As previously noted this morning, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) did post gains on an EPS that were slightly ahead of expectations on revenues that were a tad under the estimates from First Call. The new $5 billion share buyback plan was to replace the recently completed $20 Billion share buyback plan. The company also reaffirmed $1.07 as its EPS target for the conglomerate. Going into the conference call, shares are down about 3.2% to $18.64.

At the start of the conference call, CEO & Chairman Dick Parsons reaffirmed 2007 OIBDA guidance and is maintaining growth at projections AOL and is maintaining its leverage. It reaffirmed $1.07 EPS for 2007, or $0.95 outside of items. Parsons also stated the following:

Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) is on track for objectives with more upside to come. The legacy footprint has growth and the Adelphia adds should grow. Cable will continue to be a growth generation for years to come.

Harry Potter has generated nearly $700 MILLION in worldwide sales already.

AOL is continuing to make progress for OIBDA growth, it also expects page view growth at AOL this year. This was the first quarter where page views grew, but there was a slowdown in ad growth as certain deals were winding down from the subscriber days. Email and search changes are building and increasing monetization. The team is satisfied with the results so far. Advertising is also seeing some shift to third party advertisers, but its advertising.com is seeing gains. The total AOL expectations are being stepped back from original projections that it will grow above the market rates [that is the first time this has been stated]. It has relaunched the AOL homepage in a new format and is in the process of new finance and other pages. It has spent over $500 million in acquisitions over the last 16 (or 18) months to build the AOL franchise.

Did you hear that CBS is coming out with a new CSI franchise? It's called CSI: Time Warner Center. Yeah.

Time Warner (not the police, not the SEC, not Ernst & Young) late yesterday announced that they had cleared CFO Wayne Pace of having used company funds to support accused madam Andrea Schwartz, or of having done anything illegal. Assisted by "outside advisors," of course.

Pace was not cleared of having been Schwartz' friend, lover or sugar daddy, it should be noted: he was simply cleared of doing wicked things with company money. Which is always a good thing.

It just goes to show: Time Warner is such a huge conglomerate and its stock is so immovable that the news and its price have no relation. Take today, for instance.

On a day when the big news included the company's beloved baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, in dead last in the team's division ("I'm just looking for a score that has a 'W' in front of it," said GM John Schuerholz "calmly") and the salacious rumors of CFO Wayne Pace's role as "sugar daddy" to a high-class prostitute, the stock was up 15 cents, nearly 1%, to $17.11.

Perhaps it's true, as one commenter noted, that it's a good thing Pace is [alleged to be] getting more love -- "If he's happy in the bedroom he'll perform better in the boardroom. As a stock holder, I think maybe she should bring over her friends and make sure he's extra happy."

As long as I've been following business news, it seems that sex is always only a whisper away from any press release ... sexual harassment, sexual dalliances between colleagues, famously, when an Infoseek EVP tried to have sex with an FBI agent who said she was 13. Sex is never so sexy as when it touches money.

So when Time Warner CFO Wayne Pace was accused of having been the "sugar daddy" (oh how we love that phrase) of high-priced hooker and accused prostitution ringleader, Andrea Schwartz, let's be honest, we licked our lips.

Pace, naturally, denies it through his attorney. And if it's true, it would be racy indeed: the position of CFO is generally seen as a boring, straight-laced, buttoned-up job. One that requires the utmost ethics and should never smack of partisanship. It's only when we think about who else Schwartz may have entertained that we start imagining the possibilities for compromise. It's a mind-blowing list of potential Law & Order plots.

Either way, we hope we read all about it in People.