News stories from Wednesday April 22, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The effect of the gunman's bullet was described by President Reagan in his first public discussion of the assassination attempt on him March 30. In an interview with reporters at the White House, he said that the intitial reaction that he had not been hit was followed by "the most paralyzing pain," and then a feeling of panic over not being able to breathe, "that panic you can get if you're strangling on something." The President said that he still had some pain, but had resumed the regimen of "exercises I've always done for keeping fit." [New York Times]
- The impact of the budget reductions proposed by the Reagan administration will be "virtually equal" across the nation, not disproportionate in the Northeast and the Middle West, according to an analysis by the Office of Management and Budget. The study calculated that the reductions would amount to $170 per capita in the Northeast and South, $168 in the West and $158 in the Midwest. The study also says proposed income tax relief will be higher in the Northeast and Middle West because incomes are higher there. [New York Times]
- Navajo livestock were seized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Arizona land recently ceded by Congress to the rival Hopi tribe. However, the Navajos persuaded the agency to suspend the seizures pending a conference between bureau officials and tribal leaders. The impoundment was the first step in carrying out a federal law that took effect last Saturday, dividing a 1.8 million-acre reservation in northeast Arizona equally between the Navajos and the Hopis. Several thousand Navajos are living on land ceded to the Hopis, while only a small number of Hopis live on what has become an exclusive Navajo preserve. [New York Times]
- Single women as homeowners are becoming the fastest growing trend in the market. They are buying one-third of the nation's condominium apartments and one-tenth of its houses, according to the National Association of Realtors. Whether unmarried, divorced or widowed, home ownership by women and their ability to borrow mortgage money has been made possible by federal laws passed in 1974 and 1975 that struck down sex discrimination in lending and home-buying. A change in social attitudes and the confidence that the feminist movement gave women are also factors. [New York Times]
- Elmer Gertz won a libel suit in a retrial in Federal District Court in Chicago in which Robert Welch Ltd., was again the defendant. The jury awarded Mr. Gertz, a civil libertarian, lawyer, and lecturer at John Marshall Law School, $100,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages arising from 1969 article in a John Birch publication, The American Opinion. The case became a legal landmark in 1974 when the Supreme Court referred to it in a change of the libel laws. [New York Times]
- An Abscam bribery trial defendant, Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey, testified in Federal District Court in Brooklyn that at no time during his 22 years as a Senator had he tried to influence a federal agency for his personal profit. He is charged with having agreed to use his position to obtain federal contracts to buy the output of a Virginia titanium mine and processing plant in which he allegedly had a concealed interest. [New York Times]
- The funerals of two Ulster youths, killed by a British army vehicle in Londonderry Easter Sunday, set off more clashes between youths and British troops and the police. The fighting broke out in the Catholic Bogside and Creggan districts of Londonderry and Belfast's west side. [New York Times]
- The inquiry into a submarine collision with a Japanese freighter on April 9 in the East China Sea was continued by the United States Navy and diplomatic officials. The latest reports said that the captain of the submarine George Washington, which carries nuclear ballistic missiles, left the scene of the accident because the damage to the freighter appeared to be minor, and that, under standard operating procedure, the vessel sought to avoid detection by Soviet surveillance. [New York Times]
- Senator Jesse Helms was challenged by the White House in his efforts to have a person of his choice named assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee began confirmation hearings on key State Department appointments. The White House nominated Thomas Enders, a career diplomat and economic specialist with no Latin American experience. Senator Helms, who indicated he would oppose Mr. Enders, has put forward Louis Tambs, a professor at Arizona State University and a former contractor in Latin America. [New York Times]
- U.S. commitment to Israel's security was reaffirmed by the Reagan administration after protests from the Israeli government and Israeli diplomats in Washington over the administration's announcement that it would sell arms to Saudi Arabia. Israel is especially against the proposed sale of five Awacs surveillance planes. After a meeting in Jerusalem with the United States Ambassador, Samuel Lewis, Prime Minister Menachem Begin said "the government of Israel expressed deep pain and unqualified opposition" to the arms deal. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1007.02 (+1.08, +0.11%)
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 21, 1981 | 1005.94 | 134.23 | 60.29 |
| 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 |