1.   Hopes of an early end to the conflict are fading.

2.   Hopes of an early end to the strike are beginning to fade.

3.   The announcement dashed hopes of an early end to the crisis.

4.   An early end to major conifer planting programmes.

5.   One of the most criticised areas of current government policy is the early end of the subsidy to renewable energy projects, currently available under the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation.

6.   And that could help to bring an early end to the recession for the traders.

7.   Analysts are still reluctant to predict an early end to the current sell-off, which many observers are calling a bear market.

8.   An early end to cold winter weather and rising supplies from the North Sea and OPEC pushed prices down.