1.   Among the large bidders was AES, a U.S. company that was bidding through a Brazilian subsidiary.

2.   Companies will bid through the Internet.

3.   Identifying the biggest buyers is difficult or often impossible because most guard their privacy by bidding through dealers or auction house experts.

4.   Individuals bid through the mail or by hand, delivering applications and payment to the nearest Federal Reserve Bank or branch, or to the Treasury in Washington.

5.   Momentum investors entered the game, and soon most any company with a gene, a protein or an antibody attached to its name was bid through the roof.

6.   These buyers, like those who came before them, share a desire for anonymity, so they bid through their dealers.