TREND WATCH

Mideast Is Missile Showcase: Raytheon of Lexington, Mass., looks healthy in the wake of military cutbacks because its two major products--the Patriot missile and the Hawk air-to-air missile--have been widely deployed in America’s Middle East operation, capturing the attention of allies. Israel likely will buy the Patriot next year, and Saudi Arabia reportedly is speeding up its purchases. Turkey, Great Britain and Egypt have expressed interest in one or both systems. Last year, the Patriot accounted for 15% of Raytheon’s $8 billion in sales. Toronto Globe and Mail

New Metric Incentive: Anticipating that a united European market in 1992 will discriminate against U.S. companies that have not converted to metric measurements, the U.S. government will require in September, 1992, that nearly all its contracts be drawn to metric specifications. It tried to push the country toward the metric system in 1975 with the U.S. Metric Conversion Act, but the law was voluntary and few companies complied. Those that did, including most auto companies and the liquor industry, say they saw big savings. They added that the system is more logical, simple and exact. Tampa Tribune

Tobacco Exports: Although Japan’s liberalized tobacco import laws helped cigarette sales increase in 1989 for the first time in five years, the percentage of the population that smokes continues to fall. In the past 24 years, the male smoking population has decreased more than 20%. Although imported tobacco continues to gain a bigger share of the shrinking market, opposition to imports is growing. Anti-smoking groups have protested cigarette commercials on television and cigarette companies’ sponsorship of sports events. They want heavier tobacco duties and higher cigarette prices. Look Japan