News stories from Thursday December 31, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Plans for deploying the MX missile have again been revised by the Reagan administration. It said that at least 40 of the new intercontinental missiles would be placed in existing silos in one of six Minuteman fields in the Northern Plains. A senior Air Force official said that the first group of 10 missiles would probably not be operational until late 1986, with the rest ready by 1988. [New York Times]
- An unexpected antitrust shift was announced by the Justice Department. It said it had resumed negotiations with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in another attempt to resolve out of court an effort to break up the nation's largest corporation that was initiated by the government seven years ago. [New York Times]
- A lavish presidential party greeted the New Year at the 200-acre estate of Walter and Leonore Annenberg in Palm Springs, Calif. President Reagan played golf at the private 18-hole course on the estate and then joined 90 friends and senior members of his administration for a gala dinner and dancing party. [New York Times]
- Federal cuts In food assistance are likely to affect more than 100,000 children and adults in New York City this year, according to local officials and groups concerned about nutrition. The reductions will affect six programs, ranging from the 35-year-old school lunch program to the eight-year-old program of medically prescribed nutrition supplements for women, infants and other children. [New York Times]
- Robert Poll resigned as chief of the flight controllers union, saying he hoped his departure would soothe the enmity over the union's illegal strike and prompt President Reagan to rehire the 11,500 dismissed controllers. But a spokesman for the President said that the resignation would not change his position. [New York Times]
- A parity in federal health care aid among all classes of people was found by a government study. It said that per capita expenditures were larger for the poor, but that when tax advantages for insurance and medical payments were taken into account, the overall spending for the poor, the near poor and middle-income and high-income people was about the same. [New York Times]
- Many Poles believe that resistance to the martial law government will take the form of a long struggle involving industrial sabotage, intermittent strikes and some sort of underground organization, according to reports reaching the New York Times from Poland. They said there were signs that such a struggle had begun. The authorities were reportedly formulating plans to head it off with reforms. [New York Times]
- An appeal to Polish soldiers and policemen not to oppress the people has been made by the senior Solidarity leader still at liberty, according to information arriving from Poland. In the handwritten plea, Zbigniew Bujak, the leader of the union's Warsaw branch, said that Solidarity, despite martial law, was still able to function because of acts of bravery and defiance by its members. [New York Times]
- The Polish people were urged to preserve the sense of "national accord" that arose from the founding of the Solidarity trade union movement last year. The suggestion was made by the head of state, Henryk Jablonski, in a New Year's message. [New York Times]
- Questions about Lech Walesa remained unanswered. The leader of the Solidarity union was reportedly detained by Polish security forces in the first week of martial law, and the United States has been unable to determine whether he has been negotiating with the Polish authorities. [New York Times]
- Poles' feelings about the military will be crucial in determining how martial law is tolerated, according to reports from Warsaw. Officials in the Polish capital are glorifying the military as the nation's key symbol of patriotism, and seem to be muting the role of the Communist Party. Anti-strike operations are usually carried out by the security police, not the armed forces. [New York Times]
- Peking publicly warned Washington not to sell more weapons to Taiwan and called the issue "a severe test" of whether the United States really valued relations with China. The People's Daily also charged that in the three years since full diplomatic ties were established, Washington had "failed to honor its commitment" to respect Chinese sovereignty and had "resorted to various prevarications" to skirt its obligation. [New York Times]
- Ghana's government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former officer who resigned in favor of the civilian leadership two years ago. He accused President Hilla Limann of taking the West African country "down to total economic ruin." [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 875.00 (+1.90, +0.22%)
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* |
| December 30, 1981 | 873.10 | 122.30 | 42.96 |
| December 29, 1981 | 868.25 | 121.67 | 35.24 |
| December 28, 1981 | 870.34 | 122.27 | 28.31 |
| December 24, 1981 | 873.38 | 122.54 | 23.94 |
| December 23, 1981 | 869.67 | 122.31 | 42.90 |
| December 22, 1981 | 871.96 | 122.88 | 48.32 |
| December 21, 1981 | 873.10 | 123.34 | 41.31 |
| December 18, 1981 | 875.76 | 124.00 | 50.95 |
| December 17, 1981 | 870.53 | 123.12 | 47.22 |
| December 16, 1981 | 868.72 | 122.42 | 42.37 |