"We think this is a buying opportunity," said Raphael Soifer, financial services analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman.

"People are looking for the next acquisition candidate," said Andy Barish, an environmental services analyst at Robertson, Stephens.

David Hilder, a financial services analyst for First Boston, had a strong "buy" recommendation on Student Loan.

Craig Woker, a financial services analyst at Morningstar, the investment research company, said gloating would seem inappropriate after Enron's demise.

"Someone has to pay the price," said Thomas Johansson, financial services analyst at Enskilda Bank in Stockholm.

"We don't expect a lot of erosion in distribution," said Dean Eberling, senior financial services analyst at Prudential Securities.

"Some people may be thinking this is a good time to take profits," said Thomas Finucane, a financial services analyst with State Street Research in Boston.

"We criticized them for losing market share," said Donna Toth, the firm's Toronto-based financial services analyst.

Her mother is a senior financial services analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

"What you're seeing is a paradigm shift from banks to brokers," said Meredith Whitney, senior financial services analyst at First Union Securities.