Performance reports

Profit at Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach in California improved in the third quarter, due to loan growth and increased securities income.

Concerns about bad oil loans have begun to fade, but other credit problems could be lurking. Several big banks reported a notable uptick in provisions for consumer loan losses.

Consumers voted with their feet in September, as the embattled bank said Friday that new checking accounts were down by 25% from a year earlier.

Community banks need profit and diversification opportunities, while marketplace lenders may find mergers to be the easiest route into the banking system.

Warren's voice is powerful in criticizing big banks, but she could play a more active role in providing relief to community banks to help boost job creation.

Fees and loans drove up third-quarter profits at Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City, Mo.

Wells Fargo, the lender whose chief executive officer stepped down this week amid a scandal in its branch network, said third-quarter profit fell 2.6% as expenses climbed and the bank set aside more money for soured loans.

Citigroup posted third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as bond-trading revenue surged 35% from a year earlier, helped by interest-rate and currencies trading.

Third-quarter profit at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh declined on a yearly basis as a higher tax rate and increased expenses ate into improved revenue in both lending and fee-based products.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, said profit fell 7.6% from a year ago, when results got a boost from $2.2 billion in tax benefits. Revenue climbed 8.4% as bond-trading revenue rose more than analysts estimated.