News stories from Tuesday October 28, 1980

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

Ayatollah Khomeini did not bring up the hostage issue in an address to Parliament. His silence was generally interpreted as indicating that he was content to let Parliament's argumentative debate run its course. The debate was expected to resume Wednesday. [New York Times] Iraq claimed it had increased attacks on the oil refinery center of Abadan and other Iranian cities and that it was making efforts to restore "normal life" in the nearby oil port of Khorramshahr, which it says it has captured. Iran confirmed that heavy fighting was under way at Abadan, but Teheran radio said that Iranian troops were still holding out in the southern part of Khorramshahr. [New York Times] The Reagan-Carter debate in Cleveland sought to reinforce the dominant themes of eight weeks of often desultory stumping. President Carter hammered on arms control and the risk of war. Ronald Reagan repeatedly denounced the President's economic record. Mr. Carter's focus on detail contrasted with Mr. Reagan's relaxed, more genial manner. Mr. Carter contended "the crucial difference" was their attitudes on arms control. Mr. Reagan said the basic issue was economic. [New York Times] Ronald Reagan's defeat is the aim of organized labor. To persuade their members that they would be better off with Mr. Carter, the Committee on Political Education, the political arm of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., has undertaken "the most extensive and costly labor political operation in our history this year," the committee's director, Alexander Barkan, said. [New York Times] Israel announced strict neutrality in the American election. Prime Minister Menachem Begin and other cabinet members reacted with indignation and dismay when they learned that their former Defense Minister, Ezer Weizman, had accompanied President Carter on a campaign trip through West Virginia and Ohio on Monday. [New York Times] Ford Motor reported a loss of $595 million in the third quarter, more than any other American company has ever lost on operations in a three-month period. The figures were released a day after General Motors had reported a third-quarter loss of $567 million, the highest ever for any American corporation until Ford's announcement. [New York Times] Local backing of fellow Democrats in South Philadelphia for Represenative Michael Myers, who is seeking re-election to Congress, has fallen off since he was expelled from the House Oct. 2 following his conviction for bribery and conspiracy in an Abscam trial. Mayor William Green and other Democrat leaders are urging party members to split their ticket and vote instead for Mr. Myers opponent, Thomas Foglietta. [New York Times] A total of 151 false alarms were received by the North American Defense Command in a recent 18-month period that were serious enough to require an evaulatution of whether they represented a potential attack, according to a congressional report. [New York Times] Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic rela-tions with Libya, emphasizing the growing divisions among Arab nations over the conflict between Iraq and Iran. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said that speeches by Col. Muammar Qaddafi attacking Saudi leaders had gone "beyond bilateral relations to offend Islam." [New York Times] Ottawa announced new tax and energy policies that hit hard at the largely foreign-owned, mainly American, oil and gas industry, and the western producing provinces. Through its new policies the government hopes to increase Canadian ownership, restrain energy costs and make Canada energy self-sufficient by 1990. [New York Times] Poland's new union leaders agreed to meet with Prime Minister Jozef Pinkowski on Friday and said they were ready "to call a strike Nov. 12" if talks on having the government ease its restrictions on the new independent union failed. [New York Times] Severe restrictions on travel between East Germany and Poland were announced by the East German government, ending nine years of visa-free travel for citizens of both countries. This virtually seals off the 17 million East Germans from their neighbors to both the East and West. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 932.59 (+0.85, +0.09%)
S&P Composite: 128.05 (+0.17, +0.13%)
Arms Index: 0.67

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	597	17.18
Declines	912	17.63
Unchanged	418	5.49
Total Volume		40.30

* 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*
October 27, 1980	931.74	127.88	34.44
October 24, 1980	943.60	129.85	41.03
October 23, 1980	939.51	129.53	49.19
October 22, 1980	955.12	131.92	43.06
October 21, 1980	954.44	131.84	51.30
October 20, 1980	960.84	132.61	40.91
October 17, 1980	956.14	131.52	43.96
October 16, 1980	958.70	132.22	65.45
October 15, 1980	972.44	133.70	48.28
October 14, 1980	962.20	132.02	48.79