What I Learned on the Mega-Banks' Earnings Calls

Last Friday, the first wave of bank earnings reports hit Wall Street, when JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., and scandal-stricken Wells Fargo & Co. released their first-quarter financials. Now, ask any one random person in a "Man in the Street"-style interview what they'd expect of the "Too Big to Fail" banks' performance, and I'd bet you would get a shrug and hear something like, "I dunno - they probably made a ton of money, right?" And that random person would be right... by about half. The big banks do make a ton of money, to be sure, but that's not the most important reason to sit up and pay attention. That's right: Even if you don't own a single share, big bank earnings calls are a can't-miss event. Listening to the big bank conference calls is like listening in on closed-door conversations with the U.S. financial industry's most powerful players. These bankers not only control most of the economy's loans and deposits, but they also get a very clear picture each quarter of how individuals and businesses are faring and where they appear to be heading. The calls are a road map, essentially, or a cheat sheet that can give you some dynamite investing ideas, not to mention precious intelligence on the state of the American economy. That's why I never miss one - and you don't have to, either, because I'll let you in on what I heard... Tags: earnings To get full access to all Money Morning content, click here About Money Morning: Money Morning gives you access to a team of ten market experts with more than 250 years of combined investing experience – for free . Our experts – who have appeared on FOXBusiness, CNBC, NPR, and BloombergTV – deliver daily investing tips and stock picks, provide analysis with actions to take, and answer your biggest market questions. Our goal is to help our millions of e-newsletter subscribers and Moneymorning.com visitors become smarter, more confident investors. Disclaimer: © 2018 Money Morning and Money Map Press. All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright of the United States and international treaties. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including the world wide web), of content from this webpage, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of Money Morning. 16 W. Madison St. Baltimore, MD, 21201. The post What I Learned on the Mega-Banks' Earnings Calls appeared first on Money Morning - We Make Investing Profitable .