# Sunny First Quarter Does Not Change the Climate on Wall Street

1 Opinion May 29, 2015 Financial News ![Roy C. Smith](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/uat_025572.jpg?itok=Kn4Ckx0s) By Roy C. Smith and Brad Hintz > The rebound in trading revenues should not tempt banks that have decided to retreat from the area to reconsider that choice.

Wall Street is back. Encouraging as the banks’ first-quarter figures were, however, they do not mean that the need for hard strategic thinking has vanished.

The rebound in trading revenues should not tempt banks that have decided to retreat from the arena to reconsider that choice. The giants of fixed income, currency and commodities that profited so handsomely in the quarter from their constancy to trading, still face long-term performance issues in the post-crisis market-making business.

The first-quarter performance of the largest capital markets banks is cause to celebrate for those portfolio managers who have maintained a position in the universal banks. On average, the industry booked quarterly performance near its cost of equity capital, for the first time in years.

Read full article as published in [Financial News](http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2015-05-29/outlook-uncertain-for-wall-street-after-sunny-q1-2015)

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*Roy C. Smith is the Kenneth G. Langone Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and a professor of Management Practice. Brad Hintz is an adjunct professor of Finance.* ## More Opinions from Roy C. Smith

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