JPMorgan beat analysts’ expectations this morning by reporting trading revenue that was a full eight cents above analyst expectations. They’re still down overall, but In This Economy™ it’s the little things that matter. “I feel great about our position,” CEO Jamie Dimon said in this morning’s conference call, where he was asked if this meant the bank would, like Goldman Sachs, immediately start agitating to pay back the TARP. Dimon was coolly dismissive of such questions. Sure, they would like to pay back the TARP “ASAP,” he said, and they don’t need to raise any capital to do it, either. “We could pay it back tomorrow — we have the money,” he said. Unlike a certain bank, whose enthusiasm for paying back the government has a way of making them look like they’re thinking, Let’s get the government off our backs so we can get back to our primary mission, which is building robots that we will use to control the world!. “I don’t see why a company with that kind of capital needs to raise capital,” Dimon mused. Although, you know, if Goldman wants to put themselves out there like that, that’s their prerogative: “What Goldman did is what Goldman did, has nothing to do with us.” Personally, though, he thinks it looks a little desperate.
JP Morgan’s Net Declines, But Beats Expectations [WSJ]
LIVE COVERAGE: JP Morgan Conference Call [Business Insider]
