Big US Banks Beat Expectations

Two more major U.S. banks say they are making money and lots of it.

Banking giant Goldman Sachs Thursday reported $3.2 billion in earnings for the three-month period that ended in September - better than many analysts had anticipated. And fellow banking giant Citigroup said it saw $101 million in profits for its third quarter.

Investors may view the earnings reports as yet another indication that the U.S. economy is starting to recover. And in a statement issued with the earnings report, Goldman Sachs' chief executive said there is "evidence of stabilization, and even growth."

On Wednesday, positive results from another major U.S. bank, JPMorgan Chase, encouraged investors and helped push the leading U.S. stock market index - the Dow Jones Industrial Average - past the 10,000 mark for the first time in about a year.

Still, there are signs that the banking industry could still face future difficulties.

Both Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase say they are still losing money on bad loans.

Citigroup said Thursday its credit division lost $8 billion in the third quarter, while JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday that its credit card division lost $700 million for the period.

The chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) warned Wednesday many banks are still at risk.

Bad loans and other problems already have led to almost 100 bank failures so far this year, and officials say hundreds of the country's 8,200 banks are in financial trouble.


Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.