At some point, Lincecum and the Giants will agree to something and all the headlines and speculation of the past few weeks will immediately fade into various Internet caches.

However, all these speculations soon faded into the air.

Bonds denied taking steroids, and speculation about his use faded somewhat during the Olympics, when attention shifted to athletes in other sports.

Such speculation faded when, during the course of the 2006 campaign and in light of unimpressive poll numbers in his Senate race, he declared that, if re-elected, he would serve a full term.

The generalizations and speculations of the television anchors and commentators fade away in the face of a film like Bahman Ghobadi's "Marooned in Iraq," a Kurdish-language feature that opens today in Manhattan.

The dollar dipped as that speculation faded, said Heinz Bingelli of Merrill Lynch Capital Markets.

A Resignation Was Expected All political speculation faded, however, at least for the time being, after what happened at the news conference.

If we hadn't been ten feet from the store, I might have marched her off to the nearest closet until the speculation faded to a dull murmur.