41.   Best Buy Co. reported an unexpected third-quarter loss as fierce competition for personal computer sales reduced its gross margin.

42.   Big businesses, but fierce competition has reduced their profits to pennies.

43.   A competition as fierce as any the Olympics can provide has passed the mettle round.

44.   A lack of new must-have products and fierce competition could mean a subpar performance for the likes of Circuit City Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co.

45.   A number of previously announced factors contributed to the weaker quarter, including fierce competition in Japan and economic conditions in Latin America, Pepper said.

46.   A slowdown in the gaming industry and fierce competition to fill hotel rooms and casinos is hurting earnings at Hilton.

47.   Airlines usually pay well below list price because of fierce competition for large orders.

48.   All the black papers face fierce competition these days from everything from television to black-oriented Web sites.

49.   All of those companies are locked in fierce competition to fill their networks and recover their costs, in one sense putting Cable and Wireless in the catbird seat.

50.   Brokerage firms faced fierce competition for a dwindling number of deals and used audit services to build relationships with new clients.