News stories from Tuesday January 6, 1981

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

Iran has responded to the latest American proposals for freeing the hostages by asking several specific questions involving financial issues and procedures, according to Carter administration officials. They declined to characterize the development as indicating that a breakthrough was imminent in efforts to resolve the 14-month dispute.Hopes in the hostage dispute rose again as Ayatollah Khomeini gave approval to Algerian assistance in efforts to free the 52 American captives in Iran. The Ayatollah's endorsement was announced by Prime Minister Mohammed Rajai, but Mr. Rajai's wording was confusing and created further uncertainty about the precise role of the Algerians and the status of the negotiations. [New York Times] The accused slayer of John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to a charge of second-degree murder. It was the first public appearance of the 25-year-old Beatles fan since shortly after he surrendered to the police on Dec. 8, minutes after he was said by witnesses to have shot Mr. Lennon outside the Dakota apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side. [New York Times] The economy will decline this year but "major improvement" will occur within 15 months if Ronald Reagan's economic program is adopted, according to Treasury Secretary-designate Donald Regan. He acknowledged that the new administration's target for balancing the federal budget had slipped a year, to 1984, because projections of budget deficits have increased in recent weeks. [New York Times] No arms talks are likely soon, according to Secretary of Defense-designate Caspar Weinberger. He said it would be at least six months before the new administration would be ready to resume negotiations with the Soviet Union. Mr. Weinberger, testifying at a Senate confirmation hearing, declined to reaffirm President Carter's commitment to defend vital United States interests in the Persian Gulf with military force if necessary and said that Washington might have to resort to nuclear weapons in a war. [New York Times] The next Secretary of Education, whose department President-elect Reagan has pledged to dismantle, is expected to be Terrel Bell, according to officials close to Mr. Reagan's transition. Mr. Bell, a former acting United States Commissioner of Education, is now the Commissioner of Higher Education in Utah. [New York Times] A federal-state court clash intensified as the Justice Department sought to have a Louisiana judge held in civil contempt. He has ordered officials in the town of Alexandria to disregard a federal judge's order that three white students attend a racially mixed school as part of a regional desegregation plan, instructing instead that the three attend an all-white school. [New York Times] A videotaype at the latest Abscam trial showed Representative Raymond Lederer, Democrat of Philadelphia, accepting $50,000 in cash from an undercover agent at a 40-minute meeting. He was told by an F.B.I. agent, "I hope you spend it well." [New York Times] An Abscam defendant acknowledged on the witness stand what videotapes had shown. Richard Kelly, a former Republican Representative from Florida, who is accused of bribery and conspiracy, testified he had accepted $25,000 in a cash bribe from undercover agents posing as representatives of fictitious Arab sheiks. [New York Times] Water rationing in New York City is to be imposed in a "drought emergency" that officials expect to be declared within a few weeks. Enforcing a mandatory program is likely to be difficult because relatively few residences have water meters. As a result, officials said, they are considering placing mechanical devices on pipelines to restrict the flow of water to apartment and office buildings. [New York Times] Labor unrest was renewed in Poland as workers in towns in the west and southeast threatened to strike if new demands for more freedom were not met. The disputes did not appear likely to ignite nationwide protests. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1004.69 (+12.03, +1.21%)
S&P Composite: 138.12 (+0.15, +0.11%)
Arms Index: 1.01

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,049	38.50
Declines	640	23.69
Unchanged	267	5.21
Total Volume		67.40

* 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*
January 5, 1981	992.66	137.97	58.71
January 2, 1981	972.78	136.34	28.86
December 31, 1980	963.99	135.76	41.21
December 30, 1980	962.03	135.33	39.75
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