Week in Review: What Criminal Case? Inside JPMorgan\'s Rising Profit

WEEK IN VERSE The vice presidential debate was nice, but DealBook still prefers the May-December pairing of Neil Young and Pearl Jam.

He may no longer be America's least-hated banker, but Jamie Dimon still has the hearts of JPMorgan‘s investors.

While federal authorities are building criminal cases related to JPMorgan's $6 billion trading loss, the bank's chief issued a release on Friday praising the “continued momentum in all our businesses.” The nation's largest bank reported a third-quarter profit of $5.7 billion, up 34 percent from a year ago.

Investigators are scrutinizing phone calls of employees discussing the best way to value trouble bets. Although the bank has rearranged the roles of several executives, DealBook's Ben Protess and Azam Ahmed report that the inquiry does not appear to include the bank's upper ranks. “The scope of the inquiry suggests that the problems were isolated to a handfu l of executives and traders in an overseas division, and did not reflect a fundamental weakness with the bank's culture and leadership,” The New York Times reported this week.

Not many executives could survive a multibillion-dollar loss. Even fewer companies could respond with multibillion-dollar earnings. And as long as the investigation steers clear of Mr. Dimon he should be free to continue needling his old friends in Washington for fewer regulations.

A look back on our reporting of the past week's highs and lows in finance.

Sprint Attracts a Japanese Suitor | SoftBank is said to be considering an investment of $12.5 billion for about a 70 percent stake in Sprint, Micahel J. de la Merced and Brain X. Chen reported. DealBook '

Aerospace Merger Falls Apart | The merger of the European military giants EADS and BAE died after France, Germany and Britain were unable to overcome cross-border problems, Mark Scott and Nicola Clark reported. DealBook '

Allied World Assurance Buys Hedge Fund Stake | In addition to buying a stake in the firm, Allied World will invest $500 million in MatlinPatterson's funds, a pattern seen in recent acquisitions by other institutional investors, Peter Lattman reported. DealBook '

JPMorgan Quarterly Profit Rises 34% | The bank reported a third-quarter profit of $5.7 billion as it showed signs of strength in consumer and corporate lending, Jessica Silver-Greenberg reported. DealBook '

Earnings at Wells Fargo Jump 22% | The San Francisco-based bank reported $4.9 billion of profit in the third quarter on the back of a booming mortgage business, Ben Protess reported. DealBook '

Banks See Home Loans as Gateway to Big Gains | As the government expands its support of the housing market, Peter Eavis reports that analysts expect mortgage profits at banks will rise in third-quarter earnings reports and will continue into next year. DealBook '

A Bigger Paycheck on Wall St. | The average pay package for a securities industry employee in New York State was $362,950 in 2011, Susanne Craig and Mr. Protess reported. DealBook '

Deal Professor: The Private Equity Wizardry Behind Realogy's Comeback | Steven M. Davidoff says that soon after it was purchased by Leon Black's Apollo Global Management, Realogy was considered virtually insolvent. But then Apollo went to work. DealBook '

Of course, Apollo had no one to blame but itself for Realogy's precarious situation, having loaded it up with debt in the first place. Nevertheless, the story of Realogy shows how private equity firms can use financial wizardry to save a company, not pillage it. Private equity firms can also lend their excess cash and expertise.

Drawing Back a Curtain on a Mexican Tycoon | A legal battle between the billionaire hedge fund manager Paul E. Singer has focused a light on David Martinez, a Mexican financier who lives a rarefied but myster ious life in Manhattan, Azam Ahmed reported. DealBook '

The outcome of this case, experts say, could have implications for other companies in fast-growing economies. A country that appears to be undermining protections that are typically granted to creditors in a bankruptcy might scare investors away. “This is a precedent-setting case, no matter how it turns out,” said Arturo Porzecanski, economist in residence at American University's School of International Service. “It has highlighted apparent loopholes in the bankruptcy law of Mexico, through which Vitro ran an 18-wheel truck.”

• A Legal Brawl as Bond Buyers Look On | The outcome of a bankruptcy reorganization in Mexico could put a crimp in Mexican companies' ability to sell corporate debt. DealBook '

For JPMorgan, a Case Is Built on Taped Calls | Federal authorities are building criminal cases related to the $6 billion trading loss, focusing on calls in which employees openly discussed how to value the troubled bets in a favorable way, Mr. Protess and Mr. Ahmed reported. DealBook '

E-Mails Hint at Collusion Among the Largest Equity Firms | An antitrust lawsuit against 11 of the world's largest private equity firms accuses them of teaming up to drive down prices in the takeovers of publicly traded companies, Mr. Lattman and Eric Lichtblau reported. DealBook '

JPMorgan Told to Pay $18 Million to a Trust | An Oklahoma judge found that the bank had been “grossly negligent and reckless” in its administration of the trust of Carolyn S. Burford, an oil heiress who died in 1996, Ms. Craig reported. DealBook '

U.S. Accuses Wells Fargo of Lying About Mortgages | Prosecutors said the bank recklessly issued thousands of mortgages for more than a decade and then made false certifications about their condition to a federal housing program, Mr. Lattman reported. DealBook '

Ireland Plans Bold Measures to Lift Housing | The initiative, which would lower a borrower's monthly payment, could prevent a tide of foreclosures. Mr. Eavis reports that if it works, the plan could provide a road map for other troubled countries. DealBook '

DealBook Column: Welcoming Higher Taxes, But Not That High | Andrew Ross Sorkin says that a proposed 75 percent tax in France is being protested by many of the nation's wealthiest executives, including some who had called for higher taxes. DealBook '

Last week, Pierre Chappaz, a French entrepreneur, wrote online, “I do not know a single start-up founder who accept the idea that creating a company, in which it will invest all his savings and years of effort often without a salary, must then give to the State 60.5 percent of gain when he sells his company if he succeeds.” The statement went viral. An online group calling itself Les Pigeons - slang for sucker - has more than 63,000 “likes” on its Facebook page.

Inves tors' Billion-Dollar Fraud Fighter | With last month's Bank of America settlement, Mr. Lattman reports that Max Berger has been responsible for six securities class-action settlements of more than $1 billion. DealBook '