INSERTS are slow? Check for the existence of insert triggers on the tables where the data is being inserted.

Great topic and good responses. I love reading these forums. (Steve you're awesome)

From a DBA perspective I am mostly concerned with the database when dealing with...

here's another way using a correlated subquery in the where clause

(see Chris's post above for the table structure and data)

select * from #MSG369550 a

where accountdate = (select min(accountdate) from #MSG369550

   where...

It's been my experience that triggers are rolled back along with the rest of the tran.  What kind of import are you doing?  What kind of triggers are you using?

Something to check...  make sure disk compression is not turned on.