The Pittsburgh company got the tax-related boost from an increase in the valuation of its deferred tax liabilities. It was partly offset by several charges.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo are the first to report; payments company will run pilot to see if digital currency speeds transactions and lowers costs.

The bank's effective tax rate will drop this year to 19% from 32%. That means that if JPMorgan generates the same pretax profit this year as it did in 2017, earnings will rise by more than $3.5 billion.

The company expects to report a $15 million gain in the fourth quarter from the stock sales, which will more than offset any deferred-tax impairment tied to recently passed tax reform.

Outstandings top 2008 high mark, prompting some concerns; big banks are expected to take $31 billion in writeoffs from fourth quarter earnings due to tax reform.

Lower taxes mean more earnings, higher capital levels and perhaps a psychological boost for buyers.

Banks have been in full cost-cutting mode in recent years, but with profits expected to increase substantially as a result of tax reform, all analysts and investors want to know is how they plan to spend their tax savings.

Billionaire’s bid to buy MoneyGram is his latest setback trying to crack the U.S. market; banks want to stick with FICO while nonbanks want to use VantageScore.

The energy crisis, hurricane damage and merger costs have hampered earnings per share at the Louisiana bank. Its CEO has to clear those hurdles and convince investors steady growth is ahead.

The McLean, Va., company and several other banks have disclosed the charges they expect to record in the fourth quarter due to lower values on their deferred tax assets.