JPMOrgan

It took a while -- three years, really -- but Citigroup, by far the weakest of the big banks coming out of the recession, is starting to pull through. After this morning's second-quarter earnings report of $3.3 billion, or $1.09 per share, investors have several things to rejoice over.

JPMorgan Chase reported a second-quarter profit of $5.4 billion, or $1.27 per share this morning, up from $4.8 billion, or $1.09 per share a year ago. Digging into the earnings supplemental, we can see how -- as in previous quarters -- JPMorgan's investment bank carried the company's overall results.

Citing unnamed sources, news outlets reported Thursday evening that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner might leave the Obama administration soon. In response to the rumors, Geithner insisted, "I live for this work.... I'm going to be doing it for the foreseeable future."

With sales estimates gloomy, the Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services ETF may be a great bet. So far in 2011, it has had a return of just over 2.6% and a dividend yield of .5%

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) reported a 67 percent jump in first quarter earnings Wednesday on solid growth in investment banking fees and a drop in losses in its credit card portfolio. The New York bank earned $5.6 billion, or $1.28 per share, compared with $3.3 billion, or 74 cents a share in...

The Federal Reserve is telling some major banks that they can now boost stock dividends if they pass "stress tests" showing that they can weather another recession. During the financial crisis, regulators barred banks from boosting dividends without obtaining approval.

Recent market sell-offs may have been more about paranoia than about real risk. JPMorgan calculations indicate that the potential impact of rising oil prices on the economy may be less than most investors think. But the fear factor itself also can't be overlooked.

HSBC got plenty of attention when it disclosed that it had suspended foreclosures in its annual report Monday. But its not the only bank whose annual report made for interesting reading. The risk disclosures in banks' annual reports shed some light on their attitudes toward the mortgage mess.

Alcoa, Intel and JPMorgan Chase will kick off a new earnings season this week when they report their results for the fourth quarter of 2010. Here's what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect, followed by a glance at what's coming up on the economic calendar.

A court-appointed trustee is suing JPMorgan Chase for its alleged involvement in Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. The investment bank was Madoff's primary bank for 20 years. JPMorgan said it didn't know about -- much less assist -- Madoff's fraud.