JPMorgan likely to see $5b gain

JPMorgan Chase & Co managed to generate $5 billion in profit during the worst year in Wall Street history by trading over-the-counter fixed-income derivatives, sources said.

The largest US bank by market value, which reported $5.6 billion of total profit in 2008, hasn't disclosed earnings for its interest-rate swap, municipal bond and foreign exchange derivatives group. The unit was among the most profitable at the New York-based company, said the sources, who declined to be identified. JPMorgan spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau declined to comment.

The JPMorgan trading desk, led by the 38-year-old Matt Zames, who previously worked at hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management LP, may have benefited as the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and JPMorgan's takeover of Bear Stearns Cos left companies and hedge funds with fewer trading partners in the private derivatives markets. JPMorgan emerged "unscathed by the disasters" on Wall Street and positioned to capture more revenue as trading volumes grew, said Craig Pirrong, a finance professor at the University of Houston.