November 23, 1986

''I THINK the bird has just a great future,'' said Fred Jaindl, talking about the turkey. ''It's a super bird. Low in fat. Low in cholesterol. Tender. Juicy. Succulent. I think the turkey has more potential for growth than any other animal. I'll eat anything made of turkey. I'll eat a turkey hot dog and I won't eat a beef hot dog. I like a turkey hamburger, even though it's a little lighter in color. It's just a great bird.'' Mr. Jaindl has had a long acquaintance with the turkey. He's never done anything but raise and process turkeys, which he does these days on his turkey farm in Orefield, Pa. Rather than country scenes, turkey posters decorate his office walls. His office window overlooks the processing plant, where hundreds of turkeys lurch down the disassembly line, hour after hour. Sometimes he sits and watches them and gets hungry. Turkey has had a dazzling resurgence. For all the aggressive turkey eating that takes place on Thanksgiving and Christmas, turkey growing had been a dismaying way to make a living for years. From the late 1970's through 1983, Mr. Jaindl mournfully recollects, turkey people would spend 50 or 60 cents a pound to grow their turkeys and then sell them for the same price, or a few cents more.

THE Tax Reform Act of 1986 will eliminate the deductibility of almost all consumer-credit interest payments. As a result, homeowners are turning their attention to the equity loan, one of the few remaining ways to buy on credit and still deduct the interest costs from taxable income. But since there are also restrictions on this kind of loan, it is a challenge to find creative ways to draw from this potentially deep well of credit without losing the privilege of deductibility. An equity loan is a second mortgage that is based on the difference between the current value of the house and the balance of the first mortgage. For a house, condominium or co-op worth $150,000 with a first mortgage of $50,000, a bank would probably make $70,000 available - 80 percent of the value ($120,000), minus the first-mortgage balance - far more than most people can obtain from any other credit source.

After an easy 34-14 victory over Pittsburgh today to complete its second straight undefeated and untied regular season, Penn State announced it would play Miami in the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl the night of Jan. 2 if Miami wins its last regular-season game, against East Carolina Thursday night. Such a victory would also give Miami an undefeated and untied regular season and make the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., a match for the national championship between the two top-ranked teams in the land. Miami (10-0) is ranked No. 1 and Penn State (11-0) is No. 2. Should East Carolina (2-8) somehow upset the Hurricanes, Penn State will play the highest-ranked available team in a bowl. That could be Oklahoma, which beat Nebraska, 20-17, today to get the Big Eight spot in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1.

A wide range of programs to protect millions of Americans against the costs of catastrophic illness were proposed last week by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. ''A catastrophic illness can be a short-term condition requiring intensive acute services or a lingering illness requiring many years of care,'' said the Secretary, Dr. Otis R. Bowen. ''It can affect anyone: the young, the middle-aged, the elderly. A catastrophic illness is financially devastating and requires personal sacrifices that can haunt families for the rest of their lives.''

ONE of Japan's biggest exports these days is investment capital. In record numbers, Japanese banks and financial concerns are investing in the commercial real-estate market throughout the United States, focusing most recently on the West Coast. In Los Angeles, the Shuwa Investment Company recently paid $620 million for the Arco Plaza. And in Long Beach, Kajima International is a partner in a 2.5-million-square-foot world trade center.