1.   The investment banker was a breed apart, a member of a master race of deal makers.

2.   Along with the ubiquitous Lucite-block gewgaws for deal makers, companies like Lucent, which makes telecommunications equipment, are handing out baseball caps at the exchange.

3.   And Bontempo, a supplicant not so long ago, today plays the role of deal maker.

4.   And he has been a crafty deal maker and pacesetter.

5.   And significantly, the chief centrist deal maker, Sen. John Breaux, D-La., gave his blessing to the latest tax cutting blueprint.

6.   And that, some shareholders fear, could make it difficult for this most prolific of deal makers to stay focused on fixing TCI.

7.   Arliss Michaels is at least distantly related to Mike Ovitz, Donald Trump and other deal makers who have become stars in their own right.

8.   As is typical, the deal makers, their investment advisers and lawyers had worked late during the last week, staying until midnight or longer.

9.   As the first non-Swiss executive to become president, he seemed to epitomize the rising power within the bank of deal makers on Wall Street and in London.

10.   Because that approach is unworkable, the deal makers say.