News stories from Monday July 21, 1980

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

The freed American hostage, Richard Queen, said that the militants who have held the United States Embassy in Iran for more than eight months did not try to brainwash him or to get him to admit past errors in American policies toward Iran. At a State Department news conference, he said that he had been kept in relative isolation, but that the captives with whom he had contact were "holding their own quite well." Revolutionary Islamic policies in Iran must be pressed by the new government about to be appointed, Ayatollah Khomeini declared. [New York Times] A $29.8 billion budget deficit next year was formally projected by the Carter administration just four months after it had estimated a substantial surplus. In addition, the White House said that the expected budget deficit in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, has ballooned to $60.9 billion, $24.4 billion above the $36.5 billion that was calculated in late March. [New York Times] Education for illegal aliens was upheld by a federal judge who declared unconstitutional a 1975 Texas law that effectively bars such children from attending the public schools. [New York Times] Inaction on Billy Carter's ties to Libya was reported by sources close to the case. They said that the Justice Department and a federal grand jury investigation had not pursued allegations received last fall that the President's brother was involved in a bribery plot to gain influence for Libya inside the White House. [New York Times] Rain fell in the Southwest, providing parts of the region with a slight respite from weeks of numbing heat. However, many localities recorded continued temperatures above 100 degrees, and forecasters said there was no sign that the heat wave had peaked.The New York area was scorched for the second day as the temperature reached 102 degrees. Officials attributed at least three deaths to the heat, and said that five other deaths might have been heat related. Temperatures were expected to dip into the 90's tomorrow, but since the humidity was likely to continue high, real relief was not in sight until Thursday. [New York Times] Hundreds of draft protesters picketed and chanted outside New York City's General Post Office, and others inside the building tried to persuade young men not to sign up as military registration began across the country. Protests at many post offices slowed the registration process, but thousands of American youths quietly signed up for a possible draft. [New York Times] Firm adherence to conserving gasoline because of steadily rising prices is widely evident among Americans for the first time, and their deep affinity for the automobile seems to be ending. Americans generally are driving less than they used to, cutting down on trips outside town and buying much smaller, fuel-efficient cars. [New York Times] Debate on the Alaska lands bill began in the Senate. The bitterly contested issue involves the future use of millions of acres in the nation's biggest and wildest state. The battle pits conservationists, backed by the Carter administration, against the state, which seeks to open as much land as possible for economic development. [New York Times] A former Syrian leader was slain in Paris by a gunman who escaped. The assassination of Salah al-Bitar, a former Prime Minister who was an opponent of Syria's President, occurred three days after an attempt in Paris to kill Shahpur Bakhtiar, a leading opponent of the Iranian government. Syria denied any connection with the murder of Mr. Bitar. [New York Times] Increased isolation of Israel will result from an emergency session on Palestine opening tomorrow in the United Nations General Assembly, according to sponsors of the session. However, Western Europeans indicated they were unlikely to support a hard-line resolution calling on Israel to withdraw to its pre-1967 borders. [New York Times] Rising terrorism in Turkey reportedly prompted the resignation of the Interior Minister. The opposition has accused him of failing to take measures necessary to avert a civil war and of accepting the support of right-wing terrorists. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 928.67 (+4.69, +0.51%)
S&P Composite: 122.51 (+0.47, +0.39%)
Arms Index: 0.85

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	820	21.40
Declines	724	15.99
Unchanged	376	5.36
Total Volume		42.75

* 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*
July 18, 1980	923.98	122.04	58.04
July 17, 1980	915.10	121.44	48.87
July 16, 1980	904.44	119.63	49.13
July 15, 1980	901.54	119.30	60.90
July 14, 1980	905.55	120.01	45.48
July 11, 1980	891.13	117.84	38.31
July 10, 1980	885.92	116.95	43.73
July 9, 1980	897.27	117.98	52.00
July 8, 1980	897.35	117.84	45.83
July 7, 1980	898.21	118.29	42.54