MAMMOTH HIGHWAY PLAN on a pay-as-you-go basis is expected to get the green light from Congress next year. The Administration has ditched General Lucius Clay's bond-financing plan in favor of a 13-year, $26 billion program financed either by increased user taxes or by a combination of taxes and tolls. Congressmen and truckers who stalled the pay-as-you-go formula this year are now reported ready to back a program financed entirely by increased user taxes, including boosts of 2-c- a gal. on gasoline, 2-c- a Ib. on tires, tubes and retreading materials, plus higher excise taxes on trucks and trailers.

JET PLANES will soon be ordered by American. Airlines and Eastern, who have already started raising the cash to pay for them. American will borrow $75 million from Metropolitan Life Insurance toward 20 jet transports. Eastern will get a $90 million loan from Equitable Life Assurance, plans to spend $40 million for jets. Neither airline has yet decided between Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s.

FREIGHT-CAR SHORTAGE is finally forcing the railroads to step up car buying, but the steel shortage may delay deliveries until 1957. New York Central will embark on one of the biggest purchasing programs ever launched by a U.S. railroad. With orders already in for 3,200 cars costing some $23 million, Central will buy an additional 14,750 cars for $117,855,000.

LIGHTWEIGHT FILM so strong that it can tow a car, yet so thin that cameras and movie projectors will be able to hold 35% more of it than of present films, will be manufactured next year by Du Pont. The new film's base is made of Cronar, synthetic cousin of Dacron; Du Pont spent eight years and $6,000,000 developing it.

MOVIE-TV BATTLE will soon be intensified by a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer giveaway gimmick aimed at luring children and parents away from TV sets. Quaker Oats, will insert tickets to two new M-G-M movies in each, of 80 million packages of cereal. The free tickets can be used only by children under 12. The catch: they must be accompanied by an adult--who will have to pay regular admission.

EAST-WEST TRADE will increase only slightly asa result of the U.S. decision, to ease controls on exports to Russia and satellites next year. Exporters will no longer need individual licenses for each shipment, but will still be limited to nonstrategic goods, e.g., tallow, hides and tobacco. U.S. exports to Russia will remain a trickle ($6,000,000 a year v. $45 million in. Soviet imports) unless the Iron Curtain; countries decide to buy American farm food surpluses or step up purchases of farm and textile machinery.

AIR TRAFFIC JAM is so serious that the Civil Aeronautics Administration will ask next year for about $200 million to install new ground and air controls to direct and speed up planes. The CAA wants to link civilian-airport towers to the air-defense radar system (so that the towers can keep better track of commercial planes), install new extra-long-range radar, and improve pilot-to-tower communications.

CALIFORNIA BANK MERGER combining San Francisco's venerable Crocker First National and Anglo California National banks will give the pair total deposits of $1.28 billion. Crocker-Anglo will be California's fourth biggest (after Bank of America, Security-First National and American Trust).

JAPANESE SHIPYARDS are turning out more tonnage than any na--tion except Great Britain. Helped by low labor costs, Japanese shipbuilders have gone from seventh to second place in the world, now have orders for 2,253,315 tons, or 16.3% of the world's new ships (v. 3.6% a year ago).

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.