News stories from Thursday September 13, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Hurricane Frederic weakened and moved far inland after battering the central Gulf Coast with winds up to 130 miles an hour and wreaking wide destruction along a 100-mile front in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. The speedy and smooth evacuation of half a million people was credited with limiting the death toll to eight. President Carter declared the storm-ravaged regions a disaster area.
The major brunt of the storm was borne by the region between Mobile Bay and the Alabama-Mississippi border. Many houses in the evacuated coastal area were swept away, and the returning thousands expressed anguish for what had been lost and joy for what was spared.
[New York Times] - American oil companies were accused of aggravating last spring's oil shortage in a report by the General Accounting Office, which asserted that they had cut domestic crude production last fall and winter as oil imports from Iran were disrupted. The report by the investigative arm of Congress also accused the Energy Department of having failed to give Congress and the public "credible, convincing explanations of the status" of oil supplies. [New York Times]
- A drop in mathematics achievement in the 1970's by pupils in elementary and secondary schools, particularly in the ability to apply knowledge to problem solving, was reported by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The sharpest decline occurred among high school students, the group that has also been faltering the most in reading, science and other subjects. [New York Times]
- Senator Edward Kennedy does not differ substantially with President Carter's economic policies, he said, but he suggested that stronger leadership was needed to make them work. Saying he still had not decided whether to seek the presidency, Mr. Kennedy stressed the early 1980's as a "watershed period" for crucial decisions affecting the nation's future and indicated he would state his intentions before the early primaries. [New York Times]
- Record advance royalties of $3,208,875 were pledged by Bantam Books in buying the rights to publish in early 1981 the paperback edition of "Princess Daisy," the recently completed second novel by Judith Krantz, author of the best-selling "Scruples." The sale ended a 14½ hour auction that involved eight leading paperback houses. [New York Times]
- "Guarded optimism" on auto talks was expressed by Douglas Fraser, president of the United Automobile Workers, who said he was hopeful that the union and General Motors could reach a settlement without a strike. [New York Times]
- Hamilton Jordan's alleged cocaine use is the subject of an "expanded" inquiry by the F.B.I. after new allegations that the White House chief of staff used cocaine at a party in Los Angeles in 1977, according to Justice Department officials. The officials said the new charges make appointment of a special prosecutor more likely. [New York Times]
- The P.L.O. gained recognition, which it has been seeking along with respectability, in Western Europe. Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, arrived in Madrid and met with Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez. It was the first time that a Western European leader, acting as head of government, had received the guerrilla chief. [New York Times]
- A protest demonstration in Peking drew several thousand Chinese, who heard speeches denouncing special privileges of Communist Party officials and calling for more human rights in China. A young man drew loud applause when he declared that China's main problem today "is the contradiction between the powerful, privileged class and the workers." Thousands have gone to Peking in recent months to seek redress of grievances. [New York Times]
- Soviet sailors refused to rescue a boatload of 29 Vietnamese refugees, according to the leader of the refugees, the father of a 4-month-old boy. The baby died three hours after the Soviet seamen left the refugees' fishing boat and went back to their naval vessels. The father said he had held up his dying son and pleaded for help but said the Russians left after providing the refugees with water, bread and fuel. [New York Times]
- Wide reforms in El Salvador are urged by moderate business, political and church groups amid mounting terrorism. The moderates hope that economic and political reforms can avert a rebellion against the repressive right-wing military regime. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 870.73 (-0.17, -0.02%)
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* |
| September 12, 1979 | 870.90 | 107.82 | 39.35 |
| September 11, 1979 | 869.71 | 107.51 | 42.54 |
| September 10, 1979 | 876.88 | 108.17 | 33.00 |
| September 7, 1979 | 874.15 | 107.66 | 34.37 |
| September 6, 1979 | 867.32 | 106.85 | 30.36 |
| September 5, 1979 | 866.13 | 106.40 | 41.65 |
| September 4, 1979 | 872.61 | 107.44 | 33.35 |
| August 31, 1979 | 887.63 | 109.32 | 26.37 |
| August 30, 1979 | 883.70 | 109.02 | 29.28 |
| August 29, 1979 | 884.90 | 109.02 | 30.81 |