News stories from Tuesday October 26, 1982

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

Consumer prices rose only two-tenths of 1 percent in September, bringing the 1982 inflation rate to 4.8 percent, the government reported. For the year, the inflation rate measured by the Consumer Price Index is likely to be about 5 percent or lower, far less than the double-digit increases of 1979 and 1980. [New York Times] President Reagan accused critics of "playing with people's fears" about the economy and turning the nightly television news shows into "the network evening blues." Campaigning in friendly North Carolina, Mr. Reagan pleaded for "a little more time to fix the one remaining problem, unemployment." The Republicans' campaign day included the presentation of the Medal of Freedom to Kate Smith for popularizing the 1940 song "God Bless America." [New York Times] More women back Democrats while more men support Republicans, according to poll takers across the country. As a result, both parties are concentrating their commercials on women. Public opinion polls show that women's support is providing a lead for such Democratic candidates for governor as Mario Cuomo in New York, Tom Bradley in California and Bill Clinton in Arkansas. [New York Times] A strike at Chrysler was rejected overwhelmingly by unionized workers at the troubled auto company. Douglas Fraser, president of the United Automobile Workers, said that members had voted by a margin of 70 percent to 30 percent to stay on the job now and resume contract negotiations early next year. [New York Times] A cleanup of a vast toxic waste dump was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency. It said that 24 companies had agreed to pay $7.7 million to remove more than 60,000 barrels of lethal chemicals from a site in Seymour, Ind. [New York Times] A key witness in the case against former United States intelligence agents charged with illegally aiding Libyan terrorists was found dead outside a mountain cabin in Virginia. Federal law enforcement officials reported that the body of the witness, 40-year-old Kevin Mulcahy, showed no apparent sign of violence. [New York Times] The poisoned Tylenol inquiry in the Chicago area focused on the search for a woman who turned in an eighth bottle of the cyanide-tainted pain reliever two weeks ago and gave a false identification. [New York Times] Major changes in American sports have occurred in the last half century. Not only are athletes bigger and better and capable of breaking records each time they compete, but they live in a commercialized world that has capitalized on their talents to the point that even poor sportsmanship is valued in the marketplace. [New York Times] The disappearance of Salvadoran opposition figures last week prompted concern among Reagan administration officials. As a result, they have told the Salvadoran government that United States military aid will be halted unless the human rights situation there improves. [New York Times] Salvadoran peace talks without any conditions have been proposed by the leftist opposition leaders in exile in Mexico. The call for negotiations to end the civil war appeared designed to take advantage of the insurgents' two-week military offensive and to test suggestions by the Reagan administration that some political settlement might be feasible. [New York Times] The P.L.O. used a U.N. school to give 781 students military training, according to a report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which runs the trade school outside Beirut. The report said that for over two years armed Palestinian instructors also lived at the school and used a basement barred to United Nations employees to store weapons and send radio messages. [New York Times] A further crackdown in Poland was reflected in a new law approved by Parliament. The measure calls for forced labor or imprisonment for "shirkers" and "social parasites" who could not prove they had gainful employment. [New York Times] Helmut Schmidt will not run again for Chancellor. The decision by Mr. Schmidt, who governed West Germany for eight years, marks the end of an era. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1006.07 (+10.94, +1.10%)
S&P Composite: 134.48 (+1.16, +0.87%)
Arms Index: 0.45

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	690	55.21
Declines	944	34.36
Unchanged	347	12.51
Total Volume		102.08

* 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*
October 25, 1982	995.13	133.32	83.72
October 22, 1982	1031.46	138.83	101.13
October 21, 1982	1036.98	139.06	122.46
October 20, 1982	1034.12	139.23	98.68
October 19, 1982	1013.80	136.58	100.85
October 18, 1982	1019.22	136.73	83.79
October 15, 1982	993.10	133.57	80.29
October 14, 1982	996.87	134.57	107.50
October 13, 1982	1015.08	136.71	139.80
October 12, 1982	1003.68	134.44	126.30