News stories from Thursday April 1, 1982

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

Proposed military budget trims totaling $3.2 billion were announced by the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator John Tower, chairman of the panel, stressed that the committee was backing most of President Reagan's $216 billion military budget, but had decided to reduce most funds from two programs. These are the proposed interim deployment of the first 40 MX missiles in existing silos and production of the Army's new attack helicopters. [New York Times] Gerald Ford urged the President to agree to trim outlays for major new weapons systems by stretching out their procurement schedules. Former President Ford, an advocate of increased military spending for most of his political career, said it was "hogwash" to argue that the national security would be endangered by modest slowdowns in deliveries. [New York Times] The question of U.S. vulnerabilty to Soviet arms created a stir. On Wednesday, President Reagan asserted that Moscow had achieved nuclear superiority over Washington. The assertion was disputed by proponents of a nuclear arms freeze and also by Senator Henry Jackson, Democrat of Washington, who is a key backer of the President's weapons policies.Moscow depicted President Reagan as a man on the defensive, forced to discuss arms control because of domestic criticism and support for a nuclear freeze. [New York Times] The resignation of a U.S. Attorney has been requested by the Justice Department, according to department officials. The prosecutor is William H. Kennedy, who was appointed United States Attorney in San Diego by President Reagan last year. Last week, Mr. Kennedy disclosed that the department had blocked the prosecution of the former chief of Mexico's national police in an $8 million stolen car case after the C.I.A. advised that the Mexican was a key intelligence source in Central America. [New York Times] A warning on Social Security check delays was sent to Congress by the three trustees of the federal benefits system. They said that unless the legislators acted soon, the system would be unable to pay benefits on time to retirees and survivors sometime late next year. [New York Times] The President underwent a physical examination for 90 minutes, and physicians found no evidence of kidney stones, cancer or any other disorder, according to a White House spokesman. He said that Mr. Reagan was examined because he had recently experienced "slight discomfort" while urinating, but that he had been treated with antibiotics and the problem was no longer evident. [New York Times] Rescue workers on skis searching drifts and debris at a snow-covered resort near Squaw Valley, Calif., found three more victims of two avalanches, bringing the death toll to six. Five persons were missing and two of them were presumed dead. [New York Times] An expurgated American classic is about to be published in full as the author wrote it. Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" was cut and revised for publication in 1895 to play down some of its gloominess. The new version is 55,000 words -- 5,000 longer than the version millions of readers have long considered the finest Civil War novel. [New York Times] A cotton-raising town is devastated by the economy and the weather. Nearly all the farmers in the Texas town of New Deal are in heavy debt because of too little rain, too much hail, too little credit, too costly interest and fuel and too low payments for cotton. The town was born with aid from the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, in what the residents call "the other Depression." [New York Times] The chief of the Salvadoran junta, Jose Napoleon Duarte, stood fast, declaring he would try to remain in the government. He spoke in his first interview since his centrist party finished first in Sunday's elections and after three days of maneuvering by rightists trying to exclude him from leadership. [New York Times] Israel denied a request by a senior official accompanying the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, on a visit to Jerusalem. The official had asked to speak with two West Bank mayors who were removed from office by Israeli authorities. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 833.24 (+10.47, +1.27%)
S&P Composite: 113.79 (+1.83, +1.63%)
Arms Index: 0.48

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	1,061	43.55
Declines	377	7.46
Unchanged	394	6.09
Total Volume		57.10

* 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*
March 31, 1982	822.77	111.96	43.37
March 30, 1982	824.49	112.27	43.99
March 29, 1982	823.82	112.30	37.07
March 26, 1982	817.92	111.94	42.40
March 25, 1982	827.63	113.21	51.96
March 24, 1982	823.34	112.97	49.38
March 23, 1982	826.67	113.55	67.12
March 22, 1982	819.54	112.77	57.61
March 19, 1982	805.65	110.61	46.24
March 18, 1982	805.27	110.30	54.27