1.   Several Japanese companies have dramatically pared back their manufacturing investments this year.

2.   As a result, companies are paring their electricity trading units, once the engine of their earnings growth, and selling assets.

3.   In pursuit of lower labor costs, many companies have pared staff in recent years.

4.   Others think the company will ultimately pare back the division.

5.   TAIWAN stocks staged their biggest rally in a week as semiconductor companies rose on a report that chip prices will rebound as companies pare production.

6.   The company has pared much of its debt.

7.   The economy continues to send mixed signals about the future, and companies nationwide are paring their payrolls.

8.   These days, by contrast, phone companies have pared spending on new networks just as consumers started to postpone replacing their mobile phones with new models.

9.   They contended that the company should pare its product line and focus on serving business and government customers rather than consumers.

10.   To be sure, the two companies pared earlier losses and the industry group could soon rebound, Kinsey said.