News stories from Wednesday November 3, 1982
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Democrats widened their majority in the House by 26 votes Tuesday in an election that raised doubts about President Reagan's ability to protect his conservative economic program from alteration by Congress. The Republicans retained firm control of the Senate, but White House strategists estimated that the election had cut about 24 conservatives from the bipartisan coalition that helped pass Mr. Reagan's key economic legislation. [New York Times]
- Democrats wrested effective control of the Douse from the coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats, congressional leaders of both parties confirmed. "We're going to be at the mercy of Tip" was the reaction of Representative Robert Michel of Illinois, the House Republican leader, in a reference to Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts. [New York Times]
- Senate Republican leaders predicted that the election results would place them in the difficult role of mediating between the conservative Republican White House and the increasingly liberal Democratic House. [New York Times]
- President Reagan was conciliatory about the sizable Republican losses in the House and predicted that both he and the Democrats would have to make "concessions and compromises" on major issues. [New York Times]
- Democrats also gained seven governorships in returns that have potentially significant implications for President Reagan's effort to promote his "new federalism" plan to the states and for the 1984 presidential election. The Democrats won 27 of the 36 governorships at stake. [New York Times]
- The newly elected Congress will be more inclined than the existing one to reduce scheduled increases in military spending, more opposed to trimming social programs, and differs more with President Reagan on a broad range of issues from abortion to a global nuclear freeze, according to a New York Times/CBS News survey. For example, 50 of 77 incoming Representatives said they were in favor of canceling the scheduled 1983 cut in federal income tax rates. [New York Times]
- A global nuclear freeze was urged by the voters in eight states and several major cities, which together contain about one-fourth of the country's population. The resolution is opposed by the Reagan administration on the ground that such a policy would damage national security. [New York Times]
- Lewis Lehrman conceded defeat in the close race for Governor of New York. Speaking at a mid-afternoon news conference, Mr. Lehrman, the Republican-Conservative candidate, warmly congratulated Mario Cuomo, his Democratic-Liberal opponent, and said he would remain in public life and seek office again.
Cuomo was aided by the unemployment and other economic issues in winning election as New York's 52nd Governor. But politicians and consultants on both sides attributed the narrowness of his victory to a re-emergence of the crime issue in the final week of the campaign and an unprecedented barrage of television advertising and mailings by his millionaire opponent.
[New York Times] - California bucked the national trend by electing Republicans to major offices. George Deukmejian, the state Attorney General, dashed the bid by Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles to become the first black in the nation to be elected governor, and Mayor Pete Wilson of San Diego defeated Gov. Jerry Brown in their race for the United States Senate. [New York Times]
- Stock prices soared to new highs for the Dow Jones industrial average and other leading market indicators in the biggest one-day advance in history. The Dow industrials finished at 1,065.49 with a gain of 43.41 points. Volume in the post-election buying surge on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 137 million shares in the fifth-busiest session. [New York Times]
- A lack of Social Security funds was confirmed by the Treasury Department. It said that the old age trust fund would borrow $1 billion on Friday to make sure it has enough money to cover this month's $12.2 billion of benefit payments. It will be the first such federal interfund loan since the first Social Security benefits were paid in 1940. [New York Times]
- A major Navajo election upset occurred at the tribal reservation in Arizona. Peterson Zah, a 44-year-old community activist, defeated Peter MacDonald, one of America's most powerful Indian leaders, to become tribal chairman. [New York Times]
- Palestinian fighters have infiltrated into the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon since they were evacuated from West Beirut to Syria in August, according to estimates by Israel's Foreign Ministry. An official said that 2,000 to 3,000 of the guerrillas had entered the area, which is under Syrian control. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1065.49 (+43.41, +4.25%)
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* |
| November 2, 1982 | 1022.08 | 137.49 | 104.77 |
| November 1, 1982 | 1005.70 | 135.47 | 73.52 |
| October 29, 1982 | 991.72 | 133.71 | 74.87 |
| October 28, 1982 | 990.99 | 133.59 | 73.59 |
| October 27, 1982 | 1006.35 | 135.28 | 81.66 |
| October 26, 1982 | 1006.07 | 134.48 | 102.07 |
| 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 |