How things have changed. Bank revenue from capital market operations, mortgage banking and an improving net interest margin will drive decent second-quarter bank earnings, according to analysts at FBR Capital Markets, as reported by Reuters. 

However those gains could fade quickly. The issue is the extent to which large write-downs of credit card debts and commercial real estate loans will overshadow the good news. Most agree that banks are under-reserved at this point. The hope of course is that these write-downs are matched by big buildups in reserves. There are a lot of accounting wild cards, as we've noted before. For big banks that issued securities linked to their debt, it's unclear what the second-quarter effect will be of debt price movements. For the moment, all eyes are on Goldman Sachs, which reports Tuesday. 

For more:
- here's the article
- here's a Barron's article

Related Articles:
Second quarter earnings coming
What to watch for in upcoming earnings
Big bank earnings a lot of smoke and mirrors?
Skepticism about bank earnings