41.   So many companies have laid off thousands of employees and improved their profitability that experts now regard hostile deals and streamlining as corporate obligations.

42.   Some higher-rated companies are also laying plans to borrow.

43.   Some mutual fund companies are laying low.

44.   Some high-profile companies are still laying off workers.

45.   Some industry observers even suggest the Internet company could be laying the groundwork for a civil suit against Microsoft.

46.   Such a strategy may be appropriate, as the companies are laying the foundation for takeoff when the Japanese markets revive.

47.   The company laid off a tenth of its Fort Worth manufacturing work force in the fall.

48.   The company laid off a tenth of its North Texas manufacturing work force in the fall.

49.   The company has been laying its own plans for acquisitions as part of a broader corporate restructuring.

50.   The company has laid off some employees in the last year but has hired almost as many, the company official said.