At a time when "risk" is the dirtiest four-letter word on Wall Street, such skills have made RiskMetrics a hot commodity.

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Amidst all the writing on the wall, that one word is repeated time and time again in red: Clear.

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This afternoon, the Wall Street Journal got word from government officials that an unmanned rocket funded by Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos crashed during a test flight last week.

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And what's the one word seen nonstop after Dodd-Frank in The Wall Street Journal?

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The word sanctions sent delegates from developing nations up the wall.

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Reading an analysis in the Wall Street Journal by Joseph Walker, one word represented the great virtue Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson must bring to his new job: focus.

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In one episode, after commenting on the typical gripes about bedroom size in a contemporary home on Lesbos, Ms. Robinson turns to her agent, bemused: "The other thing that slightly worries me is the ruins, for want of a better word, " she says, referring to an ancient-looking stone wall in disrepair in an adjacent lot.

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Still, Spitzer hit his target: He seems to have put some fear into the heart of Wall Street and is credited (if that's the right word) with causing an 18% decline in Merrill's own shares.

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