Bank CEOs Say $134 Billion Trading Record Is Just the Start (1)

Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer Ted Pickstarted summing up his outlook after Wall Street’s banner year for trading with four words: “The setup is ideal.”

After Wall Street’s five giant banks reported a record $134 billion of trading revenue from last year and an upswing in dealmaking, Pick and peers agreed it’s poised to continue — albeit with caveats.

“As a student of these businesses for decades, I would bet you that 2021 is not the ceiling,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO David Solomon said, referring to the last record year for lenders’ trading businesses. “The world is ...