–There has been a lot of talk about how banks can’t repeat last year’s trading infused earnings gains. JP Morgan proves them wrong this morning, reporting that it earned $3.3 billion in the first quarter, up an amazing 55% from a year ago. Bank earnings season continues on Friday with Bank of America.
–Speaking of which, Bank of America has hired a new CFO. The headline is that Noski comes from outside the financial services industry, but the pick also extends Bank of America’s Washington-friendly attitude. Noski used to be the CFO of Northrop Grumman, a company that does a lot of work with Washington.
—Fight breaks out at the NY Times. It’s Sorkin vs. Krugman. The Too Big to Fail author finds that things like facts are too small for him.
–Janet Morrissey has a story up on time.com this morning about first quarter earnings. And she has a good catch. What appears to be bad news for stocks is actually good, at least for now. Take out financial and earnings growth is up.
–Time to modify loan modification effort again. Congressional Oversight Panel is out with a new report today on loan modifications. Key Takeaway: Treasury Department is still not doing enough to fight foreclosure crisis.