But knowing when a conclusion will be reached is not the same as knowing what it will be.

FORBES: Blindsided

That is a conclusion being reached by many smaller drugs firms, which had once hoped to remain independent.

ECONOMIST: Health-care mergers

And the conclusion that we reached, among others, is that we were substantially underweighted in terms of our engagement and resource allocation and attention to Asia.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

Although Socrates and his interlocutor probed whether virtue could be taught, the conclusion reached, in the last paragraph, is that it cannot, since all efforts at defining it failed, and that it was instead a divine gift.

ECONOMIST: Letters

For someone with only a casual acquaintance with the subject, it is easy to see how such a conclusion might be reached.

ECONOMIST: Hounded

This suggests the market place is coming to the conclusion that some type of agreement will be reached on the fiscal cliff matter before the end of the year.

FORBES: P.M. Kitco Metals Roundup: Gold Ends Up on Bargain Hunting, Short Covering; Traders Still Abuzz Over Wednesday's Price Action

The DUP hasn't yet made a definite decision to drop its opposition to a poll - instead the party is "having this discussion but has not reached a conclusion on the matter".

BBC: United Ireland border poll call: diversions and u-turns

But this conclusion, even if reached by way of an impeccable philosophy, is in danger of leaving the average Joe, not to mention the average General Carter Ham, Odyssey Dawn's American commander, scratching his head in puzzlement.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

The new health secretary, who is only a few weeks into his job, said he had reached the conclusion after studying the evidence.

BBC: Abortion limit reduction favoured by Jeremy Hunt