1.   Analysts say the company has gotten rid of many of its derivatives investments and Latin American debt.

2.   At a time when other record companies were getting rid of staff producers, Warner Brothers was collecting them.

3.   At the very least, he said, communities should require utility companies to get rid of unnecessary poles.

4.   But companies also get rid of folks in more insidious ways.

5.   But the company got rid of half its white paper business and several pulp mills, including a large plant in Brunswick.

6.   Companies get rid of the excess capital by buying back stock, paying dividends and making acquisitions.

7.   Divestitures rid companies of losers, usually past acquisitions, which is good for stocks.

8.   For CBS, which changed its name from Westinghouse Electric Corp. in December, the sale rids the company of the last vestige of its industrial past.

9.   For years, shareholders have voted to recommend that companies get rid of poison pills, but management has found it easy to ignore these moves.

10.   Good companies get rid of bad people relatively quickly, so hang on for a bit if you respect the company.