71.   And the Lakers never regained the lead, or even a tie, past the first quarter.

72.   And sales figures from the first quarter of the new year indicate that Sony may be lengthening its lead.

73.   And since the end of the first quarter, things have grown worse.

74.   And the turn of events bodes well for retail company earnings for the first quarter.

75.   And that was in the first quarter.

76.   And that was the end of the first quarter.

77.   And most of the top-performing mutual funds in the first quarter of this year were those that held the former leadership stocks.

78.   And they have an especially healthy appetite for financing the boom in mergers and acquisitions, which reached record levels in the U.S. and abroad in the first quarter.

79.   And the first quarter or so of the piece did look contrived.

80.   And the fourth quarter will tell us where we are headed in the first quarter.