The Bush administration also has repeatedly rejected California's request for price caps on electricity.
Mr. Dworsky said he didn't get far with his requests for pricing information from the big chains.
Fewer than one-third of the 353 hospitals that were queried even responded to requests for pricing information.
For example, Lowe's, the home improvement company, has been receiving "unprecedented requests" for price increases from its suppliers, Robert F. Hull Jr., the chief financial officer, said at a conference.
The system understands the names of more than 1,300 funds and can respond to requests for price quotes for more than 13,000 stocks.
At the Ford Motor Company, some departments are sending three-dimensional models of parts to suppliers, as well as traditional requests for price quotations.
On Friday, when that query was posed to the broker, it responded: "Icap cooperates with its regulators and responds to frequent requests for information, including requests for price data in connection with this [the forex] investigation".
Photograph: Nick Fletcher 8.41am BST Nick Fletcher (@nickfletchergdn) Peel Hunt; prob highest ever number of requests for prices on an individual stock October 11, 2013 8.41am BST Just to clarify, 87 million Royal Mail shares have changed hands so far today, Nick Fletcher reports.
Buyers don't have to scan a list before sending out requests for price quots; they can automatically send e-mail to suitable suppliers.
Their work, however, may become a little more difficult now that Amazon appears to be judging more strictly requests for price match refunds. .
Canada's national process (CDR/JODR/pCODR) yielded the most positive recommendations, but these were largely circumscribed by a request for a pricing arrangement (45%) or restricted criteria (20%).
