1.   And over the next few months, they got more, former executives said, as the company consolidated its work among fewer law firms.

2.   And the audiences so far have predominantly been made up of women, said an executive at Paramount, which released the film on Friday.

3.   And while investors will allocate a bigger percentage of their total investment assets to funds, the industry itself will experience consolidation, executives said.

4.   As it turned out, executives said, the effort proved so flawless that it was almost dull.

5.   BankBoston Corp. plans to expand its business in Asia as struggling stock and currency markets create opportunities to attract customers and hire staff, a top executive said.

6.   Because that money is deducted weekly from paychecks, it tends to be quite stable, say investment executives.

7.   BankAmerica too was mulling a bid for the company, said an executive close to BankAmerica.

8.   Both companies had spent the day trying to work out the final details in hopes of announcing a deal Monday morning, the executives said.

9.   A deal could be announced as early as Monday, the executives said.

10.   A few years ago, NBC passed on the notion of buying America Online because it would have been considered too dilutive, two former NBC executives said.