Liveblogging the webcast for the Starbucks (SBUX) Third Quarter Fiscal 2006 Financial Results Conference. I'm registered and listening to unidentified classical music while waiting for the event to start. We're expecting the call to focus on increases to same-store revenue, as well as increased retail profits overall ...

Starbucks corporate HQ is located in Seattle WA, and all times are Pacific.

1:30 p.m. -- Operator turns the conference over to JoAnn DeGrande, Director - Investor Relations, who will host. Call time limited to one hour including QA. She gives an overview ... the call will cover "forward-looking statements" for fiscal year beginning Oct. 2006.

1:33 p.m -- CEO Jim Donald takes over. For the quarter, Starbucks opens enough new stores to make in their 3rd most expansive quarter ever. And the 152nd consecutive month of postive growth in number of news stores opening. Highlights the opening of 500th Japanese store location, quite a milestone considering that once critics found the initial target of 50 stores too ambitious. Also notes "stronger than expected" demand for blended beverages such as 'frappucinos" in the morning hours. But acknowledges company needs to bring down the wait times for customers during peak morning hours, which are causing lost revenue.

1:39 p.m. -- Review of drivers behind retail revenue success in past quarter:

• Fresh blended fruit drinks for non-coffee interested customers.
  
• New food items especially designed to compliment fruit-based, non-dairy drinks.
• Lunch items now offered in 64% of U.S. retail locations.
• "Warming" programs -- that's warm breakfast options, usually egg on bagel or muffin sandwiches.
• Merchandising -"barista bears" stuffed animals themed with cities in which they are offered.
• Music offerings - I missed the details!

1:45 p.m. -- Call turned over to Chairman Howard Schultz for the international overview. Exactly 10 years ago TODAY, Starbucks opened its first international location in Tokyo. Now international stores stand at 3400 locations in 36th countries -- up around 1000 stores since one year ago. In 2007 will expand in Brazil, and is especially excited about moving into Russia and India, as the world's 2nd most populous country - 1 billion. India, like China is traditionally a tea culture, but also like China, the consumption of coffee is growing. With many European and American companies increasing outsourcing to India, Schultz believes India will be an important consumer of Starbucks and other internationally known brands.

1:50 p.m. -- Schultz makes many the same points about Russia, and noted that SBUX recently won a trademark dispute that will allow it to brand there.

1:52 p.m. -- They are moving quick! After reiterating that overall the co. had a strong quarter, Shultz turns it over to CFO Michael Casey with the numbers.

1:55 p.m. -- CFO Michael Casey -- stock based compensation was 7 cents per share for the first 3 quarters. Operating segment results, overall increase by 20%. Retail operating expenses increased about 2% (to 42%) for the quarter, and the increase was offset some by overall decreased U.S. operating expenses.

2:00 p.m. -- International highlights. Higher product sales and royalty revenues. Operating margin improves to 55% ($29 million) for the quarter. Ongoing investments in emerging markets such as China will continue to cause variants in quarter to quarter operation margins.

2:05 p.m. -- Growth targets for remainder of 2006 and 2007: plan to open many new stores both U.S. and Internationally. Targeting 20% retail growth. Targeting 72 - 73 cents earning per share (no change from previous target. Ramping up for 1000 new U.S. locations, and 300 (?) new stores internationally. Targeting earnings per share of 89 cents for fiscal 2007, quite a spike over fiscal 2006. Capitol investments expected to be in the neighborhood of $1Billion in fiscal 2007.

2:10 p.m. -- Turned over to questions from the listeners -- some audio problems.

2:11 p.m. -- I missed 1st question. 2nd question concerns cold-blended drinks -- is performance expected to be seasonal? The answer appears to be no. Because of variety of offerings and also the surprising to management news that people buy these drinks even in the morning when they had not expected it. Sales rates compared between warmer and cooler market locations.

2:15 p.m. -- Streamlining the drive-thru wait time.

2:16 p.m. -- A Lehman Bros. rep asks about new retail product expansion. Answer: opportunities about in warm breakfast options, and lunch options and determining that these products are offered in the right markets, before just pulling the trigger on the programs in all markets across the board. Also, lease restrictions, etc need to be considered. The expectation however is that every store in the U.S. will offer warm breakfast options.

2: 19 p.m. -- A Goldman Sachs rep asks: additional costs of accelerated growth? Answer: not really. Starbucks has always maintained aggressive growth from quarter to quarter, this is nothing new and should not effect the ongoing p/e ratio.

2:22 p.m. -- In response to a question on international margins slower increase than national, Schultz reiterated that he thinks the big takeaway (what he'd like investors to take away today, anyway!) is the remarkable ease at which Starbucks has been able to insert itself into a variety of international markets from mature markets such as France, to new markets for this type of business such as mainland China. He believes the Starbucks "story" of a "third place between home and work" is one that is translating very successfully world-wide.

2:26 p.m. -- I missed two questions...

2:27 p.m. -- Green coffee costs are expected to increase, but co. anticipation of the increase seems to be in line with the actual increases so is well accounted for.

2:28 p.m. -- (with an unprecedented in the U.S.) 1000 new stores coming in the U.S. what will the mix of drive-thru with convention stores, and to what extent will cannibalization of business from older stores effect new location choices? Schultz answers that now their knowledge of the wide-variety of consumer bases they can draw from they feel that can get very good at identifying new business with reduced cannibalization of old.

2:33 p.m. -- Clarification the drive-thru wait times. The challenge in wait times is limited to the morning hours when stores are geared toward serving hot drinks, not anticipating the appeal that cold drinks would have in the morning hours. Someone (Donald? Casey?) acknowledges that sales of cold drinks have benefited from one of the hottest summers on record in the U.S. With most of the world's hottest recorded years on record occurring in the past decade, sounds like cold drinks will continue to grow in popularity, no matter the hour of the day.

2:36 p.m. -- Mic turned back over to DeGrande, who thanks participants and logs out.

A phone replay is now available from the company at 800/642-1687 or 706/645-9291 . Dial Reservation Number: 3728558. Fast forward through about ten minutes of hold music by pressing "2" about ten times!

Michael Canfield is a private investor, a business and media writer, living in Seattle. He doesn't own stock in Starbucks.