1.   Analysts said the moves are aimed at cutting costs amid stiffening competition to supply hospitals and research laboratories.

2.   Chang Hwa Commercial Bank and other banks led the way on concern their earnings outlook will remain gloomy amid stiffening competition.

3.   Education commissioner David P. Driscoll said stiffening competition to get into the top colleges is driving the trend.

4.   IBM is facing stiffening competition and falling prices in laptop computers, where supply has caught up with demand.

5.   In recent years the pace of mutation in the industry has accelerated, as Japanese and Korean companies got into the act, stiffening the competition.

6.   Investors seem nervous as the successful Dallas-based carrier, which trades under the stock symbol LUV, faces stiffening competition from low-cost rivals.

7.   The breakup of the Soviet Union allows for more participation from those countries, stiffening the competition in sports such as wrestling, an Arizona strength.

8.   Wheat prices tumbled amid new signs of stiffening global competition.

9.   Facing Romiti now are stiffening competition in Europe, the challenge of expanding Fiat markets to developing countries and legal problems.

10.   Meanwhile, many black-owned firms compete for business with non-black owned firms across all sectors, stiffening competition, he said.