The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.59%) is doing fine this morning, remaining in the green despite some not-so-great news regarding confidence levels reported mid-morning.

The Conference Board announced a drop in its October consumer confidence metric to 71.2, down from 80.2 in September. The report noted that the government shutdown and debt ceiling fracas took its toll on consumers' outlook -- and the temporary fixes put in place will likely continue to depress how consumers feel about the economy.

State Street's Investor Confidence Index wasn't any more uplifting, showing a decrease of 5.6 points from September's reading of 101.3 to October's 95.7. Once again, blame for the dour outlook of investors worldwide was laid at the doorstep of the U.S. government, and its fiscal sideshow earlier this month.

Goldman rises, JPMorgan not so much
In the banking sector, Goldman Sachs (GS 1.78%) is up by nearly 0.3% this morning, possibly due to the news of the hefty paycheck it expects from the initial public offering of Twitter. The Wall Street Journal reported today that Goldman will likely take in 38.5% of the fees associated with the social media company's IPO -- more than double the amount of any of its cohorts also involved in the deal. At share price offerings of between $17 to $20, this would translate into a cool $20 million payday for Goldman Sachs.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM 0.38%) is just turning positive one hour before noon, and this bank also stands to make a pretty penny from the Twitter IPO. Although only taking 15% of the deal, JPMorgan will do better than Bank of America, which will get only 8%.

At this point, any good news for JPMorgan Chase is welcome, though after settling up with federal regulators this weekend in regard to toxic mortgage-backed securities it sold to government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the financial crisis, investors are likely sighing in relief.

Fitch Ratings weighed in on the $4 billion settlement between JPMorgan and the Federal Housing Finance Agency earlier today, noting that the high penalty agreed to by JPMorgan Chase will likely force other banks in this situation to settle for higher amounts than they may have originally intended.

For some, this may mean increasing litigation reserves. So, as investors continue to bid up JPMorgan's share price -- it has gained more than 0.4% shortly before noon -- stockholders of banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America can now wonder what they are in store for, while JPMorgan puts the worst of its own legal mess with the FHFA behind it.