News stories from Friday March 12, 1982
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A decline in the Producer Price Index last month -- the first in six years -- provided the most dramatic evidence thus far of progress in the fight to curb inflation. The decline was only one-tenth of 1 percent, but most economists had expected the government index to show another modest increase. [New York Times]
- The offer to pay all Medicaid costs, now borne by the states, will be withdrawn by the Reagan administration if the nation's governors persist in their refusal to take over federal food stamp and welfare costs, a White House official said. [New York Times]
- A two-tiered price support system for surplus milk has been proposed by the National Milk Producers Federation, which fears that if it does not offer help to cut the $2.1 billion the government expects to spend this year to buy and store surplus dairy products, the administration will take even more stringent action. [New York Times]
- City population losses continue despite widespread neighborhood renewal, according to a census study. The study found that in the census tracts of 10 major cities where there had been extensive housing renovation there was a substantial decline in white and black residents from 1970 to 1980.
Funds for a South Bronx (New York City) project may be cut by the Department of Housing and Urban Development despite the Reagan administration's awareness of "the needs and problems" of the area, an official indicated.
[New York Times] - A revised design for a memorial to Vietnam War veterans in Washington has been approved by Interior Secretary James Watt, apparently ending a controversy raised by the original abstract V-shaped design. He approved a plan that would add a statue and flagpole to the monument, apparently responding to opponents of the original plan, who demanded a more traditional, heroic monument. [New York Times]
- A plan for dealing with toxic wastes was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency issued its "national contingency plan," which is intended as the government's response to the problem posed to health and the environment by thousands of abandoned hazardous waste dumps that, until now, had been largely ignored. [New York Times]
- An attempt to give away $10,000 by throwing it from the observation deck of the Empire State Building, and a bank robbery on the main floor, caused an uproar in the skyscraper and surrounding streets. Two men sought to promote their adult education school by showering the streets with dollar bills. In the meantime, two suspects in a holdup in a Bankers Trust branch were tackled on the street and disarmed in the one of the most heavily photographed arrests in recent times. [New York Times]
- Claims by a Nicaraguan captured last year in El Salvador while fighting with the guerrillas that he had been trained in Cuba and Ethiopia and was sent by Nicaragua were denied by him at the State Department. The report that Orlando Jose Espinosa had told the Salvadoran army and the American Embassy was regarded by the Reagan administration as confirmation of Nicaraguan and Cuban involvement in El Salvador, and he was invited to tell it again to reporters. He recanted, saying that he had never been to Cuba or Ethiopia, had never seen another Nicaraguan or a Cuban in El Salvador and had made his previous statements under coercion. [New York Times]
- Critics of the Central America policy adopted by the Reagan administration said it was "confused and dangerous," and proposed legislation that would require prior congressional approval for any American intervention in the region, including military action and covert intelligence operations. The opposition to the policy came from two freshman Democratic Senators, Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. [New York Times]
- The Caribbean economic plan proposed by the Reagan administration was endorsed by President Francois Mitterrand of France, who flew to Washington for a meeting with President Reagan. There was no indication from the public statements issued after the meeting of nearly three hours that France and the United States do not continue to hold differing views on the guerrilla war in El Salvador or on the general question of outside involvement in Central America. But President Reagan told reporters that he believed President Mitterrand "now has a better understanding of United States policy objectives" in Central America. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 797.37 (-8.19, -1.02%)
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* |
| March 11, 1982 | 805.56 | 109.36 | 52.95 |
| March 10, 1982 | 804.89 | 109.41 | 59.44 |
| March 9, 1982 | 803.84 | 108.83 | 76.06 |
| March 8, 1982 | 795.47 | 107.35 | 67.33 |
| March 5, 1982 | 807.36 | 109.34 | 67.44 |
| March 4, 1982 | 807.55 | 109.88 | 74.34 |
| March 3, 1982 | 815.16 | 110.92 | 70.26 |
| March 2, 1982 | 825.82 | 112.68 | 63.80 |
| March 1, 1982 | 828.39 | 113.31 | 53.01 |
| February 26, 1982 | 824.39 | 113.11 | 43.83 |