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The stock of CheckFree (Nasdaq: CKFR), which offers billing services, climbed 1-9/16 to 31-15/16 on Friday after news began to circulate about potential alliances with companies including America Online. Checkfree already has a deal 
with Yahoo!, and CheckFree CEO Pete Kight told Reuters on Thursday that his company is "talking to all the remaining portals."
It is, of course, unclear how many companies Kight is referring too, but portal deals will probably be costly. Companies like Yahoo! and AOL are often paid millions in exchange for exposure on their network of properties. Checkfree, however, may be able to afford the costs of some additional promotion. The company is one of the minority of Internet companies that is actually profitable.
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