Back at the peak of the crisis, a FASB addition passed in 2007 known as Statement 159--formally known as the "Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities"--allowed banks to book profits when the value of their bonds fell below par. The rule extended the daily marking of banks' trading assets to their liabilities, under the notion that if the debt were bought back at a discount it would yield a profit.

The rule has been roundly criticized as a cheesy way of making income statements look better than they are. But large banks generally used the rule to their advantage during the depth of the crisis.

Bloomberg now reports that banks may benefit again, at a time when earnings are sorely needed. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), for example, may record a $1 billion second-quarter gain from this rule, according to one analyst. That would account for about 60 percent of the analyst's forecast for the firm's pretax income. At Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), application of the rule may account for $375 million in profits in the second quarter, while JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) might be able to gain $300 million due to the rule. Of course, debt prices may well reverse in quarters ahead. It's a bit of a  two-edged sword.

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