Crypto News: The banks’ Trump bump is already here

Some of the biggest names on Wall Street posted earnings from their most recent quarter this morning. Sonali Basak, Bloomberg Television's global finance correspondent, describes the atmosphere that's swelling profits at the megabanks. Plus: The Swiss shoe company that's winning over runners, why Korean doctors are performing more cosmetic surgery, and an argument for authentic drinks. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up.

The largesse on Wall Street is nothing short of stunning. There are records everywhere: JPMorgan Chase & Co. had its best trading revenue for the fourth quarter, as the bank's profit surged 50% to an all-time high. Equities traders at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are just spinning cash, making 2024 their best year ever. BlackRock Inc., the world's largest money manager, reported Wednesday that its annual haul of client cash is at an all-time high.

As BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, told investors: "This is just the beginning."

That's a solid amount of optimism from the banks on the eve of President-elect Donald Trump taking office, even though the US stock market has come down from its all-time highs and bond markets have whipsawed dramatically. The VIX, lovingly known as Wall Street's fear gauge, has been above its one-year average. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, in a statement accompanying the bank's earnings report Wednesday, offered his usual caveats to investors about the clouds on the horizon:

Two significant risks remain. Ongoing and future spending requirements will likely be inflationary, and therefore, inflation may persist for some time. Additionally, geopolitical conditions remain the most dangerous and complicated since World War II. As always, we hope for the best but prepare the firm for a wide range of scenarios.

Banks are showing their sunny sides through hiring. In an investor presentation, JPMorgan said it will spend money on bankers, advisers and branches to expand. Goldman Sachs said that it had increased its headcount by 3% but that overall expenses were lower, even amid higher compensation expenses. Wall Street clearly has room to invest in talent again after a few years of uncertainty. Bonuses at the biggest banks are expected to be higher this year.

Expect more employees coming through the doors at JPMorgan. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

That doesn't mean discipline has gone out the window. Wells Fargo & Co. booked more than $640 million in severance costs. CEO Charlie Scharf said in December that cutting costs is like "peeling an onion back." BlackRock told employees last week that it's still trimming 1% of its workforce. (That's a couple hundred staff members, compared with the thousands added last year through acquisitions.)

Goldman CEO David Solomon told analysts that he's "optimizing," which means "looking to more efficiently manage our vendor and consultant relationships." That's something of a warning if you're selling products to the bank; you should know it's keeping the purse strings tight, despite the second-best year of revenue in Goldman's history.

Over at Citigroup Inc., executives have warned it could be hard to keep a lid on expenses, though costs this year are expected to be slightly lower than in 2024. That isn't keeping them from spinning funds back to investors. Citigroup, beating analyst expectations for revenue at key businesses, announced a massive $20 billion stock buyback. Its shares, along with those of its rivals, soared.

The big banks' announcements are the unofficial start to earnings season, with tech companies posting their financial results the final week of January. If we've learned anything from JPMorgan and others, it's this:

Executives are feeling optimistic about the economy.
They foresee a boom in business under the Trump administration.
And investors are expecting a boatload of capital return through buybacks and dividends.

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On Sneakers Have Momentum Among Runners

Photographer: Ryan Duffin for Bloomberg Businessweek

Vinnie Petrarca is the unlikely face of the latest running boom—or running shoe boom, rather. The real estate broker spends much of his life on his feet, strolling with clients along the endless boardwalks of Fire Island, New York. For years he wore New Balance sneakers on the job. Then he watched a proliferation of new brands appear on his neighbors' feet—in particular, sleek sneakers with a squishy row of tubes that doubled as the sole. After hearing friends rave about their comfort, he finally ordered a pair in the summer of 2023, though he only had a rough idea of what he was looking for.

For one thing, he thought the company was called On Cloud. He also surmised that the brand's logo belonged to Lululemon. (The brand is On, the model is Cloud, and no, its logo is not Lululemon's.) And while he's now a devoted customer, he only learned while being interviewed for this story that On Holding AG is a company based in Switzerland. That makes sense, he reasons—the Swiss are known for their feats of engineering. "They make good watches," he says. "Why shouldn't they make good sneakers?"

Half a world away, two other recent On converts are sipping espresso at a hip Munich cafe after a Monday morning run. Erik Schereder became a fan in July after receiving free gear at a 24-hour race sponsored by the company, part of its ongoing grassroots marketing. After running in the brand's plushly cushioned Cloudmonster model, which retails for about $200, he persuaded his buddy Leon Buchholz to buy a pair. "For daily training runs, these are the best," says Buchholz, a venture capitalist who'd previously tried running shoes from New Balance and Hoka, but "these are the most comfortable, and fast." After a recent visit to an On store in Berlin, he's also impressed with the brand's slick, minimalist aesthetic. "They're the Apple of running."

