A rich package of stories about, say, a giant merger feels more at home in Business Day.

Stock drops are viewed by many as just opportunities to buy, as are giant mergers.

Instead of doing giant cross-border mergers, many European telecommunications companies have been looking to fast growth areas like Eastern Europe and Turkey.

Very different motivations were behind the two giant mergers, analysts said.

And the stars of last week's giant merger - Citicorp and Travellers - also fell.

With giant mergers of corporations, thousands of employees have lost their jobs.

The race to transform communications through the Internet has also led to several giant mergers that could result in greater wireless access.

If the giant merger is to wield new power, it would have to be in the political, not the economic, arena.

But the wave of giant mergers in Europe this week reflects something else as well: weakness.

Wall Street had hoped that the giant merger would provoke a wave of takeovers.