TREND WATCH

Piping-Hot Data: Williams Cos. of Tulsa, Okla., has found an innovative use for its less-profitable gas and oil pipelines. They now house fiber optic cables. Its Williams Telecommunications Group subsidiary leases lines to about 125 regional carriers, including Louisiana-based Long-Distance Savers and Clay Desta Communications. It also provides businesses with dedicated long-distance lines for communications networks and leases lines to television news networks for backup transmissions. Dallas Morning News

Angling for a Big Byte: Hitachi is determined to become a powerhouse in Europe as it prepares to break ground on a magnetic disk-manufacturing plant near Orleans, France. The plant will focus on large-capacity disks, such as the 35-gigabyte H-6587. The company plans to produce 150 units per month. Hitachi estimates that French manufacturing facilities will generate $105 million per year by fiscal 1992; by 1994 sales will reach $155 million. Hitachi annually exports about $890 million in large-memory disks, of which 40% are sold in Europe. Il Sole-24 Ore

Counting on Do-It-Yourselfers: Tyler Corp., Dallas-based manufacturer and distributor of cast iron pipe, is moving into the do-it-yourself auto repair business. The company is buying all 51 Eastern and Midwestern outlets of Forest City Auto Parts, a firm that posted sales of $63 million in the year ended March. Tyler is counting on the do-it-yourself market to grow because, as one company insider said, the merchandise is “not bought on impulse, but on need.” Dallas Morning News

Just to Be Safe: A woman in New York found that fire extinguishers and other safety items were too hard to locate so she created the Safety Zone, a chain of eight stores that carry more than 1,500 safety and security products. Some are pricey--a $795 video door phone and a $395 machine that changes a woman’s voice to sound like a man’s and vice versa. At the low end is a seat belt for pets at $19.95. Miami Herald