Merriman notes SWIM handily beat firm's 3Q08 ests driven by upside in the Brokerage segment and cost improvements in the Education segment. The Brokerage segment is scaling better than expected and continues to gain market share -- 30% of new accounts came from other brokers and that trend accelerated in Sept and Oct. Education continues to funnel student leads into the Brokerage segment, creating synergies that are unmatched in the marketplace and it shows -- thinkorswim's accounts and retail DARTs are growing faster than its peers. With interest rate risk now built into ests, firm believes that valuation multiples on SWIM should begin to expand, pushing the stock trading into the $10-14 range.

Co says it's in an "enviable" position, not only in gaming, but in any industry that is capital intensive. Gave an overview of its balance sheet (most of this was in the earnings release): Has $1.7 mln in cash and $500 remaining in a revolving credit facility. Has $500 mln of costs remaining for Encore at Wynn Las Vegas and $500 mln of costs remaining for Encore at Wynn Macau. That leaves excess cash on hand of $1.2 bln, which the company says can pay off all of its debt maturities over the next three years. Has $4.9 bln in debt. On a ratio basis, backing out the excess cash and using ttm EBITDA of $800 mln, debt/EBITDA is ~4.6x. Notes that is fully funded debt before the projects open... Co says seeing more significant softness in October at Wynn Las Vegas, isolated to its mid-week activity. A combination of lower occupancy and less walk-in business has led to lower traffic on casino flow and empty restaurants. In Macau, September showed some weakening but October has been relatively positive, seeing a bit of a bounce back. Co says it's "reasonably encouraged"... When asked, co said it isn't planning any acquisitions. Does better building its own stuff... Co says its hasn't repurchased any stock in October. States it's focusing on deleveraging. When asked, said it also hasn't repurchased any of its bonds (analyst said its yields are in the mid-teens). Explains it focuses on near-term maturities first... Co says economic environment is making it slow down, or refrain from rushing its development plans on the Cotai Strip and for its Las Vegas golf course, especially with two hotels opening in the next 12+ months. Adds needs evidence the marketplace has absorbed the new supply entering now... Co says it has restricted credit as it has increased its bad debt expense. But notes tightening means simply reviewing its credit files. The status of its VIP customers is very high and don't believe it is inducing anyone not to play... Of the remaining $500 mln for Encore Las Vegas, half will be CapEx in Q4, with the remainder split between the first two qtrs of 2009. Of the remaining $500 mln for Encore Macau, back-end loaded towards the end of 2009. Besides that, co's maintenance CapEx is $25-$30. Co says that is a good run rate, though it may increase slightly in Las Vegas next year with another hotel. Says it becomes a free cash flow co in about 12 months as the only item left would be maintenance CapEx (assumes no new developments are undertaken)... (Stock last traded $46.50 after hours)

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $1.04 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $1.04; revenues rose 32.5% year/year to $201.4 mln vs the $201.7 mln consensus. The increase in transaction revenue was driven primarily by new products, strong trading volume in ICE's futures and global OTC segments, an increase of participants in ICE's markets and the Creditex acquisition, which closed during the third quarter. ICE expects the Q4 non-cash compensation expense to be in the range of $10 mln to $12 mln, assuming certain full-year performance targets are achieved. ICE expects Q4 depreciation and amortization expense to be in the range of $26-28 mln. This includes $6.3 mln for amortization of Creditex intangibles and $6.5 mln related to ICE's exclusive Russell license agreement. Consistent with prior guidance, Creditex is expected to be dilutive in the range of $0.05 to $0.08 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

DJ reports the co warned that it will struggle to meet 2008 targets and sees a tough outlook for 2009, after it reported a 16.2% rise in third quarter sales. "There is no doubt that the disintegration in the financial markets has had and will continue to have, a significant negative effect on consumer and corporate confidence," the company said in a statement. "As a result, 2009 will be a very tough year." WPP said it is likely to make job cuts in Western Europe and the U.S. in order to boost operations in growing markets such as China and India. "We have to invest in markets that are growing and we have to consolidate and cut in those markets that are shrinking," chief executive Martin Sorrell said in a telephone interview with Dow Jones Newswires. The company also said that while everything will be done to achieve its improved operating margin target of 15.5% for 2008, attaining this "will not be easy".

Friedman Billings notes last night SYMC reported FY 2Q09 results that had some good and bad news mixed in. The co reported top-line results, which, excluding currency headwinds, still hit SYMC's midpoint of guidance, while EPS came in ahead of their est and the Street's est based on tight cost controls. While this was a bit of a relief, the all-important deferred rev number still came in lighter than firm's expectations and they believe those of the Street, as a number of deals slipped in the last week of the quarter. While large enterprise deals held up relatively well during FY2Q, the co saw more-than-usual slippage on the SMB front given the malaise in the markets/economy in the last part of September. Co is in the process of implementing cost-cutting initiatives to preserve mgmt's operating margin expansion goals over the coming years, a major positive in firm's opinion.