FOOD PRICES are at their lowest in five years. On the Government's price index, the average cost of food in January tumbled 6% below the 1952 peak, with meat 22% cheaper.

FARM MACHINE SALES are slipping sharply from their 1955 level. With lower farm income and rising dealer stocks, International Harvester, Minneapolis-Moline, Oliver and other big producers report that 1956 sales are lagging as much as 25% behind 1955, have trimmed production as much as 20% in some plants.

CRUDE OIL OUTPUT by the free world is smashing all records. Though Middle East production declined slightly in December, zooming U.S. production of 7,155,000 bbls. daily, 142,000 bbls. more than at November's peak, pushed total output to 14.4 million bbls. a day. Estimated Communist bloc production: 1,600,000 bbls. a day.

ATOMIC TOWNS built by the U.S. Government will be opened to private ownership. The AEC has decided to sell 10,000 houses, hundreds of commercial buildings and vacant lots in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and Richland, Wash., will give present residents priority, but will also sell to other homeowners and business interests. Assessed value: $89.5 million.

FREE LIFE INSURANCE is the newest pitch by automakers to lure customers into the showrooms. American Motors will give every Nash or Hudson buyer a $12,500 accident policy ($25,000 if both husband and wife die) on their lives while they are riding in one of the company's products. Studebaker-Packard will kick off a similar program; it will up the policy to $20,000 for buyers, but will not extend the insurance to the owner's spouse.

NEW JETLINER will be designed by Convair as competition for Lockheed's turboprop Electra. A four-jet, 580-m.p.h. aircraft powered by General Electric J-79 engines, Convair's pure jet will be smaller than the 125-passenger Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 707, will aim at medium-range (up to 2,000 miles) routes. Projected delivery date: sometime in 1960.

OIL IMPORT POLICY will do an about-face. After ordering a 7% cutback in imports last year to bolster domestic industry, the Office of Defense Mobilization plans to boost imports 10% for residual fuel oil, mostly from Venezuela. Reason: an unexpected drain on oil stocks because of the cold winter and increased use of oil by industry.

FREIGHT RATE BOOST will give U.S. railroads another $400 million in revenue annually. After looking at spiraling costs in the railroad industry, the Interstate Commerce Commission has granted U.S. roads a series of "just and reasonable" increases, ranging up to 6% on a wide range of products from coal to lumber; however, most farm products will be held to a 5% increase.

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