While 2005 was a challenging year, we did make some...

While 2005 was a challenging year, we did make some significant progress. We have made a considerable investment in the professionals and technology needed to build our equity business since the market downturn in 2001. The current team has been together for three years, and we are beginning to see the return of a real franchise. Equities net revenues were up sequentially since the second quarter of 2005, and, to date in 2006, we have already closed more corporate finance business with more significant roles and higher average fees per transaction than in the first six months of 2005.