News stories from Wednesday October 24, 1979

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

Continued gasoline price controls were approved by the House, which reversed a 12-day-old decision by a 225 to 189 vote. Congressional leaders attributed the shift to recent reports of soaring oil company profits that make the industry unpopular and current predictions that gasoline shortages are likely next year as a result of curtailed foreign production. [New York Times] A curb on new nuclear reactors, barring their construction or operation until state and local emergency programs have been approved, is to be recommended by the presidential commission that investigated the accident at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania. The recommendation to President Carter was approved unanimously by the commission after two broader moratorium proposals had failed to win the needed votes. [New York Times] Advertising by doctors was upheld by the Federal Trade Commission, which ruled that the American Medical Association could not bar physicians from publicizing their fees and services. The decision, which may eventually affect doctors' charges, allows the association to formulate guidelines governing acceptable advertising. [New York Times] Nitrous oxide is tied to health problems among dental workers in a national, federally funded study. The study found that dentists and dental technicians exposed to "laughing gas" have markedly more kidney and liver diseases, spontaneous miscarriages and other serious health problems than other people. The anesthetic gas, popularly believed to be harmless, is used by about 42 percent of dental professionals in the nation. [New York Times] A panel on problems of the 1980's was created by President Carter. The commission will examine inflation, energy, demographic shifts and other domestic issues and make broad recommendations to deal with them after the 1980 presidential elections. [New York Times] Airline deregulation has drawn mixed reviews from the industry and passengers since the era began a year ago, but many fares are lower, travel has increased sharply and some record profits have been made. The profits of most carriers are dropping amid the economic downturn, but the industry is still ahead of 1978 earnings. [New York Times] Michele Sindona was ordered confined temporarily to his Manhattan apartment in the custody of his lawyers and under private guard. The order was issued by a judge after the Italian financier appeared in court and presented a dramatic account of how, he said, he had been kidnapped and held prisoner for 10 weeks. He faces trial on bank fraud charges. [New York Times] The Shah of Iran underwent surgery to remove several gallstones that had blocked a bile duct. Surgeons at New York Hospital also removed his gall bladder because it contained several additional gallstones and an enlarged lymph node and took a small piece of his liver for tests to determine whether cancer cells or other abnormalities were present. [New York Times] Curbing the spread of nuclear arms was strongly espoused by the Carter administration in 1977, but that policy has eased in recent months, according to a report prepared for the National Security Council. [New York Times] Food for Cambodians was pledged by President Carter, who announced that Washington would provide up to $70 million as part of an international aid program. Earlier, Senator Edward Kennedy assailed the administration for what he charged was a lack of concern as "disease and famine" spread in Cambodia. The Senator called for the United States to begin an immediate "airlift of food and medicine" to Cambodia. [New York Times] Washington denounced Prague for "unreasonably harsh sentences" given Tuesday to six human rights activists. They received prison terms of up to four and a half years. [New York Times] The arms treaty again survived so-called killer amendments. Two provisions, which would have required Moscow to dismantle its most powerful nuclear missiles, were rejected by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by votes of 9 to 6. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 808.36 (+1.53, +0.19%)
S&P Composite: 100.44 (+0.16, +0.16%)
Arms Index: 0.85

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	766	15.16
Declines	683	11.46
Unchanged	441	4.86
Total Volume		31.48

* 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 23, 1979	806.83	100.28	32.91
October 22, 1979	809.13	100.71	45.24
October 19, 1979	814.68	101.60	42.43
October 18, 1979	830.12	103.61	29.59
October 17, 1979	830.72	103.39	29.66
October 16, 1979	829.52	103.19	33.76
October 15, 1979	831.06	103.36	34.85
October 12, 1979	838.99	104.49	36.39
October 11, 1979	844.62	105.05	47.55
October 10, 1979	849.32	105.30	81.62