News stories from Thursday September 6, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Puerto Rican terrorists were freed by President Carter. Citing "humane considerations," he commuted the sentences of a nationalist who tried to assassinate President Truman in 1950 and three others who sprayed gunfire into the House chamber in 1954, wounding five Congressmen. President Fidel Castro has offered to exchange four American prisoners in Cuba for the Puerto Rican nationalists. [New York Times]
- A Kennedy-for-President drive gained a bit. The Massachusetts Senator let it be known for the first time that his family no longer objected to his seeking the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination if he chose to do so. Privately, Senator Kennedy's associates stressed that he had still not made a final decision to run. [New York Times]
- The discovery of an 11th Saturn moon and a seventh tenuous ring of debris circling the planet was made by the Pioneer 11 spacecraft, American scientists reported. They also said that further analysis of Pioneer's radio transmissions had revealed that a Soviet satellite in Earth orbit was not responsible for wiping out temperature measurements of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, as they had previously announced. [New York Times]
- Moon Landrieu acknowledged that, while Mayor of New Orleans, he was a business partner and shared a substantial profit with a real estate developer who did business with the city. He said there was nothing improper about the deal, which "had nothing to do with the city." Mr. Landrieu testified before a Senate committee reviewing his nomination to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. [New York Times]
- Dropping U.S. controls over radio to allow the industry to broadcast programs and commercials at its discretion was proposed by the Federal Communications Commission. The moves are backed by the industry and strongly opposed by church and public interest groups, and are expected to stir vigorous debate. [New York Times]
- A delay in granting reactor permits was indicated by the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He said it was unlikely that any new construction or operating permits would be approved until after the publication in October of a report by a presidential inquiry into the reactor accident at the Three Mile Island plant. [New York Times]
- Rapid changes in Birmingham have brought a new uncertainty. In the 16 years since segregation laws there began to crumble, the Alabama city has undergone major social, economic and political shifts, making it stronger, more just and more prosperous. But, as in other American cities, the biracial coalitions forged in the 1960's are loosening. Other factors leading to unease include declining productivity, rising use of drugs and frustrations over the energy crisis. [New York Times]
- Tropical Storm David hit the Northeast with heavy winds, rains and tides, spawning tornados as it moved up from the South. The storm forced hundreds of people to leave their homes, uprooted thousands of trees, toppled utility lines and halted power for more than 2.5 million residents of the New York metropolitan area. Highways were flooded and many businesses and schools were closed. [New York Times]
- Odd-even gasoline sales were dropped by six states from Delaware to Rhode Island after an assessment indicated that supply would be sufficient to prevent panic buying. New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania kept minimum purchase rules. In New York, Governor Carey decided to drop the minimum purchase rules. [New York Times]
- The arms treaty faces Senate defeat, or major revisions, if it reaches the floor before President Carter satisfactorily resolves the problem posed by a Soviet combat brigade in Cuba, according to some liberal as well as conservative senators. However, some influential members of the Foreign Relations Committee said it was unlikely that the panel would send the pact to the floor unless the Soviet unit was removed from Cuba or transformed into a non-combat status.
An inquiry into Soviet troops in Cuba will be held next week by a Senate committee to determine whether a failure in American intelligence delayed the detection, according to a committee spokesman.
[New York Times] - Mozambique troops were attacked by Zimbabwe Rhodesia for the first time in Salisbury's war on black nationalist guerrillas. The land and air attack, which Salisbury said was in response to incursions by Mozambican forces, began in advance of the scheduled start Monday of a British-sponsored constitutional conference on Zimbabwe Rhodesia in London. [New York Times]
- A need to resolve the Palestinian issue soon was agreed on by Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat, the Egyptian leader said as he ended a two-day visit to Israel. [New York Times]
- Iran claimed victory over the Kurds, saying that government forces had seized the last stronghold of the insurgents in the town of Sardasht, near the Iraqi border. Witnesses said all Kurdish forces had left the town and that half of the 20,000 inhabitants had gone because of food shortages. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 867.32 (+1.19, +0.14%)
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* |
| September 5, 1979 | 866.13 | 106.40 | 41.65 |
| September 4, 1979 | 872.61 | 107.44 | 33.35 |
| August 31, 1979 | 887.63 | 109.32 | 26.37 |
| August 30, 1979 | 883.70 | 109.02 | 29.28 |
| August 29, 1979 | 884.90 | 109.02 | 30.81 |
| August 28, 1979 | 884.64 | 109.02 | 29.43 |
| August 27, 1979 | 885.41 | 109.14 | 32.06 |
| August 24, 1979 | 880.20 | 108.60 | 32.73 |
| August 23, 1979 | 880.38 | 108.63 | 35.72 |
| August 22, 1979 | 885.84 | 108.99 | 38.45 |