21.   Last month a company placed banner advertisements in The New York Times offering to sell slivers of the Red Planet for hundreds of times the price of gold.

22.   Later that year, the company placed the hotels in a separate company and spun it off to shareholders.

23.   Most companies now place corporate background information, press releases and even financial data online.

24.   One company will place a kiosk near a security checkpoint.

25.   Other companies are placing similar bets.

26.   One reason is that in this era of electronic communication, more companies are placing a higher premium on face-to-face interaction.

27.   Several companies have not placed any surcharge on their European tour prices.

28.   Some companies have placed quotas on the amount of insurance their agents are permitted to sell.

29.   Some companies actually place their racks of blinking machines near a window for effect, Umphress said, a practice he now discourages.

30.   Some companies place no age restrictions on the sale of matching stock, experts say.