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Wall Street's trading revenue slows down

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Hoffman, L. (2026, September 17). Wall Street's trading revenue slows down. Semafor. https://www.semafor.com/article/09/17/2026/wall-streets-trading-revenue-slows-down

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Semafor · collected 2026-09-17 · by Liz Hoffman

Quick Summary

Wall Street executives announced that trading revenues for their third quarter would decrease compared to the second quarter's surge driven by AI stock enthusiasm. Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs all reported varying levels of decline or stagnation in trading revenue, with specific mention of a weaker bond desk performance at Goldman Sachs. This slowdown could affect year-end bonuses for traders, as these profits have been crucial amid the challenges posed by higher interest rates on lending activities since late 2023.
Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Wall Street's trading revenue is slowing down according to recent warnings from major bank executives. Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan all forecasted a decline in the third quarter compared to the second, which saw high interest in AI stocks boost trading revenues. Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, stated that the company's trading revenue would be "relatively flat" from the previous year. Morgan Stanley’s co-president Dan Simkowitz noted, “3Q is no 2Q,” while JPMorgan’s Doug Petno predicted a sequential decline in revenues. This slowdown could impact hefty year-end bonuses for traders as trading revenue at the five biggest banks has nearly doubled since late 2023.

Written for “Wall Street Revenue Slumps” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Wall Street Revenue Slumps
Economy/Business · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
7
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 7 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
Semafor's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Semafor · 1440 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Liz Hoffman
23 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 For a long time, private equity firms could borrow cheaply, ride a rising market, and look like geniuses.
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🔮 About $60 billion will come in the form of new, nonvoting shares that the company created last week, a move that telegraphed its rapacious need for cash and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s desire to raise it without diluting his control stake (and pay his tax bill).
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🔮 Saudi Arabia is set to make a final decision on whether to postpone its flagship investment conference in Riyadh as soon as Monday, after Wall Street executives privately relayed safety concerns to organizers, including the boss of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, people familiar with the matter said.
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2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Blue Owl CEOs rebuff credit fears
🔮 The case for boutiques hasn’t disappeared — there will always be a place for independent advice from talented bankers — but the ground has shifted.
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Where are Wall Street’s big egos today?
🔮 The author of America First Antitrust and former Senate aide to JD Vance, Slater brought a tough enforcement mindset to the early months of Trump’s second term, but was marginalized as the administration took a pro-corporate turn and lost internal fights over mergers involving HPE and Live Nation, where the role of outside lobbyists drew criticism.
2026-09-29 · assertive framing · Trump antitrust chief Gail Slater plans a comeback
Also by Liz Hoffman
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 23 articles by Liz Hoffman →

Topics

Bank of America’s Goldman Sachs’ JPMorgan Morgan Stanley’s

Subjects

Bank of America’s ORG · 1× Brian Moynihan PERSON · 1× Dan Simkowitz PERSON · 1× David Solomon PERSON · 1× Doug Petno PERSON · 1× Goldman Sachs’ ORG · 1× JPMorgan ORG · 1× Morgan Stanley’s ORG · 1×

Narrative

“I think it’s safe to say, 3Q is no 2Q,” Morgan Stanley’s co-president Dan Simkowitz added, while JPMorgan’s Doug Petno previewed a “sequential decline” from the second quarter.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
🔮 Big bank executives this week warned that their third-quarter revenues would be down from the spring, when manic interest in AI stocks led to trading-floor windfalls.
2026-09-20 · Semafor
Wall Street's trading revenue slows down · assertive framing

Claims (7 extracted, 0 hedged)

Wall Street’s trading machine is slowing down. asserted
machine → slow → ?
Big bank executives this week warned that their third-quarter revenues would be down from the spring, when manic interest in AI stocks led to trading-floor windfalls. asserted
interest → warn → windfalls
Bank of America’s trading revenue will be “relatively flat” from a year ago, CEO Brian Moynihan said. asserted
Moynihan → say → America
“I think it’s safe to say, 3Q is no 2Q,” Morgan Stanley’s co-president Dan Simkowitz added, while JPMorgan’s Doug Petno previewed a “sequential decline” from the second quarter. asserted
Petno → think → quarter
David Solomon said Goldman Sachs’ stock-trading was holding up but that its bond desk was “a little bit softer.” asserted
desk → say → ?
Trading revenue at the five biggest banks has doubled since the end of 2023, serving as a profit engine as higher interest rates bite into lending. asserted
rates → trade → lending
A slowdown would imperil what are expected to be hefty year-end bonuses for traders. asserted
what → imperil → traders
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