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JPMorgan Chase Reports Strong Profit of $3.6 Billion



A year after accepting a bailout from Washington, a resurgent JPMorgan Chase reported another round of surprisingly strong profits on Wednesday, strengthening its position at the pinnacle of American finance.

Morgan’s results — $3.6 billion in profit for the third quarter — fanned hopes on Wall Street that, despite lingering troubles, the nation’s banking industry was entering a new period of prosperity. The robust showing from Morgan will set the pace for other big banks who will report results in coming days.

Morgan’s profits were powered by its investment banking division, where earnings more than doubled from the year-earlier period, thanks to trading in the fixed-income markets and a flurry of deals. The results from that unit more than offset the bank’s losses on credit card loans and home mortgages, which continued to mount as consumers struggled with a weak economy.

The earnings seemed to light a fire under Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average was up nearly 90 points and within

Although the recession weighed heavily on its businesses, JPMorgan appeared to be taking advantage of the financial crisis to leapfrog rivals in the investment banking rankings and expand its consumer lending franchise. It added another $2 billion to its consumer credit reserves for future losses and still dwarfed analysts’ expectations of earnings of 51 cents a share. JPMorgan said net income rose to 82 cents a share, from 9 cents a share in the third quarter of 2008 when panic gripped the markets.

“The revenue growth was very impressive,” said Anthony Polini, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates. “They’re benefiting from a turn in the economy and they’re asserting their dominance.”