Three Things to Watch From JPMorgan, Goldman and Other Big Bank Earnings

The biggest banks in America are reporting earnings next week. We're talking JP Morgan Chase, Cityroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and more. Here are three things I'll be looking for in those reports. First, what they say about deposit costs. The big debate right now is whether rising interest rates are going to cause America's savers to seek out even more yield on their cash. The question is how aggressively they're going to shop between banks to find the best rate. Or could they even ask an AI agent to find the highest yielding account for them? For banks, that aggressive shopping could be bad news. It would squeeze a key profit measure called net interest margin. That's basically the difference between the yield that banks get on their assets and the rates that they pay on funding like deposits. And it means that even though higher interest rates on things like credit cards will boost banks, that if deposit costs rise faster, ultimately they become a little less profitable. The second thing I'll be looking at are Wall Street's trading desks. This has been a booming business for the biggest banks. Trading desks have been fueled by global stock market bubbles, lots of leverage from hedge funds and other investors, and volatility in markets like oil and interest rates. Could trading revenue really keep growing so quickly? Or will fears about the economy, cautiousness among investors, or a rising cost to borrow to fund trading, things like margin loans, start to slow trading down finally. Third, I'll be looking for what bankers say about the IPO window as companies like Anthropic debate when to launch their offerings. Bankers will be giving them advice. So, it'll be interesting to hear what bankers think about the market right now and whether or not they think that the pipeline of deals coming is still pretty strong or if it's actually starting to weaken a bit. Wall Street banks are one of the economy's ultimate middlemen. If they're feeling good, that's a good sign. But if they're worried, it could mean the rest of us have to worry, too.