21.   It would also bode well for the commodity futures business, where the population of brokers is shrinking amid cut-throat competition.

22.   More companies are getting rid of lower-margin commodity businesses in favor of their higher margin brand-name products.

23.   More companies are getting rid of lower-margin commodity businesses in favor of their more lucrative brand-name products.

24.   Modems have generally become a commodity business in which even the leaders tend to be relatively small companies.

25.   Meanwhile, CDNow is looking for a way to turn a profit in the commodity music business.

26.   Meanwhile, technology heavyweights such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard might question whether they should stay in such a commodity business at all.

27.   Other companies are shedding lower-margin commodity businesses in favor of higher-margin, brand-name products.

28.   Retailing has become a commodity business in many ways.

29.   Selling word processors and spreadsheets has become a relatively mature commodity business in which prices and margins have shrunk.

30.   Separately, Merrill announced plans to get out of some areas of the commodities business, including the trading of futures contracts on agricultural products and metals.