On JP Morgan's 3.6 billion dollar profit today

[AllentownJake]

It's fake. It's not real.

I'll explain briefly why.

Mark-to-market or fair value accounting refers to the accounting standards of assigning a value to a position held in a financial instrument based on the current fair market price for the instrument or similar instruments.

This is what was in effect prior to the sub prime crisis.

In March, FASB, the standard setting body for accountants eliminated mark to market accounting requirements.

Basically, there is still a whole bunch of toxic crap on the balance sheets of the banks, and thanks to a change in the accounting rules, they don't have to recognize the losses.

Accounting is an art, it isn't a science. A good accountant playing with the rules can make an unprofitable company look like a superstar and a profitable company look like a dud.