News stories from Friday September 28, 1979

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

The A.F.L.-C.I.O. leadership ratified an agreement with the administration that labor would fill five of the 15 seats on a new Pay Advisory Committee. The remaining 10 seats would be divided evenly among business executives and representatives of the general public. The committee will be headed by John Dunlop, the Harvard economics professor who was Secretary of Labor under President Ford. [New York Times] George Meany will step down as president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. in November. He is 85 years old, and failing health was believed to have been responsible for his decision. Lane Kirkland, the federation's secretary-treasurer, announced the decision at a news conference in Washington. Mr. Kirkland, 57 years old, is expected to succeed Mr. Meany. [New York Times] Unable to break a deadlock over abortion, the Senate and House abandoned efforts to head off an automatic 12.9 percent pay raise due to go into effect Monday for members of Congress and some 21,000 top-level officials and judges. [New York Times] President Carter won strong support in the Democratic primaries from the 1.8-million member National Education Association after his strong backing for the association's long-sought objective, the newly approved Department of Education. The association's "enthusiastic support" for Mr. Carter and the administration's new cooperation pact with the A.F.L.-C.I.O. were viewed by White House aides as a major reversal in labor's previously ambivalent attitude toward the President. [New York Times] Edward Kennedy's candidacy announcement seemed closer. His candidacy for the 1980 presidential election was endorsed at a meeting in Boston of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s Massachusetts state Labor Council, and Senator Kennedy told the enthusiastic audience that "you'll be hearing about my response to that resolution in the days and weeks to come and I don't think you'll be disappointed." [New York Times] Four of Amtrak's five cut-off trains will continue to run beyond their scheduled Oct. 1 cancellation under restraining orders issued by federal judges. One judge said that it appeared that "there will be irreparable harm if the trains are to cease on Oct. 1." [New York Times] Ireland has taken extraordinary steps to insure the safety of Pope John Paul II on his arrival in Dublin tomorrow, the beginning of three-day visit in which most of the country's three million people are expected to have an opportunity to see him. It will be the first time that a pope has visited Ireland. [New York Times] Protection for Pope John Paul II is being carefully planned by the Secret Service and the police forces in six American cities, including New York, where millions are expected to greet him on his seven-day visit. The major fear is that exuberant throngs will endanger the Pontiff. [New York Times] Elimination of parole release and indeterminate sentencing in New York state was supported by Senator Edward Kennedy at a joint hearing of New York state Senate and Assembly Codes Committees and the State Senate Crime and Correction Committee, which are considering changes recommended by an advisory committee appointed by Governor Carey. [New York Times] President Carter will address the nation Monday night on the impasse with the Soviet Union over the United States claim that a Soviet combat brigade is in Cuba. The speech will be televised at 9 P.M., a day later than originally planned to avoid interference with Yom Kippur.Fidel Castro accused President Carter of dishonesty and of using "data from the archives" to create "an artificial problem" over the presence of Soviet troops in Cuba. At a news conference in Havana to which American reporters had been invited, President Castro asserted that neither the number nor the role of Soviet troops had changed in 17 years. "What you call a brigade we call a training center," President Castro said repeatedly during the meeting. He refused to give any details about the Soviet unit. [New York Times] Iran's top oil executive was dismissed in a cabinet reorganization by Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan. The former oil chief, Hassan Nazih, served as chief executive of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company. Ayatollah Khomeini had hinted he might be tried for treason because he had opposed the Islamic leadership's attempts to purge the oil industry of "non-Islamic elements." [New York Times] Talks with Mexico's President were begun by President Carter in Washington and the opening session of the two-day meeting was described by administration officials as "cordial and serious," including "a good exchange" on the divisive migration issue. Another topic was President Jose Lopez Portillo's proposal to the United Nations that the General Assembly establish a working group to prepare a world energy plan. [New York Times] A hotel fire In Vienna killed 25 persons, including three Americans who were among a tour group from Maine that had made a last-minute switch from another hotel. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 878.58 (-8.88, -1.00%)
S&P Composite: 109.32 (-0.89, -0.81%)
Arms Index: 1.12

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	512	10.52
Declines	931	21.41
Unchanged	404	4.02
Total Volume		35.95

* 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 27, 1979	887.46	110.21	33.12
September 26, 1979	886.35	109.96	37.70
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