News stories from Friday July 27, 1979

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

General Motors laid off indefinitely 12,600 hourly workers and also announced a cutback in the production of 1980 model cars, trucks and vans. The retrenchment follows a slump in sales in the auto industry and affects General Motors plants across the nation. [New York Times] The last two cabinet vacancies were filled by President Carter, completing the cabinet shake-up started 10 days ago and clearing the way for an intensive campaign for his energy program. It was officially announced that Moon Landrieu, the former Mayor of New Orleans had been appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and that Neil Goldschmidt, the Mayor of Portland, Ore., had been appointed Secretary of Transportation. Both are liberal Democrats with strong civil rights records. They are expected to improve Mr. Carter's standing with the urban bloc. [New York Times] Air travelers are being shifted to small commuter planes that have a safety record far inferior to conventional airlines because of the route changes the big carriers are permitted by the Deregulation Act of 1978. [New York Times] A huge spill of radioactive waste in New Mexico is being assessed for possible harmful effects on humans and livestock. On July 16, the dam of the tailings pond at the United Nuclear Corporation's Church Rock Mill in Gallup broke and 100 million gallons of radioactive water and 1,100 tons of uranium tailings poured into the Rio Puerco running about 80 miles downriver to 45 miles past the Arizona border. [New York Times] A party for Hamilton Jordan was a huge success, all the invited Congressmen, some of whom brought their wives, agreed. Mr. Jordan called it his coming-out in Washington political society as President Carter's chief of staff. He acknowledged that the party provided an opportunity "to dispel some of the untrue things they have heard or believe about me." It was clear from the comments that he had won a lot of hearts. [New York Times] Morarji Desai quit as head of the Janata Party, the largest party in India's Parliament, and was replaced by Jagjivan Ram, the leader of India's 100 million untouchables and a Deputy Prime Minister under Mr. Desai. [New York Times] Dissent split Italy's Red Brigades. The leaders of the terrorist organization have been accused by dissident members of being dictatorial "Stalinists" who misjudged the mood of the country, mishandled the kidnapping and murder of the former Prime Minister Aldo Moro, and let false success go to their heads. The split became public knowledge this week when a left-wing Rome newspaper published the text of a 20-page document containing the dissidents' charges. The document implies that the dissidents lost a power struggle. [New York Times] Iraq's new leadership has been shaky since Saddam Hussein took over the presidency after the resignation of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, according to diplomatic and intelligence reports received by several Western countries. Some of the reports said that "tens and perhaps more than a hundred" high officials had been arrested. [New York Times] Israel's reaction to the U.S. position on a United Nations force in Sinai has reportedly infuriated Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who is said to believe that Israel is distorting the American views. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 839.76 (0.00, 0.00%)
S&P Composite: 103.10 (0.00, 0.00%)
Arms Index: 0.93

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	778	13.03
Declines	576	8.93
Unchanged	497	5.80
Total Volume		27.76

* 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*
July 26, 1979	839.76	103.10	32.28
July 25, 1979	839.51	103.08	34.89
July 24, 1979	829.78	101.97	29.69
July 23, 1979	825.51	101.59	26.86
July 20, 1979	828.07	101.82	26.37
July 19, 1979	827.30	101.61	26.78
July 18, 1979	828.58	101.69	35.95
July 17, 1979	828.50	101.83	34.27
July 16, 1979	834.90	102.74	26.62
July 13, 1979	833.53	102.32	33.07