1.   A hedge uses financial instruments such as options to cap gas prices.

2.   Accelerating inflation could push the central bank to raise interest rates to cap higher prices by drying up demand.

3.   But industry experts point out that consumers can arrange capped prices without paying extra for the service.

4.   California energy prices may be capped with Vermont granite.

5.   Cheap imports from Russia also helped cap steel prices, they said.

6.   Greeley Gas has filed plans with state regulators to continue its hedging program, which caps the price of a majority of gas it expects to sell next winter.

7.   Industry representatives fault Waxman and Stark for being too quick to support measures that would cap drug prices without considering the risks in producing them.

8.   Kansas regulators have been approving hedging programs that cap the price of gas.

9.   Missouri Gas Energy, which capped the price for just over half the gas it sold, plans to offer protection next winter as well.

10.   Now, regulators will cap the price of Nynex telephone services, leaving the company free to keep any profits it gains through cost-cutting and efficiencies.