Apr 14, 2022 - Economy

Wall Street sees no shortage of bad news

Hope King

Illustration of a hand squeezing a piggy bank. — Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The year so far has proved to be as bumpy and expensive as Wall Street forecast.

Driving the news: Financial results this week covering the past three months from the country’s biggest banks show how much they’ve benefitted from market volatility.

This week’s earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Wells Fargo also show how worrisome the war in Ukraine and inflation (including the Fed’s fight to cool it down) have become.

Details: Trading revenue for Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs exceeded analyst expectations in the first quarter.

Commercial loans at Wells Fargo rose as companies started to borrow more to cover rising costs, the bank’s CFO said on a call.
Meanwhile, mortgage originations fell at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan as rising rates cooled demand.

The big picture: Banking executives cited more “headwinds” than “tailwinds,” based on a quick word search in transcripts today.

“The macro outlook for the rest of the year can only be described as complex and uncertain,” Jane Fraser, Citigroup’s CEO, told investors.

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Wall Street sees no shortage of bad news

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