News stories from Thursday June 24, 1982

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

"Absolute presidential immunity" from damage suits for any official action taken while in office was upheld by the Supreme Court. The 5-to-4 decision overturned a lower court ruling in a suit against former President Richard Nixon. In a companion 8-to-1 ruling, the Justices broadened the "qualified immunity" that applies to most federal and state officials, making it substantially more likely that courts would dismiss suits against them before trial. [New York Times] Organized labor was upheld in another decision by the Supreme Court. The Justices ruled, 6 to 3, that federal courts may not prohibit politically motivated work stoppages. [New York Times] Three of the Hinckley trial jurors who found the defendant not guilty by reason of insanity said in Senate testimony that they would have found him both guilty and mentally ill if they had been given that option. The three were among five jurors who indicated they had not fully understood the judge's instructions on the crucial issue of whether John W. Hinckley was insane at the time he shot President Reagan and three other men. [New York Times] The planned equal rights amendment has no chance of being ratified by the required three additional states by next Wednesday's deadline, leading proponents of the proposal conceded. However, they vowed to continue the struggle against sexual discrimination by electing equal rights backers to state legislatures and by suing large corporations that practice such discrimination. [New York Times] A key money bill was vetoed by President Reagan. He critized as inflationary and preferential the $8.9 billion urgent supplemental appropriation that contained $3 billion for housing subsidies. The veto was easily upheld in the Democratic-controlled House by a vote of 253 to 151. [New York Times] Increasing desert fissures in Arizona are alarming residents, officials and geologists. The jagged cracks, often several miles long and very deep, are a direct consequence of the state's rapid growth in recent decades. They are caused by widespread pumping of water from underground aquifers to irrigate arid farmland or to meet the rising demands of urban users for a reliable water supply. [New York Times] The P.L.O. is finished in Lebanon, according to a faction leader who has been the main leftist ally of the Palestinian guerrillas in Beirut. Walid Jumblat, a leader of the Druse, told reporters that the guerrilla group "is outdated -- it is over." In the fighting, Israeli jets continued attacking the positions of the Palestinian guerrillas trapped in Beirut. [New York Times] The evacuation of hundreds of Americans and Lebanese with American immigration papers was carried out by a transport ship of the Sixth Fleet hours after the American Embassy in Beirut closed. At the 11th hour, scores of other Americans, Lebanese and Western Europeans arrived at the docks in the Mediterranean port of Junieh and were also taken aboard. [New York Times] Israel's strategy in Lebanon was reported by a senior official. He said that the government had decided to hold to its decision not to enter west Beirut but to review the decision tomorrow. The special American envoy, Philip Habib, is expected to arrive in Jerusalem on Saturday with a plan for the formation of a strong Lebanese government that could cope with the Palestinian guerrillas. [New York Times] Soviet leaders seek an arms accord and a reduction in tensions with the West, in the view of Edward Rowny, the chief American negotiator to the talks on curbing strategic arms that open next week. [New York Times] The first French astronaut to fly in space is Jean-Loup Chretien, a 43-year-old Russian-speaking colonel. Soviet television relayed live his liftoff into earth orbit with two Soviet astronauts aboard a spacecraft from the space center in Kazakhstan. [New York Times] Discrimination against U.S. troops in West Germany has caused rising concern at Seventh Army headquarters, which acknowledges that bias has been increasing in bars, clubs and discotheques. Many soldiers have reacted indignantly to a report that a Pentagon official said some allies wanted fewer black soldiers stationed in Europe. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 810.41 (-3.36, -0.41%)
S&P Composite: 109.83 (-0.31, -0.28%)
Arms Index: 1.57

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	772	21.14
Declines	660	28.39
Unchanged	417	6.33
Total Volume		55.86

* 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*
June 23, 1982	813.77	110.14	62.70
June 22, 1982	799.66	108.30	55.29
June 21, 1982	789.95	107.20	50.36
June 18, 1982	788.62	107.28	53.80
June 17, 1982	791.48	107.60	49.23
June 16, 1982	796.90	108.87	56.28
June 15, 1982	801.27	109.69	44.97
June 14, 1982	801.85	109.96	40.10
June 11, 1982	809.74	111.24	68.61
June 10, 1982	798.71	109.61	50.93