David R. Bagby, 54, the manager, said he aimed to buy "very well-financed small companies that produced significant amounts of excess cash flow."

Each, he asserted, would lead to the replacement of today's vendors with well-financed companies that could afford to buy the newly rationed right to sell on the sidewalk.

So have several other well-financed companies.

But a Macy spokesman said that the New York-based company "continued to be a highly liquid and well-financed company."

It is a strong corporate department within a well-financed company.

Population Pressures Some Ecuadorians say a well-financed multinational company like Conoco can show the way to oil production without environmental damage.

He also tries to "augment portfolios with companies growing through the drill bit" - that is, well-managed, well-financed companies growing independently of the market.

But well-financed companies should be able to build such machines or buy the chips from entrepreneurial companies that will develop compatible chip sets.

The Third Avenue Value fund scours the globe for well-financed companies that sell at substantial discounts.

Independent studios have struggled in recent years, with even well-financed companies like Savoy Pictures running into financial trouble.