“In post-bubble America, however, there remains a misguided hope that clarity on the outlook for banks is just around the corner. JPMorgan Chase’s fourth-quarter results on Friday proved yet again that trying to estimate so-called normalised earnings for US lenders is a waste of time.”

“The reality is that banks need leverage. There is not much point owning them until they can sneakily work out a way of getting some back.”

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