But the reason why so many of these mortgage companies were making loans that banks couldn't make is because they had an ace in the hole, and their ace in the hole was Wall Street.

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"It's clear they feel that the one ace in the hole that they still hold is national security and fighting terrorism, " VandeHei says.

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Like any good gambler though, opponents of this critical resource development have an ace in the hole.

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AIPAC's ace in the hole is the idea that it represents Jewish interests in a country that is generally philo-Semitic.

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Though Artfire has a long way to go in terms of site traffic, their ace in the hole is their value-added user-centered support.

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Schering-Plough thinks its ace in the hole may be a modified version of Claritin that has already been put into the FDAs approval pipeline.

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Of course this isn't that surprising considering HD DVD's ace in the hole Universal and Paramount are on the bench for the third week in a row.

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It's their ace in the hole.

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