(FORTUNE Magazine) – Given the current uproar over derivatives, Insider asked Tenneco CEO Dana Mead, 58, how he knew no one was using his firm's treasury as a profit center. His reply: ''I've dug hard. I won't take that Jack Welch defense that we've got 200,000 people and I don't know what they're doing.''. . .Sometimes the only way to compete is to give your product away. In Price-Costco's case, they've papered Southern California with thousands of free trial memberships for their warehouse stores. . .The hours are long but the hair isn't at Sullivan & Cromwell. The white-shoe New York City law firm, which represents Exxon, has been hired by grunge rockers Pearl Jam. The populist band feels thwarted in its quest to keep ticket prices under $20, and might sue Ticketmaster as a result. . . In tenser times, they'd be spies: Dow Chemical and Nalco Chemical are swapping employees. John Latham, 50, the Dow employee, will provide Nalco with expertise in environmental and safety work. Steven Curtis, 42, the Nalco guy, will bring Dow service industry know-how. The talent is welcome home after two years, if the Mets haven't grabbed them first. . . Harold Geneen, former ITT overlord, effectively invented the modern conglomerate. At age 84, he still argues that a conglomerate executive can achieve ''more than normal growth'' by heavily backing businesses on the ascent. But he's now chairing a one-horse firm himself. Gunther International, based in Norwich, Connecticut, makes binding equipment. . . In a step toward free markets, if not free love, the British government is lifting price controls on condoms. The ceilings were set in 1982, when LRC Products Ltd. held 75% of the rubbers market. Rising demand due to safe-sex campaigns and competition from a new brand, Mates, changed the economics. Who says the French know everything about love? -- A.R.