Bank of America

This quarter, the bank earned 16.4 billion dollars from lending after paying savers, up 8 percent. Its loans grew 6 percent to 1.23 trillion dollars, with every part of the business growing for the 10th quarter in a row. That strength helped it hand 8.3 billion dollars back to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

Wealth management revenue jumped 13 percent to 7.1 billion dollars, and fees for managing people's money rose 16 percent. Clients now trust the bank with 5.1 trillion dollars. On the everyday side, it added over 200,000 new checking accounts. For 92 percent of its 38.9 million checking accounts, it is the customer's main bank, so people rarely leave.

Reported profit fell to 6.9 billion dollars from 8.3 billion a year ago. The main reason was a one-time 1.2 billion dollar charge to settle with regulators. Without it, profit per share would have been 1.08 dollars, up from 1.04. But even leaving the charge out, expenses rose about 7 percent, faster than the 3 percent rise in revenue.

Fees from advising companies on mergers and stock sales fell 11 percent to 1.8 billion dollars. Trading revenue slipped 5 percent, pulled down by a 17 percent drop in bond and currency trading. Overall revenue grew just 3 percent. And because interest rates are set by central banks, not by management, this stays a slow and steady holding, not a fast grower.