JPMorgan earns $6.7 billion profit thanks to Main Street

JPMorgan Chase is taking another victory lap.

The bank, which recently surpassed Bank of America to become the biggest bank deposit holder in America, reported earnings and revenue for the third quarter Thursday that easily topped forecasts.
Chase posted a quarterly profit of $6.7 billion, up 7% from a year ago. That worked out to earnings per share of $1.76, well ahead of Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $1.65 a share.
The strength was led more by plain vanilla consumer banking operations -- like lending money for credit cards, cars, mortgages and taking in deposits -- than it was about Wall Street investment banking.
Chase posted a 16% increase in profits from its consumer and business banking unit. But earnings fell 13% in its corporate and investment bank division. That was largely because of a drop in revenue from bond and stock trading.
The relentless march higher for the stocks this year, coupled with interest rates that remain stubbornly low, has led to decreased market volatility. And that's bad for investment banks, which tend to do better when there is more trading activity.