News stories from Tuesday October 20, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A budget accord was in disarray because of opposition by House Republican leaders to the informal agreement between Senate Republican leaders and White House officials. The Representatives balked at a plan to raise taxes to hold down a growing deficit and also expressed differences over the size of proposed spending cuts, whether to reduce benefit programs further and how much to cut military spending. [New York Times]
- Fewer school lunches are now bought by pupils in many states because of the increased prices made necessary by a reduction in federal subsidies. State officials estimate that participation in the national program has dropped by 15 to 30 percent, indicating that more than 3 million out of 26 million youngsters are no longer buying full, nutritionally balanced meals. [New York Times]
- Michigan schools are gripped by financial constraints because of the economic slump in the auto manufacturing state. School districts are running out of funds, and voters are refusing to approve the increases in school taxes that officials say they need to keep the schools open. [New York Times]
- Three school desegregation cases begun in the last months of the Carter administration will be prosecuted, the Justice Department announced. The cases are in Yonkers, N.Y.; Charleston, S.C., and Lima, Ohio. [New York Times]
- New Jersey's gubernatorial election is being influenced more by the party affiliation, economic status, ethnic background and traditional policy concerns of the voters than by attitudes about the administrations of President Reagan or Governor Byrne, according to a New York Times survey of 1,118 registered voters. The poll showed Representative James Florio, the Democratic candidate, and Thomas Kean, the Republican candidate, nearly even in support. [New York Times]
- The President created a stir in Europe over a statement Friday that he "could see where you could have the exchange of tactical weapons in the field without it bringing either one of the major powers to pushing the button." Some West German and British newspapers interpreted the remark as suggesting that a nuclear war could be limited to Europe. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, visiting Scotland, sought to reassure Europeans over what he termed "a stray quotation" by Mr. Reagan. [New York Times]
- Moscow rebutted President Reagan in strong terms over his comments on American and Soviet nuclear strategy. Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leader, publicly called on Mr. Reagan to join in "rejecting the very idea of nuclear attack as criminal." [New York Times]
- Walter Mondale assailed the Reagan administration for its approach to NATO, charging it had sapped both the economic strength and the commitment to principle of the Atlantic alliance by a "go-it-alone policy." It was the former Vice President's first major foreign policy speech since last November's election. [New York Times]
- A top military official was dismissed by the White House after he reportedly asserted in a speech that the Soviet Union had achieved military superiority over the United States, was "on the move" and was "going to strike." The White House disavowed the com-ments by Gen. Robert Schweitzer, who, as the chief military adviser on the National Security Council, contended that Moscow was producing "a drift toward war." [New York Times]
- A bomb blast outside a synagogue in the predominantly Jewish diamond-trading district of Antwerp, Belgium, killed 2 women and wounded 95 other people, 12 of them seriously. The bomb had been concealed in a parked van with one wheel removed. [New York Times]
- Oil use in poorer nations will grow for the rest of the century while the amount of oil used by industrial nations continues to decline, according to specialists. As a result, the energy needs of the third world are expected to be a key topic at this week's meeting in Cancun, Mexico, of the industrialized and developing countries. [New York Times]
- The plan to sell Awacs planes to Saudi Arabia is being pressed in a White House letter prepared for the Senate. The letter pledges that if the Saudis should adopt policies "disruptive to prospects for stability" in the Middle East President Reagan would cancel delivery of the advanced radar craft. [New York Times]
- Participation in the Sinai peace force by several Western European countries is planned, according to State Department officials. They said they had been told that Britain and Italy were expected to join France in contributing troops to the force that is to monitor Egyptian-Israeli peace. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 851.88 (+4.75, +0.56%)
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* |
| October 19, 1981 | 847.13 | 118.98 | 41.58 |
| October 16, 1981 | 851.69 | 119.19 | 37.80 |
| October 15, 1981 | 856.26 | 119.71 | 42.82 |
| October 14, 1981 | 850.65 | 118.80 | 40.25 |
| October 13, 1981 | 865.58 | 120.78 | 43.07 |
| October 12, 1981 | 869.48 | 121.21 | 30.05 |
| October 9, 1981 | 873.00 | 121.45 | 50.06 |
| October 8, 1981 | 878.14 | 122.31 | 47.08 |
| October 7, 1981 | 868.72 | 121.31 | 50.02 |
| October 6, 1981 | 856.26 | 119.39 | 45.45 |