51.   Kansas City and Chicago wheat futures prices continued their downward slide Thursday, with some contract months finishing at their lowest levels since late summer.

52.   Massachusetts stocks rose to their highest level since June, led by Brooktrout Technology as it participated in a tech stocks surge.

53.   Markets Long-term interest rates rose to their highest level since just after Clinton was elected.

54.   Most major market indexes, including the Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq composite index, fell to their lowest closing levels since January.

55.   Oil industry analysts said they expected the action to have a minimal effect on pump prices, which are at their highest levels since the Persian Gulf War.

56.   Oil prices near their highest level since January helped energy companies.

57.   Ohio stocks fell to their lowest level since Monday, led by Mead Corp., after one securities firm downgraded the company along with several other paper stocks.

58.   Occasional talks have gone on at various levels since then, but nothing of substance has been accomplished.

59.   Oil-related companies also rose as crude oil prices soared to their highest level since the Persian Gulf War.

60.   Or that the proportion of the U.S. budget that goes to defense is at its lowest level since Pearl Harbor.