1.   Investors and analysts took that to mean a rate cut before mid-year is out of the question.

2.   The telephone wires had been cut minutes before the assault.

3.   This annoyed the surgeon, who began to cut before the local or the sedative had taken effect.

4.   Some stores had started cutting prices before Christmas, but then it seemed customers were keeping their money in their pockets.

5.   And where there is room for interpretation, all deals must be cut before the bill reaches the floor of Congress.

6.   At his barber shop, where his father cut hair before him, Bill Sparkman watches the passing parade with only a little interest and wry amusement.

7.   At least a dozen House Republicans said they could not support the additional tax cut before seeing a dramatic boost in maintenance and operations funding.

8.   A slowdown in the growth of consumer spending helped revive hopes of an interest rate cut before the end of the year.

9.   Chilean stocks fell after faster-than-expected economic growth in August dampened hopes of an interest rate cut before the end of the year.

10.   Chilean stocks rallied as slower-than-expected economic growth in July sparked optimism that interest rates will be cut before the end of the year.