Ons have a confusing name, weird soles and a funny logo, write Tim Loh and Lily Meier. But the company that makes them is dominating the running and comfy shoe boom: The Swiss Sneaker Brand Outrunning Nike and Adidas

Plastic Surgery Tourists Head to South Korea

Julie Miller undergoes a skin treatment in Seoul. Photographer: Woohae Cho/Bloomberg

On a brisk October morning, Julie Miller hops out of a cab at a 16-story building packed with cosmetic surgery practices in Seoul's posh Gangnam district. The 46-year-old has traveled from New Jersey for a five-day visit, intending to check out Seoul's royal palaces and the heavily fortified border with North Korea—and to shed a few years.

Entering the Renovo Skin Clinic, she's offered coffee and pastries by a Korean woman speaking fluent English. Renovo's manager soon guides her to a domed scanner where her face is assessed for oiliness, elasticity, wrinkles, pores, sunspots and more.

The clinic offers a broad menu of treatments: fillers and fat-dissolving injections, facial resurfacing lasers and noninvasive face-lifts. Miller settles on Botox shots and a high-intensity ultrasound therapy to tighten her skin. Final bill: about $3,000. Not cheap, but at least 40% less than it would have been back home—important as such procedures aren't typically covered by insurance. "I'm hoping to turn back the clock a little bit," she says. "That, combined with a better price than we have in the US, it's like a no-brainer."

Miller is among hundreds of thousands of foreigners—from the US, Europe and elsewhere in Asia—flocking to South Korea for cosmetic procedures, K Oanh Ha writes. The trend comes as the country faces a shortage of health-care workers: Medical Tourism Boom Lures South Korea's Overworked Doctors

You Don't Have to Hop on the Mocktail Trend

Alison Roman at her home in Brooklyn, New York. Photographer: Ryan Duffin for Bloomberg Businessweek

This past December, as I've done for six years, I hosted my annual Ham Party. I did the usual: fennel-rubbed ham (32 pounds total), trout-roe-topped jammy eggs and boiled potatoes, shrimp cocktail, anchovies and peppers on toothpicks, and at least two packets' worth of Lipton's sour cream and onion dip. The beverages, however, didn't receive my regular attention. I provided bottles of every type of hard alcohol but didn't prebatch jars of 50-50 martinis. I bought bubbles but opted for sparkling white (on sale) instead of Champagne. There were bottles of frozen vodka but no ice luge for performative shots. I'm still an enthusiastic host, but I'm also eight months pregnant. I'm not drinking like I used to.

With so many people exploring alcohol alternatives these days, I've gotten a lot of recommendations from friends and readers (and social media algorithms) for nonalcoholic approximations of … pretty much everything. Negronis. Pilsners. Wine. Amari. It's all very considerate, and I genuinely love being included, but it's not for me. I am still drinking wine on occasion, and maybe that's the point—if I feel like drinking wine, I'm choosing to drink that, not a replacement. In the past, I've advised people who seek the thrill of an anchovy but don't eat fish, or who insist on making squash soup even though they're allergic to squash, that sometimes there's no placeholder for the real thing. You're better off making, eating or drinking something else entirely. I don't feel the need to approximate the taste of alcohol if I'm not drinking; a glass of seltzer on ice is pretty much a perfect beverage, tough to improve upon. And when I'm looking for more, many liquids already exist to please without any attempt to replicate booze. For starters: Coca-Cola over pebble ice, pomegranate juice mixed with seltzer by the liter and, lately, for me, orange juice chugged from the fridge like I'm a high school athlete. I'd also be remiss not to give a huge round of applause to my all-time favorite party trick, which I've been employing for years: soda water with a healthy dose of Peychaud's bitters.

Alison Roman, a New York-based cook and author, says it's best not to fake it in recipes and cocktails: Reasons to Swap Mocktails for Just Plain Seltzer

Ban on Red Dye

26%

That's the amount of baking decorations and dessert toppings that contain Red No. 3, according to an analysis of October data performed by healthy food app GoCoCo. The dye, which has been linked to cancer, will no longer be allowed in US food or ingested drugs starting Jan. 15, 2027, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Winning Over MAGA

"Hearing the Biden administration say that the US needs to balance its budget is like Hannibal Lecter saying he's going to go vegan."

Scott Bessent

Treasury secretary nominee

Bessent has cultivated allies in Donald Trump's orbit who have come to see the macro hedge fund executive as a brainy avatar of their vision. Read the full story here.