News stories from Wednesday December 22, 1982

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

Local telephone rates will rise substantially under a plan approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Under the ruling, local telephone companies will be allowed to increase rates through a flat fee of at least $2 a month for each residential phone line and at least $4 for each business phone line. The F.C.C. said the Bell System was likely to reduce its long distance tolls by a similar amount because of cost reductions arising from the divestiture of its 22 local telephone companies. [New York Times] A link between two technology giants is being forged. The International Business Machines Corporation announced it would buy a 12 percent stake in the Intel Corporation. I.B.M. said the purchase was made as an investment and to "strengthen" Intel, which is a key supplier of memory chips for I.B.M. computers. [New York Times] As Senators juggled flight schedules and holiday plans, backers of a bill to raise the federal gasoline tax by 5 cents a gallon to finance the repair of highways and mass transit facilities lobbied frantically for votes and predicted victory when the measure reaches a showdown in the Senate tomorrow. The bill has faced a series of filibusters by a small cadre of conservative Republicans. [New York Times] Dr. Barney Clark stood and took a few tiny steps 20 days after the world's first permanent artifical heart was implanted in his chest. Although the steps amounted to little more than shuffles, they were regarded as strides in his struggle for a more normal life. [New York Times] A major storm with high winds buffeted the West on the first full day of winter, causing widespread power outages in California, Arizona and Nevada. Electrical failures darkened large parts of major California cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose and San Diego. [New York Times] Concern about air safety arising from the accelerated training of new flight controllers since last year's strike prompted the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Lynn Helms, to order his top aides to increase their surveillance of the air traffic system. [New York Times] An inquiry into Boston's government has been broadened, according to people familiar with the federal investigation. They said that the Department of Housing and Urban Development was conducting a criminal investigation of the city's management of the Community Development Block Grant program. Another investigation of accusations of corruption in Boston's city government, involving four grand juries, is being coordinated by a federal prosecutor. [New York Times] Military action against Nicaragua by the United States is barred under an order renewed by Congress. The order, contained in a spending bill signed by President Reagan, prohibits the Reagan administration from supporting military operations aimed at overthrowing the Sandinist government. [New York Times] An elaboration of a Soviet arms plan was presented to journalists by a senior Kremlin official. He said the plan to reduce medium-range nuclear missiles meant the removal of weapons from the European part of the Soviet Union, not the removal of all weapons within reach of Europe. [New York Times] Lech Walesa cited complete isolation as well as officials' intractable pressure over two weeks as influences on the conciliatory letter he wrote to Poland's authorities that led to his release after 11 months of internment. In an interview, the leader of the outlawed trade union Solidarity also detailed his futile, last-minute efforts at compromise to deter the imposition of martial law. [New York Times] Soviet casualties in Afghanistan since Soviet troops entered that country three years ago have totaled 10,000 to 15,000, according to the State Department, which also said that the Kremlin had been unable to gain superiority over the Afghan insurgents. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1035.04 (+4.78, +0.46%)
S&P Composite: 138.83 (+0.22, +0.16%)
Arms Index: 0.81

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	899	46.36
Declines	671	28.04
Unchanged	413	9.07
Total Volume		83.47

* 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*
December 21, 1982	1030.26	138.61	78.01
December 20, 1982	1004.51	136.26	62.20
December 17, 1982	1011.50	137.49	76.01
December 16, 1982	990.25	135.30	73.69
December 15, 1982	992.64	135.24	81.05
December 14, 1982	1009.38	137.39	98.38
December 13, 1982	1024.28	139.95	63.13
December 10, 1982	1018.76	139.57	86.43
December 9, 1982	1027.96	140.00	90.31
December 8, 1982	1047.09	141.81	97.43