11.   Aside from a further steep drop in Brazilian stock prices, traders had little fresh news to influence their decisions.

12.   Besides suffering a steep drop in orders, factories cannot pry from the government full payment for what they produced last year.

13.   A copper trading scandal and the departure of many of its senior managers have contributed to a recent steep drop in its stock.

14.   A decline in the dollar and a selloff in Treasury futures contributed to the steep drop in bonds in the afternoon.

15.   A steep drop in coffee prices on the world market has led to a crisis in Central America, forcing growers to scale back or to close down.

16.   A steep drop in income has nonetheless meant disaster to farmers already working on slim margins.

17.   A steep drop in advertising had derailed nearly triple-digit revenue growth, they said.

18.   A steep drop in consumer confidence, also reported this week, is making the outlook a little grimmer.

19.   A similar profit performance helped the stock market recover from a steep drop last July.