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"I don't think anyone expects him to pull a rabbit out of the hat in the next few quarters Shares in AOL fell Thursday, as investors digested the company's results " By doing so, Parsons ââ‚¬â€? who was named president last May and chairman of the board earlier this month, a title he will formally assume this May ââ‚¬â€? is gaining time, analysts said Turner's departure fueled some speculation Thursday that he might try to buy CNN from AOL Turner, the eccentric cable television pioneer who remains AOL Time Warner's largest individual shareholder with about 3 It's an absolute certainty he will surface," Wolzien said On Wednesday, he promised a campaign to reduce the company's debt and pledged to "run each of our businesses as well or better than before, with a continued major focus on stabilizing and revitalizing America Online "I think people are starting to finally realize it's going to take more time to get this fixed than perhaps they had previously thought," said Tom Wolzien, an analyst with Sanford C " That should tell investors not to expect miracles any time soon, analyst Hasan said "Right now, I think Dick Parsons is really trying to focus on what is realistic In the short term, at least, Turner's departure could help Parsons, giving him more leeway to negotiate a combining of the company's CNN news channel with ABC News, said Quaisar Hasan, an analyst with Utendahl Capital Partners But in looking ahead, Parsons spoke in vaguely upbeat but cautious tones and tried not to fan false hopes 96, or roughly 14 percent It also is radically different from the disillusioned grumbling of Ted Turner, who stole some of the spotlight Wednesday when he announced his plans to step down as the company's vice chairman But analysts said it appears unlikely that AOL would be interested in selling an operation that is at the core of its business, and noted that with so much of his fortune tied up in depressed company stock, Turner could be constrained from making large purchases unless he sells his stake The pair, along with former chief operating officer Robert Pittman, bore the brunt of investor anger over the dysfunctional marriage of the firms 5 billion charge against earnings late Wednesday to account for its plunging value Parson's circumspection is far different then the grand visions once promised by Steve Case, the co-founder of America Online who is giving up the chairman's seat to Parsons, or Gerry Levin, the former head of Time Warner who retired last year Bernstein & Co aoltimewarner "It's hard to know how Ted will surface " ââ‚¬â€?ââ‚¬â€?ââ‚¬â€? On the Net: www com Turner, who founded CNN, was known to be a sharp critic of such an arrangement The whopping loss that resulted, largely obscured quarterly results that were relatively strong for many of the company's traditional media businesses They said it was difficult to know how Turner's departure affects Parson's job, especially given Turner's knack for unpredictability Parsons has "played down expectations alot, sort of a reversal from the early 2000 and 2001 days when expectations had been built up to unreasonably high levels," Hasan said Parsons is "going to really focus on making the most of what they have and trying to reset expectations to be reasonable and achievable, not trying to overpromise and underdeliver," said analyst James Goss of Barrington Research Associates In effect, he is letting the air out of any remaining expectations harbored by angry investors, who are being told to expect nothing more than gradual improvement But in taking the enormous writedown ââ‚¬â€? one that was more than double what some observers expected despite the fact that such a calculation is required under accounting rules ââ‚¬â€? the company and Parsons moved to clear AOL's financial decks, analysts said Thursday AOL's New CEO Trying to Turn Corner Jan 30, 5:08 PM EST Just two weeks after being named to the top job at AOL Time Warner Inc In afternoon trading, the shares were selling at $12, down $1 , Richard Parsons is showing shareholders of a conglomerate assembled by a cast of outsized personalities, how he'll play the lead: with cautious realism and a deliberate absence of bold promises Meanwhile, Parsons, who has been at the company since 1995, is trying to set limited goals AOL Time Warner executives conceded what many investors have long felt on an individual level when the company announced a staggering $45 5 percent of all stock, remains on the company's board for now Analysts said Thursday that Parsons and Turner have always appeared to get along well, and that Turner may well have left on his own accord after months of complaining openly of being marginalized