1.   Most companies have been hurt by the economic slowdown.

2.   The spice war between Burns Philp and McCormick created a costly bidding war for shelf space that hurt both companies.

3.   The company was hurt by its dependence on government loans.

4.   Nepotism has hurt the company.

5.   Also weighing on stocks was concern that a recent Argentinian tax increase will depress economic growth and hurt Chilean companies operating there.

6.   Although the staff cuts will save money, Takata cautioned that they could later hurt the company by making it harder to attract top salespeople.

7.   Among individual stocks, timber companies were hurt by the drop in home sales.

8.   And it can hurt the company.

9.   Any devaluation would raise the price of imports, hurting companies that use foreign goods and fueling inflation.

10.   As a result, U.S. sales to the region have slowed down, hurting companies that do a lot of business in Asia, especially high-tech firms.