News stories from Friday January 9, 1981

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

Iran raised more questions about the American proposals for freeing the hostages, leading Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher to extend his talks in Algeria with the Algerian intermediaries, a spokesman for the State Department said. [New York Times] Alexander Haig warned the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of the dangers of uncontrolled Soviet military power as he deflected critical questions about Watergate and his role as White House chief of staff under President Nixon at the start of confirmation hearings on his appointment as Secretary of State by President-elect Ronald Reagan. He said he believed that former President Nixon "was entitled to the presumption of innocence," and "in that context I worked hard within the boundaries of the law and the advice of lawyers to support him." [New York Times] A general rise in producer prices continued in December, and declines in food prices were more than offset by brisk advances in energy, capital equipment and other goods, the Labor Department reported.Employment rose slightly in December but not enough to pull the job market out its sharp slump of early 1980, according to the monthly report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The jobless rate was 7.4 percent of the total workforce compared with 7.5 percent in November. Since May the rate has been 7.4 to 7.6 percent. [New York Times] A federal job discrimination suit was settled when the Carter administration agreed, over the objections of Ronald Reagan's transition team, to replace one of the government's basic Civil Service examinations. Members of minority groups charged in a suit begun two years aim that the test, which screens applicants for 118 white collar jobs, discriminated against blacks and Hispanic-Americans. [New York Times] California faces a fiscal crisis and will have no budget surplus when its fiscal year ends on June 30 because of the sharp loss of revenue brought about by Proposition 13, approved by voters two and a half years ago. The proposition, which limited property taxes, has cut off about $7 billion a year in local government income. [New York Times] Federal prosecutors sharply disagreed for a long period over the undercover methods used in the Abscam investigation, according to an unpublished internal government memorandum. At issue was the way agents conducted their undercover tactics with Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey. According to the memorandum, the New Jersey prosecutors were concerned about such issues as the possibility of entrapment, which could be crucial in appeals.Representative Raymond Lederer of Pennsylvania was convicted today in Federal District Court in Brooklyn of bribery and conspiracy charges that followed the government's Abscam investigation. [New York Times] Twenty persons were killed and 13 were missing in a fire that destroyed a home for the aged in Keansburg, N.J. At least 78 residents were able to flee from the Beachview Rest Home, a two-story brick and stucco structure, but 17 were injured, two critically. A new state law requiring the installation of sprinklers had been waived last September by a state official on Beachview's behalf, according to the Monmouth County prosecutor. [New York Times] Iran will continue to fight Iraq despite the "high cost of holding out," President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr told Iranian ambassadors called home for policy discussions, the Teheran radio said. His speech followed an assessment by Western military analysts that the Iranian counteroffensive appeared to be running out of steam. [New York Times] One of Poland's Communist leaders sought to avert a showdown with the independent labor union Solidarity, urging in an unexpected appearance on television a "reasonable solution" to the union's disputes with the government. Stefan Olszowski, a member of the Politburo, suggested that a compromise was possible on the five-day work week sought by the union. [New York Times] A buildup of French troops In Africa was ordered by President Valery Giscard d'Estaing to emphasize France's determination to support its African allies against further encroachment by Libya, which recently moved into Chad, according to government officials in Paris. [New York Times] A major weapons sale to Saudi Arabia is reportedly being considered by West Germany, which would reverse the West German policy of staying out of the weapons business in regions of tension. Members of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's Social Democratic Party oppose the proposed sale on the grounds that it would be a potential danger to Israel and would conflict with longstanding policy. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 968.69 (+2.99, +0.31%)
S&P Composite: 133.48 (+0.42, +0.32%)
Arms Index: 0.80

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	909	28.95
Declines	620	15.71
Unchanged	368	5.53
Total Volume		50.19

* 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 8, 1981	965.70	133.06	55.35
January 7, 1981	980.89	135.08	92.88
January 6, 1981	1004.69	138.12	67.40
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