It's short for health insurance "cooperative, " and it's a phrase Americans are getting accustomed to hearing these days as lawmakers point to the co-op model as one possibility in the debate over health care reform.

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Before the new SEC-mandated rules, marketmakers would often let limit orders pile up unexecuted unless the market rose or dropped to a point where they could get their accustomed spread.

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And as we become more and more accustomed gestures, mice, and the single-point, two-dimensional actions they demand, make less and less sense.

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At that point, fledgling companies have infinite possibility and tremendous risk and need investors who are accustomed to this type of deal.

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