Bank Of America Also Had A Perfect Trading Quarter; Three-Of-Six Largest Banks Turned Profits EVERY DAY

It turns out Goldman Sachs wasn't the only megabank to have a perfect first quarter.

The bank's traders did not record a loss in any of the 63 trading days in the three-month period ending in March, according to its latest quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Goldman Sachs, the nation's fifth-largest bank by assets, generated revenue of at least $25 million every single day. Its traders made at least $75 million every four trading days out of five.

Not to be outdone, JPMorgan Chase, the nation's second-biggest bank by assets, filed its report with the SEC Monday afternoon and it, too, went perfect for the quarter. Its traders made an average of $118 million every day, or slightly more than $4.9 million every hour.

JPMORGAN CHASE, Q1 2010, DAILY TRADING REVENUES *Source: SEC filings

It turns out, though, that they weren't the first to report a perfect quarter: on Friday, Bank of America told the SEC that its traders, too, batted 1.000 for the quarter.

The nation's largest bank by assets with $2.2 trillion, the firm recorded its first perfect quarter in at least a year, if not ever, according to its SEC filing. Traditionally a lender, the bank was transformed after its 2008 acquisition of investment house Merrill Lynch.

This past quarter, the firm's Global Banking & Markets group made $5.1 billion in trading account profits, according to its SEC filing. Its bond, currencies and commodities traders generated $5.5 billion in revenue, a 16 percent jump from the same period last year.

BANK OF AMERICA, Q1 2010, DAILY TRADING REVENUES *Source: SEC filings

During 61 trading days, Bank of America's traders recorded revenues of at least $75 million on 42 of them -- a clip of about every seven out of 10 days.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Bank of America experienced losses on nine days, SEC filings show.

BANK OF AMERICA, LAST 4 QUARTERS, DAILY TRADING REVENUES *Source: SEC filings

Comments

[digger0007]

11:02 PM on 05/14/2010

Why would we be surprised? These banks get special treatment from the Feds, are in special positions of power and trust to profit from many different market conditions.

The problem is not with these banks making profits. After all, if they make money and channel the money to detox their toxic assets, that would be great. That would be doing God's work, to write off all the billions of under-water mortgages and let families stay in their homes.

The problem is with some of these banks giving themselves humongous bonuses in the name of rewarding the best and the brightest. In truth, these "best and brightest" got us into this mess, that WE had to bail them out. If anyone deserves a bonus, it's the American taxpayer.

[whatshappeningtoUSA]

11:49 AM on 05/13/2010

Get out of this BANK!

[Raggs]

03:45 AM on 05/13/2010

just in case anyone was wondering why their pension fund only returns pathetic profits.

[hmargret]

10:09 PM on 05/12/2010

Read The Web of Debt by Ellen Brown....." The sack of the US by the Fed is the greatest crime in history. Every effort has been made by the Fed to conceal its powers but the truth is the Fed has ursuped the goverment. It controls everything here and it controls all our foreign relations. It makes and breaks goverments." Congressman Louis McFadden, Chairman, House Banking and Currency committee, 1932

this bank behavior is just a symptom....go to the Fed for the real disease.

[msjimmied]

09:39 PM on 05/12/2010

What the government giveth, the government taketh away...there are going to some fat lawyers in the years to come. Next up to be sued by the government, Citi and Deutsche Bank

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/citi-and-deutsche-subpoenaed-over-cdo-sales

[mariegachelin]

12:58 PM on 05/12/2010

Goldman does do God's work.

The link below contains excerpts from a conference call between
Stock Analysts and Mr. B. Ilk, PR chief of GS, Mr. L. Apdog:

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22354/97824-goldman-sucks-god-s-work

[econ1]

12:16 PM on 05/12/2010

Companies need to turn a profit to continue in business. Which of the six banks should we hold up as examples to emulate? How would you feel if your company was continuing to lose money on a daily basis?

[satorist]

01:47 PM on 05/12/2010

Oh, Enron. Definitely Enron is the corporate model being emulated.

As long as banks are allowed to borrow billions at zero interest, then loan it back to the government at a higher rate, the only way they could ever have a losing trading day is by not borrowing and loaning sufficient tax dollars to cover their more creative gambles. Being allowed to pretend their assets are worth a third more than they are helps too, as does frontrunning client orders.

Because criminal enterprise needs to make a profit too.

[Raggs]

03:48 AM on 05/13/2010

'our' companies (pension funds) do lose money on a daily basis...thanks to these parasites and their revolting practices.

[econ1]

11:51 AM on 05/13/2010

Switch pension fund manager.

