I think Company guidance is absolutely needed, especially if we didn't get a large single payment settlement that all shows up in the April 10Q. But in translating Merck's words into numbers I find the words need to be much stronger. Perhaps there's other ways to interpret "Double-Digit Compound EPS Growth", but I think my calculations below are consistent with accounting practice. "Triple-digit" might be more accurate.

Words:

Merck Anticipates Earnings per Share Growth in 2008; Reaffirms Long-Term, Double-Digit Compound Annual EPS Growth from 2005 to 2010, Excluding Certain Items http://www.merck.com/newsroom/press_...

Resulting numbers if double-digit equals 10%:

2007 EPS ~ 6 cents

2007 EPS X 10% = 6.6 cents in 2008

2008 X 10% = 7.3 cents in 2009

2009 X 10% = 8 cents EPS in 2010