The Wall Street Journal

Bank Trading Desks Are Minting Money From Trump’s Tariff Chaos

Bank of America and Citigroup joined other banks reporting higher trading revenue

Goldman CEO David Solomon said the bank’s trading clients were active even amid economic uncertainty.
Goldman CEO David Solomon said the bank’s trading clients were active even amid economic uncertainty. Photo: mike segar/Reuters

Wall Street is raking in even more money from trading than it did during the market’s Covid-19 era swings.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley all said a surge in trading revenue helped lift their profits in the first quarter and beat expectations. Bank trading desks have been collecting more fees from investors scrambling to reduce or dial up the risk in their portfolios on any new clue about how President Trump’s tariffs might ultimately play out.

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