JPMorgan profit hurt by weak investment banking and trading

[Lodestar]

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported a drop in quarterly profit - its first in five quarters - as costs to cover sour loans to troubled oil companies rose and revenue from trading and investment banking declined.

But both earnings and revenue beat analysts' lowered expectations, helping to lift the bank's shares by about 2.6 percent to $60.85 in premarket trading on Wednesday.

JPMorgan is the first U.S. bank to report results for what is generally being seen as the banking industry's worst start to a new year since the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

A slide in commodity and oil prices, a slowdown in China, near-zero interest rates, mounting regulatory costs and hefty capital requirements have all contributed to the weakness.

cont'd
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jpmorgan-results-idUSKCN0XA128

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Translation: free money from the Fed stopped

and now banks have to actually earn their lucre.....and can't.

and, since debt is counted as an asset for banks, they are only as rich as their debts (loans)
which are not being paid back quite as expected.