News stories from Tuesday May 5, 1981

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

Major cuts in social programs, including welfare, Medicaid and unemployment compensation, were approved by the Senate Finance Committee. The 17-to-2 vote for $10.33 billion in reductions marked the first major step in implementing a new budget being debated on Capitol Hill. [New York Times] Cities with rent control would lose thousands of units of federally financed housing units under a provision approved by the Senate Banking Committee. New York City would lose 12,500 such units in fiscal 1982. It appeared likely that the measure would be approved by the full Senate, the House and President Reagan. Mayor Koch denounced Senator Alfonse D'Amato, Republican of New York, for championing the measure. [New York Times] Plans for a welfare data bank have been sharply modified by the Reagan administration. Officials said they would not seek congressional approval for a master file of Americans on public assistance, but would propose instead a system to enable the states to obtain information from various federal agencies. [New York Times] The biggest "workfare" program in the nation is in effect in San Diego, where food stamp recipients must perform public service jobs. The successes and failures of the experiment underscore the difficulties of organizing such a program and are being studied by the Reagan administration, which seeks to establish a work requirement for all welfare programs. [New York Times] State school aid to Philadelphia was announced by Gov. Dick Thornburgh. He promised to step up the timetable of Pennsylvania's payments to prevent a paralysis of the city's educational system and to allow 13,000 high school seniors to graduate on schedule. [New York Times] Opposition to deploying the MX missile in Utah and Nevada was expressed by the leadership of the Mormon church. The announcement, which was sent to President Reagan, was expected to have a profound influence on public opinion in the region. The statement deplored "a mammoth weapons system potentially capable of destroying much of civilization." [New York Times] A major influx of immigrants in New York City is creating a greater diversity in race, language and ethnicity than ever before. The arrivals in recent years, estimated to total up to 2 million people, have brought a new vitality to the streets and new strength to the neighborhoods. But the surge has put a strain on city services, particularly in education, health and law enforcement. [New York Times] A 38-story tower in Atlantic City is to be added to the casino-hotel owned by Resorts International. The $100 million, 1,500-room tower would make the hotel the largest in the East and the third largest in the country. The complex, which is set for completion next year, will be almost twice as tall as any other building in the resort city. [New York Times] The Navy should build its submarines, according to Adm. Hyman Rickover, the outspoken developer of nuclear warships. The admiral, who is 80 years old and still on active duty, charged at a House hearing that private shipyards were uneconomical and inefficient businesses that often harassed the government with inflated cost claims. [New York Times] Britain affirmed its policy on Northern Ireland, saying it would not be changed despite the death of Robert Sands on the 66th day of his hunger strike and the street violence that followed. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said during questioning in Parliament that granting demands by Irish Republican Army prisoners for political status would "give a license to kill."Battles on the streets of Belfast between Roman Catholic youths and the police continued but were sporadic and widely scattered. The body of Robert Sands was returned to the family home as grim-faced neighbors lined the street in respectful silence. [New York Times] NATO de-emphasized detente and portrayed the Soviet Union as increasingly lacking in restraint and responsibility. A communique issued at the end of a two-day meeting of the Atlantic Alliance foreign ministers in Rome constituted a step by Western Europe in the direction of the Reagan administration's position on Soviet goals and conduct. [New York Times] A U.S. peace mission to the Mideast was announced by the White House. It said that President Reagan would send Philip Habib, a veteran diplomat, to Lebanon, Syria and Israel to explore ways of preventing a Syrian-Israeli clash in Lebanon. [New York Times] Syria rejected Israel's demands for the withdrawal of antiaircraft missiles from Lebanon as "ridiculous." Foreign Minister Abdel Khaddam said, "Israel wants to have a free hand to send its fighter planes to attack Lebanon and drop tons and tons of bombs on the Lebanese." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 972.44 (-6.67, -0.68%)
S&P Composite: 130.32 (-0.35, -0.27%)
Arms Index: 0.87

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	474	14.48
Declines	1,106	29.43
Unchanged	354	5.09
Total Volume		49.00

* 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*
May 4, 1981	979.11	130.67	40.66
May 1, 1981	995.59	132.72	48.35
April 30, 1981	997.75	132.81	47.96
April 29, 1981	1004.32	133.05	53.34
April 28, 1981	1016.93	134.33	58.21
April 27, 1981	1024.05	135.48	51.08
April 24, 1981	1020.35	135.14	59.90
April 23, 1981	1010.27	133.94	64.20
April 22, 1981	1007.02	134.14	60.65
April 21, 1981	1005.94	134.23	60.29