CHICAGO, Jan 5, 2006 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- William Blair & Company today announced that it initiated research coverage of IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. ($36.90) with an Outperform rating and Aggressive Growth company profile and CBOT Holdings, Inc. ($89.75) with a Market Perform rating and Core Growth company profile. Analyst Joel Gomberg estimated that ICE, which operates an electronic marketplace for energy trading and price discovery, would earn $1.10 per share in 2006 and $1.35 per share in 2007. CBOT, among the world's largest futures exchanges, should earn $2.50 per share in 2006 and $3.00 per share in 2007, Gomberg projected. "Successful exchanges of the future will embrace change and will be those that constantly develop new services, better systems, and new products," Gomberg said. "ICE closed its open-outcry venue in 2005 and now provides strictly an electronic format. The move to electronic markets facilitates more transparency, more efficiency, and more fairness. This should attract more participants and liquidity. ICE also was a leader in introducing clearing to the OTC energy market, creating significant value to participants by eliminating counterparty risk." CBOT, founded in 1848, "has established itself as marketplace of choice for derivative products," he added. "We believe that CBOT's deep pools of liquidity, leading market position, global distribution, and reputation create significant competitive advantages." William Blair & Company, L.L.C. (www.williamblair.com) is a Chicago-based investment firm, founded in 1935, offering investment banking, asset management, equity research, institutional and private brokerage, and private capital to individual, institutional, and issuing clients. As an independent, employee-owned firm, our philosophy is to serve our clients' interests first and foremost. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. has received compensation for investment banking services from CBOT Holdings, Inc. and IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. within the past 12 months, or expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services in the next 3 months. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. was a manager or co-manager of a public offering of equity securities within the prior 12 months for IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.