News stories from Tuesday December 23, 1980

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

The Consumer Price Index rose by 1 percent in November for the third month in a row, driven up by the rising costs of food and used cars and interest rates on mortgages. The report underscored the belief of advisers to President-elect Ronald Reagan that inflation would be his most urgent and difficult domestic problem. [New York Times] Food could be used as a weapon against countries dependent on American grain and meat, according to John Block, the Illinois farmer picked by Mr. Reagan to be the next Secretary of Agriculture. The United States should "tie other countries" to it through this dependence, thereby making these nations more reluctant to oppose this country's efforts to maintain world stability, he said. [New York Times] Allegations of discrimination in employment practices are being investigated by the Labor Department at the construction company run by Raymond Donovan, Mr. Reagan's choice to be Secretary of Labor. Mr. Donovan's company, Schiavone Construction Company, has been cited for safety and health violations 135 times over the last six years, 57 of those times for "serious violations." [New York Times] A site for Haitian refugees was denied by a federal appeals court in a ruling that criticized the Carter administra-tion for making "contradictory statements" about its plans for the camp. The court refused to permit use of Fort Allen, an old naval station in Puerto Rico, for refugees. [New York Times] Racial tensions in Hawaii have risen as the Hawaiian Polynesian minority have demanded a bigger share of the economy and a stronger political voice. While only 19.9 percent of the state's 950,000 residents are Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian, a disproportionate number are on welfare and in jail. [New York Times] Census figures must be revised to compensate for a "disproportionate undercount" in New York City and New York state, a federal judge ruled. The decision could save federal funds and congressional seats. However, an appeal is expected, and the census dispute may go all the way to the United States Supreme Court. [New York Times] A license was granted to Bally Manufacturing Corporation by New Jersey's Casino Control Commission to operate its casino in Atlantic City and sell slot machines there on the condition that the company sever all relations with its founder and chairman who the commission said had ties to organized crime and had attempted to bribe Kentucky legislators. [New York Times] Military aid may be restored to El Salvador, pending the results of an investigation into the killings of four American missionaries, President Carter told a delegation of Roman Catholic bishops. The Roman Catholic hierarchy responded with a plea to maintain the ban on $5 million in military aid. [New York Times] A funeral for Aleksei Kosygin in Red Square was attended by Leonid Brezhnev and other top Soviet leaders. The ashes of Mr. Kosygin, who was cremated Monday night, were placed in a niche in the Kremlin wall. The ceremony was broadcast on Soviet television and ended two days of official honors for the former Prime Minister who died on Thursday. [New York Times] Intervention in Poland was considered by Soviet leaders late last month, a high-ranking East German official said. A military solution was abandoned after a week's discussion, with the Soviet leadership choosing instead to confront the problems posed by the Polish crisis at a Warsaw Pact meeting on Dec. 5. [New York Times] Mao Tse-tung's widow was charged with contempt of court after she shouted at a panel of judges and prosecutors that they were "fascists" and Chinese Nationalist agents. Jiang Qing, who is standing trial on charges of persecuting large numbers of officials during the Cultural Revolution, was told by a court official that she might receive a "heavier sentence" because of her conduct. The crimes for which she is accused carry the death sentence, so it was unclear how the penalty could be increased. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 958.28 (-0.51, -0.05%)
S&P Composite: 135.00 (-0.78, -0.57%)
Arms Index: 1.16

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	999	26.57
Declines	695	21.52
Unchanged	319	7.17
Total Volume		55.26

* 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 22, 1980	958.79	135.78	51.96
December 19, 1980	937.20	133.70	50.67
December 18, 1980	930.20	133.00	69.57
December 17, 1980	928.50	132.89	50.81
December 16, 1980	918.09	130.60	41.62
December 15, 1980	911.60	129.45	39.69
December 12, 1980	917.15	129.23	39.53
December 11, 1980	908.45	127.36	60.24
December 10, 1980	916.21	128.26	49.31
December 9, 1980	934.04	130.48	53.22