[jyl]

Here is a general explanation, any specific bank may be in a different position:

The banking business of paying low interest rates for deposits while receiving higher interest rates for loans is, and remains, profitable. Deposits are getting 2% and loans are paying 7-9%, depending on type and institution of course. So, on a going forward basis, based on loans being made today, a typical commercial bank should be profitable in that core banking business.

However, most banks are groaning under the past bad loans that they made, and bad assets that they purchased, in the last few years. Each quarter, as the loans go into default and the market value of the assets decline, those must be written off as losses. For most banks, these losses are overwhelming the profits in the go-forward core banking business.

As for the other things that banks do, the situation is mixed. The fixed-income (bond) underwriting and sales/trading business is doing okay, even pretty darn well. The equities (stocks) underwriting and sales/trading is not doing well. And so on.