11.   Economists were concerned then that if the Japanese investors suddenly failed to bid in a U.S. Treasury bond auction, the dollar would plunge or interest rates would soar.

12.   Everyone acknowledged at the time that many technology stocks were being bid up in a bubble of investment euophoria.

13.   Executives at companies that were planning to bid in the auction said they were shell-shocked by the ruling.

14.   Five groups bid in total.

15.   For NextWave and other companies that bid aggressively in the auction, though, the risks are high.

16.   France Telecom is also part of a group that will bid in auctions for new German licenses to offer advanced, or so-called third-generation, wireless services.

17.   GE won the contract bidding in May, beating competition from Westinghouse Electric Corp. and Combustion Engineering Nuclear Systems, a U.S. unit of ABB Asia Brown Boveri.

18.   He added he hopes the Indonesian government will permit other gold producers to bid in an open auction process.

19.   He was believed to be bidding in a darkened room overlooking the auction floor, with bidding relayed by telephone to the auctioneer.

20.   International Nederland Group, a Dutch firm that was bidding in strong guilders, won.