1.   According to a former employee who has filed a wrongful termination suit against Mattel, top management took extraordinary measures to make earnings predictions that year.

2.   Experts are staying away from such extravagant predictions this year.

3.   The airline has for years defied predictions of its early demise, but the industry is changing in ways that are making other airlines increasingly tough rivals.

4.   This reality has not deterred seven political scientists from creating mathematical formulas on which they base their ultimate presidential year prediction.

5.   More than for several years, predictions this year are difficult.