How are Wall Street banks making so much money?

43 billion dollars. That's how much profit four of Wall Street's biggest banks collectively made in the second quarter. That's despite the fact that those three months saw the war in Iran disrupt the global economy, stubbornly high inflation, and nervous moves in AI stocks. So why are the banks doing so well? Actually, AI is a big part of the reason. There's been a boom in tech dealmaking, led by the market launch of SpaceX, which rocketed to the largest listing in Wall Street history. The banks underwriting that, including JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, made about 500 million dollars from the SpaceX debut. Other big deals this quarter include Alphabet selling 85 billion dollars in equity, and NextEra Energy buying Dominion for 67 billion. More than three trillion dollars of mergers and acquisitions have been done so far this year, and that means banks cash in both from advising on the deals and from trading the shares. The war in Iran has also given Wall Street a boost because it's caused big swings in financial markets, meaning a surge in revenue for the bank's equity trading desk. But can the banks carry on like this? Well, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned that risks are shifting beneath the surface like tectonic plates. He named check geopolitical tension, sticky inflation, high government debt, and soaring asset prices as potential causes of the next market earthquake.