JP Morgan's 1Q Earnings Rise

J.P. Morgan Chase, the corporate parent of Chase Home Finance, has reported earnings of $1.4 billion ($0.69 per share) for the first quarter, up from $982 million ($0.48 per share) a year earlier.Supplemental earnings information provided by the company indicate that substantial revenue from the trading of fixed-income products, among them mortgage-backed securities, was a strong contributor to earnings. The company said a 39% increase in earnings from its Chase Financial Services unit, driven notably by record revenues and earnings from Chase Home Finance, was also among the highlights of the first-quarter results. The company's earnings supplement indicates that balance sheet originations in Chase's Home Finance unit totaled about $67.1 billion for the quarter, up from approximately $54.5 billion a year earlier. J.P. Morgan Chase can be found online at http://www.jpmorganchase.com.