31.   Banks were slow to adopt and market the service, which pushed CheckFree to try to strike distribution deals with Internet portals.

32.   Barneys is just the latest in a string of U.S. companies that have come into conflict with Japanese partners a few years after the deals were struck.

33.   Barnes also said no deal had been struck between the two men.

34.   Because the deal was struck with great speed, it is perhaps understandable that a number of important details remain up in the air.

35.   Before the NHL draft last weekend, Chicago owner Bill Wirtz charged that Dallas had already struck deals for Amonte and Guerin.

36.   Beyond the heavyweight issues of taxes and Social Security, there are some middleweight matters where deals may be struck.

37.   Big-market teams struck deals that were four and five times larger than their previous deals.

38.   Bibi struck important deals that legitimized Arafat as a peace partner, but he still runs against him in this election.

39.   A compromise deal was struck between the White House and Alaskan lawmakers on logging in the Tongass National Forest.

40.   A Chinese government spokesman at the UN denied any deals were struck.