[satorist]

12:11 PM on 05/12/2010

Meanwhile, incumbents who voted to save these lizards' skins are .0000 for two. Democrats did the right thing then, but absolutely needed to followed through by breaking up the banks. Voters want someone punished. If it isn't going to be the bankers, it will be the pols who saved them.

It's incomprehensible how anyone with a certificate of election doesn't understand that. If not for the Congress of morons we'll get as a result, one could applaud the political Darwinism at work.

[almost homeless]

11:44 AM on 05/12/2010

It must be their superior intelect, or the free money the fed prints for them that they use to manipulate the markets with.

[Kenneth Mundy]

11:38 AM on 05/12/2010

Like AOG says, the fed is allowing them to borrow money at zero percent to pump into the stock market allowing it to move upward (creating the next bubble) these guys will get first hand info from the Fed when this will tighten and they will pull out leaving the 401Ker to hold the bag. They will need to get their profits out prior to the outright crash in order to pay the fed back. This is a train wreck being created by Bernake and unfortunately the administration doesn't have the ability to see what is occuring. They are just happy the Fed is up since last March, they see nothing more and certainly not the bubble. This is a sin really.

[Kenneth Mundy]

12:21 PM on 05/12/2010

I mean the administration are happy that Gietner and Bernake are keeping the "STOCK Market" up and are blind to the upcoming train wreck due to inablity to understand what is being done. Bernake and Gietner are using Obama like a tool.

[AOGutierrez]

11:00 AM on 05/12/2010

These guys are banks right? They were bailed out so the market could stabilize and they could start lending to businesses who would in turn hire workers who would buy products, etc, etc, right? They are getting near 0% interest from the Fed to do this while they charge 30% interest on credit cards, right? So why aren't they doing it?

They make nothing, grow nothing, fix nothing and provide no useful service, but they can somehow stop those who do simply by manipulating numbers on a ledger. This is not a free market and we are living under a tyranny more insidious than any police state. They don't kill you outright they just let you die and blame it on your moral shortcomings while they scoop up what's left of your property. Great.

[pjwrites]

10:03 AM on 05/12/2010

Gee, isn't this surprising? They have all the money, and they make all the money.

How DO they do it?!?

/shakes head in pure, unadulterated awe/

[Sundialsvc4]

07:27 AM on 05/12/2010

Y'know... I see those "numbers," and yet, last Friday or so I saw those numbers vanish in a puff of ones and zeroes, and reappear in another puff of bits fifteen minutes hence.

Real money, real wealth, does not do that. Cannot do that.

Beware the man who tells you what you want to hear. By their fruits shall ye know them.

[Superbus Civis]

09:36 AM on 05/12/2010

Actually real money and real wealth does do that. Just because you don't understand how it happens doesn't mean there is some trickery or magic behind it.

[CentristThinker]

12:32 PM on 05/12/2010

Please explain...I can't wait to hear this one...

-CentristThinker
Sr. Financial Analyst

[WashingtonEd]

12:51 PM on 05/12/2010

Assuming a the markets are a zero sum game, can you imagine what the odds are for even one company to come up a winner every business day during a quarter?

Obviously someone is bending the rules in their favor. Obviously. How could it be more obvious? Why would any other players tolerate this?

Considering that no one in power is doing anything about this in connection with "financial reform", it is equally clear that our congress and most of the rest of our government is totally bought and paid for by the players who have arranged the rules so that they win and everyone else loses. That's one very sound way to make money. How long can this be tolerated?

[live easy]

06:51 AM on 05/12/2010

How? How?......do they do that, I thought nobody could time the market. What do they know that the rest of us don't? Insider Trading? and they needed a bailout why? we all have been had! Mabey we should pull all of our money out. Out of these banks and the market.

[plumbergirl]

08:18 AM on 05/12/2010

It might change when start people walking away from loans bigger than the value of the home. I don't think the market will settle any time soon.

[Superbus Civis]

09:28 AM on 05/12/2010

Yeah, we all should pull our money out of the financial markets. That would really show them...

[moose and squirrel]

09:51 AM on 05/12/2010

it sure would. y wall street trading for their own account they have shown us that t hey dont need us, and conversely, we dont need them

[tosc]

05:59 AM on 05/12/2010

it is all hipe and bull&)%&. The big banks mentioned in this article just finished raping the american taxpayers and now they are bragging how well "they" are doing........at the expense of the american taxpayer....again. Banks success or failure lies in the support of the american taxpayers. Take your money and business out of these banks and move it to a credit union or smaller upcoming bank. Cut up the credit cards affiliated with these banks and pay off your balances. Go back to cash transactions when possible and lets see how the banks bragging goes?