Streak Continues at Bear Stearns

The bank did a good job holding down costs in the quarter, with compensation as a percentage of net revenue totaling 47.0% in the quarter, down from 48.4% a year ago. Bear's pretax profit margin was 32% in the third quarter compared with 28.9% a year ago.

Bear Stearns' stock, which is up 21% over the last year and 41% over the last two years, fell $2, or 1.9%, to $103.50 early Thursday. The price is 10.5 times this year's Thomson First Call earnings estimate and 10.3 times next year's.

Bear's report follows a similarly upbeat third quarter reported Wednesday by Lehman Brothers(LEH Quote). Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) and Morgan Stanley(MWD Quote) will report their results in coming days.