News stories from Tuesday August 19, 1980

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

Billy Carter was cautioned by the State Department in 1978 that Libyans hoped to use their contacts with him to influence United States foreign policy, according to testimony at a Senate hearing. But Henry Coleman, a friend and business associate of the President's brother, testified that Mr. Carter ignored the warning because he had no political intentions and because he wanted to thumb his nose at those he felt were paying undue attention to his personal business. [New York Times] George Bush met with Japan's leaders in an effort to avoid a brewing controversy over his running mate's China policy. The visit by the Republican vice-presidential candidate, who stopped in Tokyo on his way to Peking, was overshadowed by the most trenchant criticism yet by the Chinese of Ronald Reagan's longstanding support of Taiwan. [New York Times] A military budget of $159.3 billion was voted by the Senate Budget Committee, raising the proposed military budget for the fiscal year 1981 by $5.6 billion. It was the first act by a congressional budget committee that would pierce the $613.6 billion overall budget ceiling set by Congress. [New York Times] An education proposal was scrapped by Senate and House conferees, ending an impasse. Under the measure college students would have been required to pay substantially more in interest on federally subsidized loans. Instead, the conferees agreed to a one-year study of the interest subsidy question by the National Commission on Student Financial Assistance. [New York Times] Mistakes were made in building dams and dredging channels along the Ohio River by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Justice Department has admitted in court papers. The errors led to soil erosion and property damage for which the government might be held liable for tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars in damages. [New York Times] Most small cars fail to protect passengers in 35-mile-an-hour crash tests, the Department of Transportation reported. In test crashes of 12 1980-model economy cars against stationary barriers, only the Chrevolet Chevette and a Fiat Strada passed. [New York Times] Efforts to reach uncounted residents are planned to counter the low preliminary results faced by New York City in the current United States Census. Under the city's plan, municipal employees would be asked to distribute census forms to neighbors and would receive a "bounty" not yet designated for each form they returned. The plan requires the approval of the federal Census Bureau. [New York Times] A ban on sodium nitrite is unjustified, the federal government said. The government said there was insufficient scientific evidence for banning the preservative, which is used in 7 percent of the nation's food, including pork and poultry products. A 1978 study purportedly showing that rats fed sodium nitrite had nearly double the risk of developing cancer of the lymph system was held by various reviews to be inconclusive. [New York Times] A Saudi airliner landed in flames at Riyadh airport and all 281 persons aboard are believed to have died. The plane had just taken off for Jidda when the pilot reported a fire. An emergency landing was made, but rescue workers could not get the doors open. [New York Times] Workers continued to occupy factories in northern Poland despite an appeal by the Communist Party leader, Edward Gierek, to abandon their protest. As the number of shut factories and enterprises along the Baltic coast grew to 174, tens of thousands of striking workers also extended their list of political and economic demands. The strike, which began on Thursday, has plunged the nation into its greatest turmoil in a decade. [New York Times] An Israeli force entered Lebanon in what its commanders called a pre-emptive strike against guerrilla bases. The Israelis said that their force, estimated at 500 men, had killed up to 60 guerrillas. The Palestine Liberation Organization, however, said only 12 of its men had been killed. [New York Times] Kim Dae Jung was confined in an underground cell for 60 days of continuous questioning, Mr. Kim said on the third day of his trial in Seoul on sedition and other charges. The South Korean opposition leader, who faces a maximum penalty of death, was in good health when he was arrested on May 17, but since then a chronic slight limp has been accentuated and he is unable to stand for long periods. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 939.85 (-8.78, -0.93%)
S&P Composite: 122.60 (-0.79, -0.64%)
Arms Index: 0.87

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	458	11.85
Declines	1,070	24.05
Unchanged	406	6.03
Total Volume		41.93

* 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*
August 18, 1980	948.63	123.39	41.88
August 15, 1980	966.72	125.72	47.80
August 14, 1980	962.63	125.25	47.65
August 13, 1980	949.23	123.28	44.37
August 12, 1980	952.39	123.79	52.04
August 11, 1980	964.08	124.78	44.69
August 8, 1980	954.69	123.51	58.86
August 7, 1980	950.94	123.30	62.37
August 6, 1980	938.23	121.55	45.02
August 5, 1980	929.78	120.74	45.51