News stories from Monday August 27, 1979

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

Earl Mountbatten of Burma was killed when his fishing boat was blown up in the sea, apparently by Irish Republican Army terrorists. The explosion killed the 79-year old World War II hero, his grandson and a 15-year old passenger as they sailed one quarter of a mile off Ireland. Lord Mountbatten's daughter also was seriously injured.At least 18 soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded near a convoy of British troops in the most deadly incident for the British Army since it entered Northern Ireland 10 years ago. The Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility for the bombing, which occurred shortly after the killing of Lord Mountbatten. [New York Times] Two leaders of a prison uprising died, shooting and killing each other in the Las Vegas, Nev., City Hall jail. Law enforcement officers rushed the jail and freed the three guards who had been held hostage for two days. One of the guards was slightly wounded in the gunfire. [New York Times] Kurdish leaders reported agreement has been reached with the Iranian government for a cease-fire, which they said will be announced by the Iranian state radio tomorrow. The Kurds, whose guerrilla forces have been hard pressed by Iranian troops, began preliminary peace talks with the government today. [New York Times] Thousands of teachers were on strike in eight states as more schools opened for the fall term. Strikes were reported in Oklahoma City, suburban New Orleans, and in some districts in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Missouri. [New York Times] Israel regrets civilian casualties from its strikes into southern Lebanon, according to Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who said the incidence of casualties "causes us deep grief and sorrow." But, he said, the strikes against Palestinian guerrilla bases in Lebanon had saved many Israeli lives. [New York Times] Energy dominated the session that opened the Midwestern Governors' Conference in Osage Beach, Mo., with governors voicing their concern about the availability of winter heating and gasoline supplies. Members of a panel group were critical of the Carter administration's energy program. [New York Times] Lyudmila Vlasova headed for Moscow after spurning an offer to meet with her husband, Alexandr Godunov, the Russian Bolshoi Ballet dancer who detected to the United States last week. Her departure ended a three-day deadlock between the United States and the Soviet Union over conditions for allowing her to express her wishes freely. Miss Vlasova declared her wish to return to Russia during a meeting aboard a van containing 10 Soviet and U.S. officials.The administration called it a victory "for the principle of no forced repatriation." It said it was satisfied that the episode involving the wife of the Soviet defector Alexandr Godunov had been "resolved in compliance with American law." [New York Times] An inquiry into city borrowing that began when the fiscal crisis gripped New York ended today. The United States Attorney announced that criminal proceedings were not warranted against New York City officials, banks and brokers. [New York Times] Efforts to forge ties to Saudi Arabia by a California businessman, J. Robert Fluor, have come under fire. Mr. Fluor has sought to foster links between the Arab kingdom and two American academic institutions. Critics say his efforts are endangering the credibility of the institutions. Mr. Fluor is chairman of the University of Southern California board of trustees and president of the Fluor Corporation, a construction and engineering concern that conducts billions of dollars worth of business in Saudi Arabia. [New York Times] Vice President Mondale declared that the United States would regard an effort by any nation to weaken or isolate China as an action against U.S. interests. He made the statement in a televised speech at Peking University, where he also disclosed economic agreements that would provide $2 billion dollars worth of credit to China from the United States. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 885.41 (+5.21, +0.59%)
S&P Composite: 109.14 (+0.54, +0.50%)
Arms Index: 0.57

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	920	19.88
Declines	581	7.16
Unchanged	402	5.01
Total Volume		32.05

* 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*
August 24, 1979	880.20	108.60	32.73
August 23, 1979	880.38	108.63	35.72
August 22, 1979	885.84	108.99	38.45
August 21, 1979	886.01	108.91	38.86
August 20, 1979	886.52	108.83	32.30
August 17, 1979	883.36	108.30	31.63
August 16, 1979	884.04	108.09	47.01
August 15, 1979	885.84	108.25	46.14
August 14, 1979	876.71	107.52	40.91
August 13, 1979	875.26	107.42	41.98