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.

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.

It was a management challenge and the tab will be fairly substantial when we add it all up.

They're certainly looking to expand their wallet share to have a more important role with clients beyond stock trading. If they could acquire some loan- generating capacity, that would make sense.

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