Quite Early One Morning

A breakfast brigade is wheeling and dealing over eggs Benedict

For this year's executive, a coveted symbol of upward mobility is not the pocket pager or even the in-car telephone but a high-visibility confab over coffee and croissants. The business breakfast has arrived. Whether it is an attempt to keep ahead of the competition, catch up with the Japanese or just get away from the office telephone, more and more corporate chieftains are gathering at ordinarily uncivilized hours like 7:30 a.m. to make deals.

In Los Angeles, movie studio heads pass film scripts along with English muffins at the Bel Air Hotel and...

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