Last year, for instance, a group of British and American investment funds beat off an attempt by the French government, for political reasons, to strip a French mining company in which they held shares of a licence to dig in Canada.

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Consider, for instance, the burgeoning phenomenon of sports teams that employ their own beat reporters to cover them, often with a high degree of independence.

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In the first quarter, for instance, 78% of companies reporting in the U.S. beat forecasts for the bottom line, HSBC says.

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