News stories from Wednesday September 26, 1979

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

The Panama Canal treaty cleared a final congressional obstacle as the House, voting 232 to 188, approved a bill allowing the terms of the pact to take effect on schedule next Monday. The chamber accepted a measure only slightly different than one unexpectedly defeated last Thursday after heavy lobbying by the Carter administration. [New York Times] Seeking advice on the Cuba issue, President Carter has called on a group of seven former foreign policy experts and national security advisers to counsel him on developing administration policies in reaction to the Soviet combat brigade on the island. [New York Times] President Carter denied attacking Senator Edward Kennedy, according to White House sources. They said that the President had sent the Senator a handwritten note and enclosed a full transcript of a "town meeting" in Queens Tuesday in which he had questioned Mr. Kennedy's effectiveness and leadership in Congress. At one point, Mr. Carter used the phrase "panicking in a crisis." [New York Times] A union draft-Kennedy drive gained as Douglas Fraser, president of the United Automobile Workers, said that the union was now "neutral for Kennedy." The leaders and members "overwhelmingly" support Senator Edward Kennedy for President, Mr. Fraser said, and some officials are working for his nomination. [New York Times] A strong Carter drive in Florida is under way. It includes a reported accord with organized labor, new federal aid for Florida, a series of high-level visits and the assignment of half a dozen White House aides to the state campaign. The state Democratic convention in November is being treated as a pivotal test of strength against Senator Edward Kennedy. [New York Times] No use of cocaine by Hamilton Jordan was observed by a woman at a 1977 party in Los Angeles, but she delivered cocaine to a group of White House aides and Democrats there, her lawyer quoted her as saying. He said 12 days ago that his client was ready to testify that she had seen Mr. Jordan, the White House chief of staff, use the narcotic but that she had based that account on behavior of some members of the group, not on observation of the drug's use. [New York Times] Leaking of a radioactive substance led Arizona's Governor to have National Guardsmen take over a Tucson factory and seize more than 1,000 gallons of the substance that have been oozing from the closed plant for several months. The radioactive tritium, used in the manufacture of illuminated signs and watch faces, reportedly contaminated all the food in an adjacent elementary school kitchen. [New York Times] ABC won a TV Olympics coup as the network was awarded United States television rights to the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles with a bid of $225 million in one of the most expensive deals in television history. The network outbid CBS, NBC and two other companies in a project that is expected to cost more than $325 million, including the expenses of production and servicing foreign broadcasters. [New York Times] Environmentalists were angered by President Carter's refusal to veto construction of the Tellico Dam. A group who had been among his staunchest backers in 1976 said that they no longer supported him. [New York Times] Vitamin C did not help cancer patients, according to a study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic. The study involved 150 patients with advanced cancer who had volunteered to be treated with 10 grams a day of Vitamin C or a dummy compound. [New York Times] Major measures to protect the Pope when he visits New York City next Tuesday and Wednesday were announced by Police Commissioner Robert McGuire. A total of 11,500 of the city's 23,700 police officers will guard Pope John Paul II, control crowds and handle traffic. [New York Times] Soviet fears of defections have placed in jeopardy a scheduled United States tour by the Moscow State Symphony. A State Department spokesman said that an executive of the company that is booking the orchestra's tour was summoned to Moscow on Monday and asked "to give guarantees that there wouldn't by any defections" by orchestra personnel. [New York Times] Perils of a Palestinian state were cited by Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel, who warned that its creation would provide Moscow with a strategic base in the Middle East. [New York Times] Thailand pledged aid to Cambodians, giving implicit assurance that it would not again forcibly expel refugees as famine and a new Vietnamese offensive made likely another mass exodus from Cambodia. The Thai government outlined plans to receive refugees and speed food shipments. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 886.35 (+0.17, +0.02%)
S&P Composite: 109.96 (+0.28, +0.26%)
Arms Index: 0.84

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	847	20.60
Declines	571	11.61
Unchanged	464	5.49
Total Volume		37.70

* 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*
September 25, 1979	886.18	109.68	32.41
September 24, 1979	885.84	109.61	33.79
September 21, 1979	893.94	110.47	52.38
September 20, 1979	893.69	110.51	45.10
September 19, 1979	876.45	108.28	35.37
September 18, 1979	874.15	108.00	38.75
September 17, 1979	881.31	108.84	37.61
September 14, 1979	879.10	108.76	42.01
September 13, 1979	870.73	107.85	35.24
September 12, 1979	870.90	107.82	39.35