. Attorneys for one of the defendants plan to file for a stay of execution, and further appeals are planned. [New York Times] The N.A.A.C.P. reaffirmed its support of nuclear energy, saying the power source was capable of producing electricity rates "less costly to consumers than many alternatives." [New York Times] Midwest fuel shortages for farmers and motorists are beginning to be noticed, and energy officials in that area are concerned. Some officials predict shortfalls of from 5 to 20 percent, and they are working to assure that adequate supplies of diesel fuel are available for farm harvesting and planting equipment. [New York Times] People are streaming into Phoenix, Ariz., at a rate of more than 400 a day. They are drawn by visions of clean air and warm skies, but they are finding some of the same problems they left in other cities, such as air pollution, traffic jams, overburdened utilities and suburban sprawl. A poll of 1,580 persons found that 69 percent felt that Phoenix was growing too fast. [New York Times] Britain will send an envoy to Rhodesia, and though he will not have ambassadorial status, he will probably be a ranking Foreign Service officer. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made the decision, which is seen as an important step toward recognizing the legitimacy of the internal settlement in Rhodesia. [New York Times] Fidel Castro assailed Washington, saying that its relations with Havana remained poor because of the continuing American economic blockade of Cuba and occupation of the Guantanamo naval base. However, at a news conference in Mexico, the Cuban President said that "the climate of U.S.-Cuban relations has improved," because Washington allowed American citizens to visit Cuba and had opened an office in Havana. [New York Times] Moscow's new attitude towards Jews is encouraging, according to the chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Eugene Gold said that if the Russians would give assurances their more liberal policy would continue, he would endorse the lifting of trade restrictions against the Soviets. [New York Times] Europe is feeling the oil shortage, with Greece ordering half its motorists off the highways each weekend and West Germany planning new speed limits on some vehicles. Italy may stop selling reduced-priced gasoline to foreign visitors, and Ireland now insists on an $8 minimum purchase of gasoline to discourage tank-topping. [New York Times] Japan planned to rescue Jews from the Nazis in the years before the attack on Pearl Harbor and enlist their skills and funds to establish an independent Jewish state in Manchuria, according to secret Japanese documents and interviews with former high Tokyo officials. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 841.91 (-1.04, -0.12%)
S&P Composite: 99.93 (-0.01, -0.01%)
Arms Index: 0.99

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	835	13.29
Declines	637	10.05
Unchanged	431	3.25
Total Volume		26.59

* 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 17, 1979	842.95	99.94	30.55
May 16, 1979	828.48	98.42	28.35
May 15, 1979	825.88	98.14	26.19
May 14, 1979	825.02	98.06	22.46
May 11, 1979	830.56	98.52	24.01
May 10, 1979	828.92	98.52	25.23
May 9, 1979	838.62	99.46	27.67
May 8, 1979	834.89	99.17	32.72
May 7, 1979	833.42	99.02	30.49
May 4, 1979	847.54	100.69	30.63