1.   And now he is thinking of going abroad, discussing an alliance with the Deutsche Borse in Frankfurt, Germany.

2.   Antitrust experts said it is legal for competitors to discuss cooperative alliances if they lead to the development of less-expensive and better products in complementary areas.

3.   But they again acknowledged that the two companies have been discussing possible alliances.

4.   But within days Mandela infuriated de Klerk by approaching the Democratic Party himself, pulling aside its leader, Tony Leon, to discuss an alliance of their own.

5.   Crozier said that he and former Bank of Boston Chairman Ira Stepanian over the years informally discussed an alliance.

6.   It discussed an alliance with Shopkorn off and on for almost two years and had hired a handful of equity traders.

7.   Jan Horsfall, Lycos vice-president of marketing said the company is discussing alliances but said there are no plans to sell it outright.

8.   Last week, Vodafone Airtouch confirmed it was discussing an alliance with Bell Atlantic.

9.   Lytle said Anthem was also discussing alliances with a number of other Blue Cross plans on the East Coast, which he declined to name.

10.   The Nasdaq market, an electronic marketplace linked by telephones and computer terminals, has acknowledged that it is discussing possible alliances with private trading networks.