A jazz duo played inside a Manhattan apartment this week while Wall Street veteran Erika Karp mingled with other finance types. The big banks are finishing what’s on track to be the most profitable year ever, but the mood at the holiday party was restrained. Sometimes it dipped into sarcasm and disgust.
No matter what happens as December drags to a close, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the other four U.S. heavyweights made so much money in the first three quarters that they’ve already topped last year’s total haul. Boosted by Donald Trump’s tax cuts, they’re heading toward their first $100 billion year ever, smashing the $93 billion record from 2016. But jubilation is hard to find.
