As the first of the major banks to report its earnings each quarter, JPMorgan Chase is a barometer of conditions in the financial industry. The mercury is falling.  JPMorgan reported on Thursday that its third-quarter revenue had dropped by 11 percent from the second quarter; its profit fell by 4 percent from a year earlier. And since JPMorgan is arguably one of the nation’s healthier banks, results for firms like Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are likely to be considerably worse.  These declines are worrisome in the sense that they reflect the weakness of the broader economy. Joblessness, damaged credit and falling home values have left people unable to borrow or to repay debt and businesses reluctant to hire and invest. But the results also reflect how the banks built profits abusing their customers.  Long overdue federal restrictions on hidden overdraft charges and excessive debit card fees have begun to take a bite out of bank profits, and that should be happening. But the banks and their investors tend to see any rules and regulations that slow revenue growth as undue and overly burdensome, and they are pushing back. The question is whether lawmakers and regulators will stand up for the new fee restrictions and other rules as banks resist.  Banks, habituated to gouging their customers, are already trying to recoup lost revenue with dubious new charges, like Bank of America’s $5 monthly fee for using a debit card. The move has infuriated customers and led President Obama to rightly warn against mistreatment of customers in the pursuit of profit. But Bank of America has yet to relent — a stubbornness that may be from of a belief that aggrieved customers won’t do better elsewhere. On Thursday, five Democratic congressmen led by Peter Welch of Vermont asked the Justice Department to investigate whether the big banks were engaging in “price signaling,” a form of collusion in the setting of prices.  The big banks are also resisting proposed regulations on capital levels, derivatives and investing practices. If successfully implemented, the new rules will help to curb the kind of reckless trading and irresponsible lending that caused the crash and recession. That will slow revenue growth, but it is the price of a more stable system.  The banks also have gotten themselves into a legal mess for which they have no one to blame but themselves. JPMorgan had to set aside another $1 billion last quarter to prepare for legal claims from investors who want to recoup their loss from mortgage bonds backed by bad loans.  The banks face legal challenges from federal and state governments over foreclosure abuses and other mortgage-related issues. In all, analysts say mortgage problems could cost JPMorgan up to $9 billion. Bank of America, the most exposed of the big banks to mortgage-related litigation, is potentially on the hook for far more.  Investors, meanwhile, are pricing banks’ stocks below the banks’ book value — a sign that they don’t believe the banks are worth what the banks say they are. The questions generally involve whether banks are properly valuing their loans and investments and the extent of their exposure to shaky European debt. Banks could fix this with increased and detailed disclosure. Government officials and regulators could compel that disclosure. The general failure on this front feeds the air of skepticism.  One of the lessons from the financial crash is that there is no substitute for transparency. In the new earnings season, investors are still in the dark.
JPMorgan Chaseâs weak earnings report suggests results from its peers could be worse. That gloomy outlook reflects the economy and the failures of the banks themselves.