BOOST FOR HOUSING, which has lagged this year, should come from FHA, which has lowered down payments on federally insured homes costing $13,500 and up. Sample changes: for a $17,000 home, a buyer needs to put down only $800 cash v. $1,100 previously; for a $20,000 home, $1,500 down v. $2,000.

SPORTS-COUPE CORVAIR called the Monza-900 (named after Italian race track) will go into 1,000-per-month production in May, have bucket seats and fancier dash-and-panel trim, but keep standard Corvair 80-h.p. rear engine. Price: $2,045.

NEW SPACE CONTRACTS will help U.S. planemakers take up slack from military-aircraft cutbacks. The latest: $65 million to Douglas for Saturn second-stage units; $50 million to Lockheed for 16 Agena-B rocket vehicles; $29.7 million to Boeing and Martin to start work on Dyna-Soar space glider. NASA space spending is expected to total $2.5 billion annually by 1965.

LARGEST LIFE INSURANCE policy disclosed on a U.S. individual was issued by California's Occidental Life Insurance Co. The amount: $3,335,000. Premiums: $40,000 a year, paid by the corporation that employs (as president of one of its subsidiaries) the 36-year-old executive on whom the policy is issued.

THREE-WAY MERGER TALKS are going on among New York Central, Baltimore & Ohio, and Chesapeake & Ohio. Union of three would create a 25,000-mile, $4 billion empire, biggest in U.S. It would also be defensive move against merger being discussed between Norfolk & Western and Nickel Plate. N. & W. is one-third owned by Pennsylvania R.R., which is now biggest U.S. railroad.

U.S. EXPORTS in March reached a three-year high ($1.67 billion), up 12% from February, 21% over last year.

RISING FARM PRICES may boost farmers' 1960 income above the $11 billion total last year, erasing last winter's Agriculture Department forecasts of an 8% decline this year.

U.S. BIRTH RATE fell for sixth month in a row in February, with 23.2 births per 1,000 population, off 5% from February a year ago. Government experts have not figured why.

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