Despite continued difficult markets, resulting in an industry-wide slowdown in some investment banking activities, the second quarter proved to be among our best ever in terms of net income and revenues,
The results for the third quarter reflect the extremely difficult market conditions that continue to confront our industry,
Given the less-than-favorable market environment, posting our second-best quarter ever underscores the broad-based strength and diversity of the firm's franchise businesses, and our continued success in building our high- margin activities,