1. .......... shares are issued to the existing shareholders by converting free reserves or share premium account to equity capital without taking any consideration from investors; as a result, liQuidity in the stock increases, and Effective Earnings per share, Book Value and other per share values stand reduced.

2. The Times has learnt that NTL, the US-listed $5.64 billion cable operator, has held talks with City financiers; it has been persuaded by UK bankers of the benefits of a .......... listing on the London exchange after its expected merger with Telewest.

3. First take the ending balance on your bank statement, then enter all of your outstanding checks and deposits; if your register matches the calculated amount, your .......... is balanced.

4. In any period, cash used in financing activities related to common stock repurchased may differ from the comparable change in stockholders' .........., reflecting timing differences between the recognition of share repurchase transactions and their settlement for cash.

5. We will automatically increase the face amount of insurance under this policy from time to time to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI); we will not reQuire evidence of the insured person's insurability for these increases, but the increases will be subject to the terms of this cost-of-living ..........

6. Supposedly, top-bracket tax breaks will result in more jobs being created, higher wages for the average worker, and an overall upturn in our economy — this is at the heart of the infamous ..........-down theory.

7. When .......... bank purchases Treasury securities in a quarterly Treasury bond auction, it acts as underwriter and distributor; the securities are held in the bank's trading account assets portfolio, and often resold to other banks, and to private investors.

8. On the surface, .......... investing seems a no-brainer for anyone with a modicum of social conscience: "We won't invest in companies that sell tobacco products, or firms that use nuclear power," explains David Shuttleworth, vice president of marketing and sales for Canada's largest family of 'green' mutual funds.

9. A business can realize a financial .......... gain by making more EBIT (earnings before interest and income tax) on the amount borrowed than the interest on the debt.

10. Some managers of big portfolios, having sold their losers and taken profits in a few winners, are busy rotating into sectors that they think will star next year — but are any of these stocks attractive to individual investors who care only about profits and not dressing .......... a portfolio to impress a client?