They are strategically doing the right things, but the valuation is hard to justify.

It's now focused on the profitability of accounts instead of the number of accounts.

The first quarter is seasonally always the strongest, but coming off the huge year we had in '03, people figured it (fixed income) would be fine, but nothing great, ... But it's done much better than expected, and that's important for these banks.

No doubt Purcell has been under a lot of pressure as the stock has underperformed and the company has underperformed its peers.

It will be a bit of a challenge for management, in that they probably don't want to sound too optimistic; it's generally in their best interest to keep expectations moderate, ... At the same time, they don't want to sound too bearish on 2005.

Management has done a really good job of delivering. Their business mix is still very favorable for where I think incremental growth will be next year, meaning equities, M&A and retail brokerage.