1.   But Pearson remains confident that there will be.

2.   Conner remains confident about his decision to switch boats so late in the game.

3.   Minsky remains confident that computers as smart as HAL can become reality, though he hedges considerably on the timeline.

4.   Reedy remains confident in his offense, but he acknowledges that his defenders need to play significantly better than in their past outing.

5.   The company had already announced the impacts of legal settlement and currency problems and remains confident of finishing the year strong, said Chief Financial Officer Ron Dykes.

6.   Wall Street remains mostly confident that Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush will solve their spat peacefully, analysts say.

7.   Police say they are confident Pearl remains alive because no corpse has been produced, and because the captors would achieve nothing by killing him.