News stories from Monday July 2, 1979

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

The White House is directing President Carter's energy policy, which is gradually being separated from the Department of Energy by senior White House officials who are dissatisfied with the way the agency had been carrying it out. [New York Times] President Carter will address the nation on television Thursday evening to present what he described as a "bold and a forceful program" to resolve the national oil shortage. [New York Times] Saudi Arabia will increase crude oil production, an official radio announcement said. This could soon ease the shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel in the United States, but the announcement did not say how big the increase would be or when it would become effective. [New York Times] A minimum-sale requirement for gasoline in New York metropolitan area was ordered by Governor Carey, effective at midnight tomorrow. At least $5 dollars worth of fuel must be purchased by the driver of a four-cylinder car, and a minimum purchase of $7 must be made by drivers of cars with six cylinders or more. The order, which affects New York City and five nearby counties, replaces a previous requirement that gasoline could be bought only when the tank was half full or less. This was considered hard to enforce. [New York Times] Sweeping federal busing orders in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, were upheld by the Supreme Court, dispelling the widespread impression that the Court was retrenching its commitment to end racial segregation in Northern schools. [New York Times] A parental consent law for abortion was struck down by the Supreme Court in an 8 to 1 decision. The court ruled unconstitutional a Massachusetts law requiring unmarried minor females to obtain the approval of their parents or a judge before undergoing a legal abortion. Abortion opponents have been pressing for a similar law in state legislatures across the country. [New York Times] California's Chief Justice refused to answer some questions asked by the Commission on Judicial Performance and, as a result, may face a citation for contempt. Chief Justice Rose Bird would not answer questions relating to leaks of information from the state Supreme Court. Her attorneys indicated to the commission that their instructions to her not to respond were intended to shield evidence in their possession. [New York Times] The Supreme Court gave judges wide discretion to order courtrooms closed to the press and the public in pretrial hearings. The Court, 5 to 4, affirmed a ruling of the New York state Court of Appeals that had upheld a trial judge's authority to close a pretrial hearing if he found a "reasonable probability" that pretrial publicity would hurt the defendant's right to a fair trial. The Court said that "members of the public have no constitutional right to attend criminal trials." [New York Times] Coney Island beaches were threatened by an oil spill that forced the closing of two Staten Island beaches just before the July 4 holiday. Cleanup crews using bulldozers erected six-foot-high sand barriers along the waterline. Boat crews used oil dispersants and skimmers to contain the oil spilled from fuel tanks of a container ship that went aground off Staten Island Saturday night. [New York Times] A change of heart on the refugee issue apparently followed talks between Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and the foreign ministers of the five Southeast Asian countries that had declared they would no longer admit Indochinese refugees. Mr. Vance and the ministers refrained from making public statements following their meeting in Bali, but it appeared that the Asians' position had softened. "Quite frankly, I think we turned the situation around," an American official said. [New York Times] Iran's Prime Minister lost his fight for greater control over the revolutionary militia, which has diluted his authority in recent months. It was apparent that the militia will retain its key role in the religious establishment surrounding the Ayatollah Khomeini following a meeting of Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan and his cabinet with the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Council. [New York Times] Returns from Bolivia's presidential election indicated that none of the eight candidates will receive the required majority, leaving the choice to the members of the new Congress that also was being elected. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 834.04 (-7.94, -0.94%)
S&P Composite: 101.99 (-0.92, -0.89%)
Arms Index: 1.53

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	431	5.74
Declines	1,102	22.39
Unchanged	355	3.93
Total Volume		32.06

* 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*
June 29, 1979	841.98	102.91	34.68
June 28, 1979	843.04	102.80	38.47
June 27, 1979	840.52	102.27	36.72
June 26, 1979	837.66	101.66	34.68
June 25, 1979	844.25	102.09	31.30
June 22, 1979	849.10	102.64	36.41
June 21, 1979	843.64	102.09	37.10
June 20, 1979	839.83	101.63	33.79
June 19, 1979	839.40	101.58	30.78
June 18, 1979	839.40	101.56	30.97