News stories from Tuesday February 3, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A reconstruction of the captivity of the American hostages in Iran has been pieced together from detailed interviews with 20 of them and public statements and other accounts by the former captives and their families. The 444-day ordeal was marked by bravery, beatings and mental abuse, terror, despair, camaraderie and the sharing of prayer and hope. [New York Times]
- The fate of an American woman in Iran is likely to be discussed tomorrow by the authorities in Teheran and Swiss diplomats representing the United States at a meeting sought by the Iranians, according to the State Department. The woman, Cynthia Dwyer, a freelance journalist, has been imprisoned in Teheran for nine months. [New York Times]
- Tax cuts were firmly espoused by Treasury Secretary Donald Regan as he rejected proposals to tie them to reductions in spending. He said that the Reagan administration, in pressing for multiyear tax reductions, would "force the hand of Congress" to approve large reductions in federal spending and he predicted congressional action on both matters by summer. [New York Times]
- The end of an urban aid program will be sought by the Reagan administration, according to a group of mayors. They said they had been told of plans to terminate a $675-million program aimed at generating private investment for shopping centers, factories and other projects in downtown areas. An administration official said "no final decision has been made." [New York Times]
- The Senate rejected allegations by underworld informers and approved, by a vote of 80 to 17, President Reagan's nomination of Raymond Donovan as Secretary of Labor. The vote was delayed for two weeks by the bureau's investigation of allegations that Mr. Donovan and his construction company in Secaucus, N.J., had engaged in illegal or improper actions, including payoffs to obtain labor peace. [New York Times]
- No early decision on grain sales to the Soviet Union is expected to be made by the Reagan administration. An official said that despite President Reagan's campaign pledge to resume such sales at once, the issue was now more complicated. Some advisers suggest using the embargo as a bargaining weapon in talks with Moscow. [New York Times]
- The trial of 10 suspected terrorists began in Chicago before a federal judge. The alleged F.A.L.N members defiantly shouted slogans and made speeches supporting independence for Puero Rico. They are charged with conspiracy, armed robbery and possession of illegal weapons. [New York Times]
- Congressional staff aides may be paid out of government funds while they are working full time on re-election campaigns for long periods to the exclusion of all other duties, under a court ruling. The unanimous decision was handed down by a three-judge panel of a federal appellate court. [New York Times]
- A ban relating to sickle-cell anemia was reversed by the Air Force Academy. Since 1973 the Academy has excluded any candidate for admission who possessed a single gene for the ailment. But the Academy said today that specialists had convinced Air Force officials that the ban was inappropriate, and that it was being dropped. The trait is found in perhaps two million American blacks. [New York Times]
- A bigger military role in the Mideast by Washington was sugggested by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. In a news conference, he said that the Reagan administration wanted to do everything it could to improve the defenses of Saudi Arabia. He also said he favored production and deployment of the neutron bomb, which is relatively low in blast effect but high in lethal radiation. [New York Times]
- Polish "instigators" were denounced by Stanislaw Kania, the Communist Party leader. He accused them of transforming the independent union into a political opposition and sowing anarchy. The attack came only three days after the union and the authorities reached an accord that has eased Poland's labor unrest, and Western diplomats theorized that the party was under pressure from Soviet-bloc countries to maintain a harder line toward the labor movement. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 941.38 (+9.21, +0.99%)
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* |
| February 2, 1981 | 932.17 | 126.91 | 44.08 |
| January 30, 1981 | 947.27 | 129.55 | 41.16 |
| January 29, 1981 | 948.89 | 130.24 | 38.16 |
| January 28, 1981 | 942.58 | 130.34 | 36.69 |
| January 27, 1981 | 949.49 | 131.12 | 42.25 |
| January 26, 1981 | 938.91 | 129.84 | 35.37 |
| January 23, 1981 | 940.19 | 130.23 | 37.22 |
| January 22, 1981 | 940.44 | 130.26 | 39.88 |
| January 21, 1981 | 946.25 | 131.36 | 39.19 |
| January 20, 1981 | 950.68 | 131.65 | 41.74 |