1.   While toy sales here have hit a record high they face a desperate shortage of clean water.

2.   HOMELESSNESS in Middlesbrough has hit a record high.

3.   American exports hit a record high in March, reports say.

4.   And thanks to zero-interest financing, vehicle sales hit records in the fall.

5.   And the trade and current-account deficits continue to hit records as rampant domestic demand sucks in imports.

6.   As U.S. stocks hit a record last week, U.S. investment advisers were more optimistic about the prospects for U.S. equities than at any time since January.

7.   Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA shares hit a record high amid speculation it will be at the center of a Belgian banking merger.

8.   BELGIAN stocks are set to hit records in coming days as ongoing speculation about a Belgian bank merger and low interest rates boost financial stocks such as Kredietbank SA.

9.   Both stocks hit records earlier in the day.

10.   A month later the number of applications for mortgages hit a record high.