1.   The company has led the way in developing environmentally friendly products.

2.   A small company is leading the way in using lasers to create three-dimensional models from computer images.

3.   American companies are leading a global investment boom fueled by worldwide economic growth, especially in developing nations.

4.   American companies lead the quest for power distributors in Victoria state, the first to start selling utilities.

5.   And, finally, the company routinely leads the United States in patents, which come out of eight research laboratories including the Almaden Research Lab in San Jose.

6.   ASE, Mustek Corp. and other electronics companies led the way after several of these companies reported weaker-than-expected first quarter profit in the past week.

7.   Automakers and telecommunications companies are leading the economic expansion.

8.   Banks and construction companies led the decline.

9.   Banks and real estate companies led the plunge, as rising interest rates will hurt these companies earnings the most.

10.   Banking, homebuilding and utility companies led the advance.