News stories from Thursday October 15, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Reagan was rebuffed again by Congress on his plan to sell radar surveillance planes and other advanced air combat equipment to Saudi Arabia. The Senate Foreign Relations Commitee disapproved the plan by a vote of 9 to 8, with all eight Democratic members opposed. [New York Times]
- The President cited free enterprise, the sharing of technology and increased investment and trade as the main keys to help raise living standards in the developing nations. Mr. Reagan spoke before the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia. [New York Times]
- The solvency of Social Security for several years is expected to be preserved under legislation approved by the Senate. Also, by a 95-to-0 vote, the chamber approved maintenance of the minimum federal pension benefit for all those now receiving it. The bill now goes to the House, where approval is expected in several weeks. [New York Times]
- The farm state coalition split as the House rejected the peanut and sugar price support programs favored by the influential House Agriculture Committee. By unexpectedly wide margins, the chamber voted to end the 35-year-old restrictions on the planting and marketing of peanuts and then refused to revive the sugar price support loan program. [New York Times]
- Guidelines for intelligence agencies proposed by the Reagan administration were criticized by two senior Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee. They said that the proposals gave the appearance that the Central Intelligence Agency was being politicized, and that this appearance would jeopardize congressional support needed to rebuild the nation's intelligence capacities. [New York Times]
- Reported murder of Haitian refugees aboard a boat traveling to Florida last July has prompted an investigation by federal authorities. Some survivors of the voyage assert that up to 16 passengers were killed with machetes, knives and ropes and that dozens of others were starved to death. [New York Times]
- Rev. Sun Myung Moon was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he had filed false tax returns omitting more than $150,000 of his income over three years. The 12-count indictment charged that Mr. Moon, who heads the Unification Church, had deposited $1.6 million in New York bank accounts in his own name, used the money for his own purposes and had not reported almost all of the interest. He was also accused of not reporting securities he had received. A church spokesman denied all the charges. [New York Times]
- President Reagan campaigned in Whippany, N.J., for Thomas Kean, the Republican candidate for Governor, saying that "We couldn't ask for a better spokesman for our cause." The Democratic candidate, Representative James Florio, held a rally in Union to counter the President's visit. Mr. Florio told 1,500 union members, students and the elderly that Mr. Kean sought to superimpose on New Jersey the "meanness of spirit coming out of Washington." [New York Times]
- Fear of Middle East "hostilities" was expressed by the State Department, which warned about a rise in "tensions and rhetoric" that it said it was trying "to defuse." [New York Times]
- Two Awacs planes arrived over Egypt after a flight from the United States. The advanced radar surveillance planes immediately began patrolling Egypt's vast western desert, which borders on Libya. [New York Times]
- A Soviet friendship bid to Cairo was made by Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leader. In a courteous telegram, he congratulated Hosni Mubarak on his election to Egypt's presidency and said that Moscow would welcome moves by Cairo to improve relations. [New York Times]
- A freeze on price increases in Poland until a system of compensation for the poorest workers can be put into effect was agreed to by the government and the independent union. The accord, which applies to all goods except gasoline and alcohol, seemed to represent a government concession. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 856.26 (+5.61, +0.66%)
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* |
| October 14, 1981 | 850.65 | 118.80 | 40.25 |
| October 13, 1981 | 865.58 | 120.78 | 43.07 |
| October 12, 1981 | 869.48 | 121.21 | 30.05 |
| October 9, 1981 | 873.00 | 121.45 | 50.06 |
| October 8, 1981 | 878.14 | 122.31 | 47.08 |
| October 7, 1981 | 868.72 | 121.31 | 50.02 |
| October 6, 1981 | 856.26 | 119.39 | 45.45 |
| October 5, 1981 | 859.87 | 119.51 | 51.28 |
| October 2, 1981 | 860.73 | 119.36 | 54.57 |
| October 1, 1981 | 852.26 | 117.08 | 41.59 |