31.   The increase in planned offerings comes after a lull of a few months for Internet IPOs, during which many companies postponed sales rather than brave a lackluster market.

32.   The government already postponed the sale of shares in France Telecom, the state-owned telephone company, until after the elections.

33.   The last planned sale was postponed in February when Congress declared then-President Abdala Bucaram unfit to govern and ousted him.

34.   The ministry postponed the sale, which had been set for the previous business year, because the stock market was sluggish.

35.   The Socialists have hinted they would cancel or postpone the sale of state-owned companies if they win the elections.

36.   The surge of IPOs comes after two tepid months when dozens of companies postponed stock sales amid investor concern that inflation would accelerate.

37.   The two remaining groups asked that the schedule be maintained after previous setbacks already postponed the sale by two months.

38.   There has been speculation recently that the proximity of the next general election may cause the sale to be postponed.

39.   Venezuelan stocks plummeted for a second day after the government postponed the sale of a state bank, prompting doubts over the future of economic reform.

40.   Yesterday, Jingwei Textile Machinery postponed its sale of new shares due to poor market conditions.