51.   But decisions on whether to dramatically cut staff and expenses will soon be made, said officials at several multinational companies.

52.   But it does not penalize the two multinational companies that run the project if its price tag keeps going up.

53.   But it would be a wise move, because U.S. multinational companies, with many thousands of people deployed in Asia, are a valuable source of on-the-scene information.

54.   But such a strategy may overlook the burgeoning influence of multinational companies on the national indexes.

55.   Caterpillar is one of several multinational companies that could see some near-term weakness because of unrest in several Asian markets, analysts said.

56.   Callahan is praised by American multinational companies for his work in saving the export assistance programs.

57.   City officials hope to get Brazilian and multinational companies to foot a big part of the bill.

58.   Clearly the opportunity for multinational companies is staggering.

59.   Competition for talent will also pose a problem, as many of the best and brightest managers and experts gravitate to multinational companies.

60.   Concert also will be better able to compete for business from large multinational companies, analysts said.