News stories from Tuesday December 30, 1980

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

A revision of the American proposals for freeing the hostages in Iran was given to the Algerian intermediaries by the United States, which said it provided Iran an opportunity to release the 52 Americans soon. Administration officials said the new proposals set a deadline for resolving the issue during President Carter's administration and proposed transferring $5 billion to $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to an escrow account in Algeria simultaneously with Algeria's receiving the hostages. [New York Times] Nigeria has increased its oil prices by up to $3 a barrel, to $40, effective Thursday. The increase by Nigeria, the second-largest supplier of petroleum to the United States, was a bit less than expected. Analysts said price increases posted this week by three major exporting countries seemed to confirm projections that the cost of gasoline and heating oil for Americans would rise nearly 7 cents a gallon. [New York Times] Full banking services across state lines would be instituted for banks under a major proposal that the Carter administration is to submit to Congress for approval. The plan is contained in a report approved by the President that was two years in preparation. [New York Times] A bitter auto safety dispute was resolved as the government retreated from a threat to order that 16 million Ford Motor Company cars and trucks be recalled for repairs. Instead, the automaker will send stickers to the owners advising them on how to operate the gear shifts of automatic transmissions to avert slippage from "park" to "reverse" positions. [New York Times] A guide grading the quality of tires that is designed to help automobile drivers judge the safety and economy of their prospective choices was released by the government. The guide indicates that the price of some tires has no relationship to their merits. [New York Times] Most food additives are safe, according to a report made public by the Food and Drug Administration. It said that a scientific panel had approved the use of most of the 415 additives that have been used by processors for years, but cautioned that some, including salt, should be more tightly restricted or perhaps prohibited from use in foods. [New York Times] A shift from academe to business is apparently accelerating among holders of Ph.D. degrees. The trend, propelled by the Ph.D. glut of the 1970's, has been applauded by many academics, who regard it as good for humanists who feel constricted by academic life and for businesses that might benefit from humanistic values. [New York Times] Military pressure on Iran increased as new fighting was reported in the northwest between government forces and Iraqi-backed Kurdish insurgents. Anti-government disorders were also said to have erupted in three Iranian towns near the Caspian Sea. [New York Times] Poland's labor scene was not ruffled despite a decision by the Supreme Court to postpone a ruling on the legalization of a new union for the nation's 3.5 million private farmers, Spokesmen for the farmers ruled out any protest that would bring pressure on the authorities and possibly reignite Poland's labor crisis. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 962.03 (+1.45, +0.15%)
S&P Composite: 135.33 (+0.30, +0.22%)
Arms Index: 0.75

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	775	19.19
Declines	820	15.22
Unchanged	425	5.34
Total Volume		39.75

* 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*
December 29, 1980	960.58	135.03	36.05
December 26, 1980	966.38	136.57	16.13
December 24, 1980	963.05	135.88	29.48
December 23, 1980	958.28	135.00	55.25
December 22, 1980	958.79	135.78	51.96
December 19, 1980	937.20	133.70	50.67
December 18, 1980	930.20	133.00	69.57
December 17, 1980	928.50	132.89	50.81
December 16, 1980	918.09	130.60	41.62
December 15, 1980	911.60	129.45	39.69