News stories from Wednesday March 31, 1982

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

President Reagan said he was amenable to suggestions for changes in his proposed budget, including "possible" cuts in military spending as long as they did not harm the overall military buildup. But Mr. Reagan stood fast in opposing any compromise that would alter his program to cut the income tax by 10 percent in 1983. [New York Times] Ecologists accused the President of having "broken faith with the American people on environmental protection." Ten of the nation's leading environmental and conservation organizations made the charges in a 35-page statement. [New York Times] A murder conviction was reinstated by the Supreme Court. Ruling 6 to 3, the Justices affirmed the conviction of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, the former Green Beret captain who was found guilty in 1979 of the 1970 murders of his wife and two children. [New York Times] The Columbia came through its eight-day flight in "terrific condition" with less apparent damage than on the first two missions, according to space agency officials. Project scientists said that the mission had produced a "tremendous gathering of data of scientific interest." [New York Times] The deaths of four paratroopers and injuries to 156 in a big airdrop Tuesday were attributed to apparent unexpected high pockets of wind that caused whirlpool-like conditions near the ground in southern California's Mojave Desert. [New York Times] Cities are becoming so hard-pressed for money that they are beginning to share much of their authority for governing and development with business and other private interests. This was the central theme of a two-day conference attended by mayors, corporate executives and nonprofit private groups. [New York Times] A tax benefit for Congressmen was preserved at least temporarily by the Senate after two days of angry debate. The benefit, approved by Congress in December, has become a political issue across the nation. The Senate also passed emergency legislation needed to finance seven federal departments after midnight. [New York Times] Solutions to soaring medical costs include innovative approaches by such health care groups as "preferred provider organizations," which compete with one another for contracts with union funds and employers. Many of the new approaches are based on the theory that the best way to control costs is to spur competiton among doctors, hospitals and other health providers. [New York Times] Kenneth A. Gibson was indicted, along with Earl Harris, Newark's city council president, on seven counts of conspiracy and official misconduct. A special grand jury charged Mayor Gibson and Mr. Harris with creating absentee municipal jobs for a former city councilman, who was paid $115,000 over seven years. The officials denied any wrongdoing. [New York Times] A speedy freeze in nuclear arms was rejected by President Reagan because of what he called Moscow's "definite margin of superiority" over Washington in the weapons. But Mr. Reagan, at a news conference, said he remained committed to seeking an agreement with the Kremlin for reducing nuclear weapons "dramatically." [New York Times] Salvadoran election officials announced that the centrist Christian Democratic Party apparently won 24 of the 60 seats in the new constituent assembly. The party began efforts to deter the five right-wing parties from joining in a conservative coalition that would deprive it of power. [New York Times] Most Jewish settlers have withdrawn from northern Sinai, but several hundred militants remained behind, vowing to defy the departure deadline set by the Israeli army. All civilians were ordered out in preparation for the return of the final third of the peninsula to Egypt April 25. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 822.77 (-1.72, -0.21%)
S&P Composite: 111.96 (-0.31, -0.28%)
Arms Index: 0.95

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	707	18.83
Declines	683	17.23
Unchanged	475	7.24
Total Volume		43.30

* 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 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
March 17, 1982	795.85	109.08	48.89