News stories from Thursday November 18, 1982

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

Republican weakness in the House was cited by the party's congressional leaders as they told President Reagan that the party could not push through a bill to speed up the 1983 income tax cut by six months. After a private one-hour meeting with Mr. Reagan, the leaders also told reporters they expected Congress to demand cuts in the President's proposed military budget. [New York Times] Unemployment might rise if the federal gasoline tax is increased by 4 cents a gallon to pay for expanded repair of highways, according to Martin Feldstein, President Reagan's chief economic adviser. In a memorandum, Mr. Feldstein said that an increase in highway jobs would be smaller than the loss of jobs in industries "that produce the goods and services that consumers would otherwise buy with the extra $5 billion that they would pay on gasoline taxes." [New York Times] A pact providing major concessions by the United Steelworkers of America was approved by the union's executive board, according to union and steel company officials. They said the union's leadership had endorsed a tentative agreement that calls for a cut of about 10 percent in wages and benefits and other concessions. The depressed steel industry is operating at 40 percent of capacity. [New York Times] A "record" high cleanup accord was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency. It said that the Velsicol Company had agreed to pay the equivalent of $38.5 million to clean up four toxic waste sites in the town of St. Louis, Mich. [New York Times] A statement on nuclear arms was overwhelmingly endorsed by the country's Roman Catholic bishops in the face of opposition by the Reagan administration. The bishops indicate that they solidly support a proposed pastoral letter forcefully opposing nuclear war while leaving open some questions on the morality of nuclear deterrence. [New York Times] Chief Justice Warren Burger warned that unless drastic changes were made, the American judicial system might "break down before the end of this century." Justice Burger, speaking in New York, said the courts were swamped with cases. [New York Times] The plight of Puerto Rico's prisons is said to be no better, and even worse, than it was two years ago when a federal judge called the conditions "barbaric" and ordered wide-ranging changes. Murders, riots and escapes are common, and rival gangs run wild in many facilities. [New York Times] Washington is ready to negotiate on differences with Moscow, but is looking for "a change in behavior on important matters" by the new Soviet leadership, Secretary of State George Shultz said. At a news conference, he said that both sides indicated this week they were prepared for substantive talks, but that what mattered was "deeds" rather than "rhetoric." [New York Times] The warmest Soviet statements expressed toward Washington in a long time were voiced by Prime Minister Nikolai Tikhonov. Addressing American businessmen at a Kremlin dinner, he said Moscow endorsed "better, friendly relations with the United States." [New York Times] Iraq is in a static, defensive war, at least in a sector around Fakah, 170 miles southeast of Baghdad, where the front is mostly quiet. Iraqi commanders say the Iranians are short of ammunition, and Western analysts in Baghdad believe the Iranians face serious logistical problems whenever they mount an attack. [New York Times] Iran is consumed by fear of foreign countries and internal enemies despite the grandiloquent boasting of its revolutionary leaders, according to knowledgeable foreigners in Teheran. Political indoctrination begins at a very early age and it has produced a society of intense, superficial conformity. One disillusioned Iranian woman said, "Iran is a country where you don't smile in public." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1032.10 (+4.60, +0.45%)
S&P Composite: 138.34 (+0.41, +0.30%)
Arms Index: 0.88

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	944	43.70
Declines	649	26.50
Unchanged	366	7.42
Total Volume		77.62

* 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*
November 17, 1982	1027.50	137.93	84.44
November 16, 1982	1008.00	135.42	102.91
November 15, 1982	1021.43	137.03	78.89
November 12, 1982	1039.92	139.53	95.08
November 11, 1982	1054.73	141.76	78.39
November 10, 1982	1044.52	141.16	113.24
November 9, 1982	1060.25	143.02	111.23
November 8, 1982	1037.44	140.44	75.22
November 5, 1982	1051.78	142.16	96.55
November 4, 1982	1050.22	141.85	149.38