1.   Pickens, speaking to reporters at a natural gas conference in Houston, said the Dallas company narrowed a list of offers received last November to three.

2.   Smaller companies are also narrowing their sights.

3.   The drug companies are narrowing their discounts to the big health-maintenance organizations and other managed care companies, Ms. Heuer said.

4.   They say the company has narrowed its list of possible sites to Charlotte, Vienna, Va., and Smyrna.

5.   The paper said that the U.S. company has narrowed its choice to select an Indian partner and is likely to tie up with Bajaj Auto.

6.   Wireless communications company Nextel narrowed its first-quarter loss and rose.