Big banks ready themselves for Fed rate hikes — which could be good and bad

Big banks ready themselves for Fed rate hikes — which could be good and bad

The Federal Reserve hasn’t done anything with interest rates yet, but bank earnings released Friday show that the mere anticipation of a pullback in easy money policies is weighing on the industry.

On Friday, three of the nation’s four largest banks reported earnings covering the final quarter of 2021: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC).

At Wells Fargo, bread-and-butter loans and strong expense management made the San Francisco-based bank the only stock winner among the largest banks in Friday’s trading session. At the other two large banks that reported, deflated fixed income, currencies, and commodities (FICC) trading led to a sour reaction from the street.