‘Stormy Seas’: Jamie Dimon Sums Up Banks’ Gloomy Global Outlook

A struggle by investors to predict President Donald Trump’s mercurial policies set trading records at Wall Street banks in the first quarter. But as industry leaders looked ahead, they had no great answers and scant optimism for what’s to come.

Variations of “uncertainty,” “unknowns” and “turbulence” arose again and again as three of the biggest US banks kicked off the industry’s earnings reports on Friday. It’s not just the economy that’s murky and unpredictable, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon said on a conference call. There are more significant questions about whether Western economic and military alliances remain intact.