News stories from Tuesday April 21, 1981

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

President Reagan will back Democrats in the House who are offering a $689 billion spending program for the next fiscal year. His endorsement of the conservatives' plan, apparently a strategic move to divide Democrats on the budget issue, was made in a phone-in program in Pennsylvania. [New York Times] No federal official violated the law in the investigation of Billy Carter's relations with Libya, an internal Justice Department report said. No attempt at intervention, the report continued, was made by former President Jimmy Carter, who was seeking re-election while the investigation was underway; his Attorney General, Benjamin Civiletti; Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was the national security adviser, or other Carter administration officials. The report said, however, that Billy Carter, who still is registered as an Libyan agent, "lied to government agents" investigating his responsibility to register as an agent. [New York Times] A $915 million merger was agreed on by the American Express Company and Shearson Loeb Rhoades, Wall Street's second largest brokerage. It followed by a month the purchase by the Prudential Insurance Company of America of the Bache Group Inc., another leading broker, for $385 million. Both mergers are expected to bring about a new competitive environment on Wall Street. [New York Times] Joe Louis was buried in Arlington National Cemetery under a special decree by President Reagan. A crowd of several hundred people watched as the Louis family and a gathering of boxing celebrities bid goodbye at the graveside. Many of them recalled the former champion as much for his efforts as a civil rights pioneer as for his punch, which was perhaps the most powerful in boxing history. [New York Times] Spiro Agnew went on trial in Annapolis in a civil damage suit in which the State of Maryland and three Maryland taxpayers are the plaintiffs. Despite his many denials, the former Vice President is charged with having received nearly $200,000 in kickbacks from highway contractors while he was Maryland's Governor. With accumulated interest, he is said to owe the state $298,110. [New York Times] The latest body of a young black person found in the Atlanta area was identified as that of Michael McIntosh, a 23-year-old former convict. He apparently died of suffocation, as did 13 other young blacks who disappeared in the last 21 months. [New York Times] Constitutional sanctions on searches of homes by the police were expanded by the Supreme Court, which ruled 7 to 2 that even when the police have a valid arrest warrant they need, in addition, a search warrant to enter a third party's home to arrest the suspect. The decision, written by Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, reversed a ruling by a federal court of appeals that held that only a search warrant was needed by federal officials to enter a home to make an arrest. [New York Times] Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said she would refuse to meet with three Irish M.P.'s who want to discuss the case of Robert Sands, a 27-year-old leader of the Irish Republican Army who is on a hunger strike in prison. A new spasm of violence is predicted if he dies. [New York Times] Casualties increased in southern Lebanon as fighting intensified between the Israeli-backed Christian forces and Palestinian guerrillas. Eleven people were reported killed and 40 were wounded. Beirut was shelled by Syrian and Christian forces. [New York Times] Pakistan was offered arms and economic aid by the Reagan administration, its Foreign Minister, Agha Shahi, said after two days of talks with Secretary of State Alexander Haig and other officials. The assistance, to be spread over five years, is being offered to offset the Soviet threat from Afghanistan. Pakistan would get $500 million in the first year, Mr. Shahi said, though Mr. Haig said no figure had been settled upon. Last year, Pakistan rejected as "peanuts" a Carter administration offer of $400 million over two years. [New York Times] A decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia was formally announced by the White House. The multibillion-dollar sale will include five Airborne Warning and Control System planes. The formal announcement, making official a decision that actually was reached on April 2, said the "United States has made a commitment to Saudi Arabia to move forward." State Department officials said that following the administration's public announcment of its commitment to Saudi Arabia it might delay for several months its formal notification to Congress, thus opening the way to a congressional debate. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1005.94 (-10.00, -0.98%)
S&P Composite: 134.23 (-1.22, -0.90%)
Arms Index: 1.26

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	619	18.84
Declines	919	35.24
Unchanged	365	6.20
Total Volume		60.28

* 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*
April 20, 1981	1015.94	135.45	51.01
April 16, 1981	1005.58	134.70	52.95
April 15, 1981	1001.71	134.17	56.03
April 14, 1981	989.10	132.68	48.39
April 13, 1981	993.16	133.15	49.85
April 10, 1981	1000.27	134.51	58.12
April 9, 1981	998.83	133.92	59.54
April 8, 1981	993.43	134.31	48.04
April 7, 1981	992.89	133.91	44.54
April 6, 1981	994.24	133.93	43.11