111.   And Venter, executives said, had no particular talent, experience or interest in the new endeavor.

112.   And the plan to expand in Europe left little to follow up on, one executive says.

113.   And while many auto executives say they worry about whether their products are affordable, a few are actually offering cheaper replacements for discontinued models.

114.   And theater executives say they glean useful information from ticket sales made before films open.

115.   Ann Taylor executives said they required suppliers to be socially responsible.

116.   And, as a result, money funds are being used increasingly by consumers as a substitute for the more traditional bank account, fund executives said.

117.   And, at least for the time being, bank executives say they have no alternative to Boehm-Bezing.

118.   Anderson, though, lasted until Seattle selected him -- the biggest dropoff in draft history, some baseball executives said.

119.   And travel industry executives say the numbers have almost certainly risen this year.

120.   Another result of the dot-com implosion, executives said, is that companies are much less apt to think they can easily expand into numerous product lines.