Investment Banks in the Spotlight

By Matt Koppenheffer – Oct 25, 2012 at 10:19PM

NYSE: CS

Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse reports.

In today's financial news, Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) reported a 63% year-over-year drop in quarterly profit, but accounting adjustments aside, the bank's pre-tax profit actually came in at $1.3 billion. Compared to last year's small loss in pre-tax profits, and with numbers up 15% over the first nine months of this year, it appears that the bank's focus on cost-saving initiatives is paying off.

With trading results and advisory services both up in 2012, the investment banking division, as a whole, seems to have emerged as the big winner. Fool.com analyst Matt Koppenheffer delivers the full story in the video below, including earnings-report coverage of boutique investment banks Lazard (NYSE: LAZ) and Evercore (NYSE: EVR). Matt takes a look at how their bottom lines fared, and then notes an interesting trend for investors in search of yield.

Fool contributor Matt Koppenheffer has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.