Goldman’s Stock Traders Smash Records as BlackRock Assets Hit $14 Trillion

Wall Street banks handed back a record amount of capital to shareholders as surging profit and relaxing capital rules gave executives the confidence to ramp up stock buybacks.  Morgan Stanley’s debt bankers increased revenue 93% in the fourth quarter, by far the biggest jump on Wall Street and capping a record year for that business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. blew through expectations for equities-trading revenue, posting an all-time Wall Street record of $4.31 billion in the final three months of last year. BlackRock Inc. pulled in $342 billion of total client cash in the fourth quarter, pushing the firm to a record $14 trillion of assets as it integrates a string of recent acquisitions to become a force in private markets. Bloomberg's Neil Sipes joins to break down bank earnings on Bloomberg Intelligence. (Source: Bloomberg)