Bank of America Positive on CBOT (BOT), Sees Higher Bid

Bank of America comments on CBOT Holdings (NYSE: BOT) saying they have lifted their '07/08 EPS estimates to $4.99 and $6.14 from $4.84 and $5.85 to reflect current volume trends and expectations that the higher volatility environment we are currently experiencing could last for some time.

They are also raising their price target to $195 from $170 to reflect current ICE bid and potential for counter- bid by CME. BAC believes that CME will likely have to raise its bid for BOT given higher price ICE is currently offering. According to their analysis, CME could pay from $205-215 for BOT and still make a deal work. That said, given the conservative nature of CME management, they can not yet be sure that they would get that aggressive, and are raising BOT price target to $195.

Notablecalls: Would not be surprised to see some buy interest in BOT following the call. Note that ICE has not ruled out going hostile on BOT.

For more calls go to http://notablecalls.blogspot.com

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