1.  Any rise in interest rates could slow retail sales and the advertising spending by Mexico's department stores and consumer products companies.

2.  Denise Gilley, vice president for Pac Bell's consumer markets group, will testify Wednesday about the company's firing of the unethical reps.

3.  Deficit reduction boosts confidence among both consumers and investors, he said.

4.  Deflation has given new buying power to Japanese consumers, who pay some of the world's highest prices.

5.  Deflation is disastrous for an economy, as Japan is discovering, because as the prices of goods fall, consumer spending grinds to a halt.

6.  CUC International Inc. intends to greatly expand its use of the Internet to provide home shopping and other consumer services, Chairman and Chief Executive Walter Forbes said.

7.  Cui, the general manager of the dog farm and once an avid consumer of dog meat, said he has stopped eating dogs after working with them.

8.  DEREG-DELAY AUSTIN _ Five of the state's biggest consumer groups are calling for a delay in the startup of electrical deregulation.

9.  DEREG-INVESTORS-SPCL (Undated) -- Consumers aren't the only ones worrying about utility deregulation.

10.  Deregulation is expected to allow consumers to shop for power in the next few years rather than be required to take it from a regulated utility.