At last, Wall Street has something to cheer

华尔街终于有值得欢呼的事情了

at last：终于；最后；

Consumer banks, on the other hand, are starting to suffer

原文：

Capital markets are twitchy. When interest rates spiked in 2022, their

response was fast. Stocks plunged; bosses deferred plans to go public, issue

stock and buy rivals. Sharp-suited bankers suddenly found their calls going

unanswered. By contrast, the economy adapts slowly. As inflation climbed,

people did not cut back much on spending, instead using their credit cards

more. With the labour market healthy, they did not struggle to repay debt as

rates rose. The result was a bonanza for consumer banks. They raked in ever

more interest from resilient borrowers as defaults and delinquencies stayed

low.

资本市场动荡不安。当利率在2022年飙升时，他们的反应很快。股票暴跌；老板们推迟了上市、发行股票和收购竞争对手的计划。西装笔挺的银行家突然发现他们的电话无人接听。相比之下，经济适应缓慢。随着通胀攀升，人们并没有削减太多支出，而是更多地使用信用卡。由于劳动力市场健康，随着利率上升，他们不再为偿还债务而挣扎。其结果是消费银行大赚了一笔。随着违约率和拖欠率保持在低位，他们从有弹性的借款人那里获得了越来越多的利息。

学习：

twitchy：美 [ˈtwɪtʃi] 烦躁不安的；焦急的；紧张的；

plunge：骤然下跌；急剧跌落；猛降；

sharp-suited：西装笔挺的

calls going unanswered：电话无人接听

bonanza：美 [bəˈnænzə] 发财（或成功）的机遇；繁荣；生意兴隆

defaults：违约；拖欠

delinquencies： 美 [dɪˈlɪŋkwənsi:z] 行为不良；违法犯罪；失职 （delinquency的复数）

rake： 大量赚取， rake in

这里的“rake” 是指“迅速收集”或“大量赚取”的意思。在这个上下文中，它表示消费银行通过借款人的贷款利息赚取了大量的利润。

例如，当银行提供贷款时，它们会收取利息。如果利率上升，而借款人继续按时还款，银行就能从这些借款人那里赚取更多的利息收入。这种情况下，银行通过收取高利率迅速赚取更多的利润，就可以说它们“rake in ever more interest”。

例句：随着电商平台的普及，一些在线零售商迅速赚取了大量利润。他们通过销售各种商品，从客户那里迅速“raked in”收入。

原文：

This mixture—no IPOs, but plenty of APR—has been the status quo for two

years. Now, however, it appears to be over. When second-quarter earnings

were reported by America’s largest lenders between July 12th and 16th, it

became clear that, at long last, investment bankers are bustling with business

once more, just as consumers are starting to struggle.

这种混合——没有IPO，但有大量的APR——已经维持了两年。然而现在，它似乎结束了。当美国最大的银行在7月12日到16日公布第二季度的收益时，很明显，投资银行家们终于又开始忙着做生意了，就像消费者开始挣扎一样。

学习：

APR：年利率

在这个上下文中，APR 代表 Annual Percentage Rate（年利率），通常用于描述消费者贷款或信用卡的利率。

例句：

1. Consumer example: The APR on her new credit card was 18%, which seemed high compared to other offers.

• 她的新信用卡年利率是 18%，这与其他优惠相比似乎很高。

2. Loan example: He was pleased to find a mortgage with a low APR of 3.5%, making it more affordable over the long term.

• 他很高兴找到一笔年利率为 3.5% 的低利率抵押贷款，使其在长期内更加负担得起。

status quo：现状；原状；现有状态；

at long last：终于；最后

bustling：美 [ˈbʌslɪŋ] 喧闹；忙乱；（bustle的现在分词形式）

原文：

Start with the good news from capital markets. Interest rates, as measured by

yields on ten-year Treasuries, appear to have peaked. They have dropped 0.5

percentage points since the end of April. As inflation abates, investors

increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year—then

to keep cutting. And while the economy might have slowed a little, it has by

no means crashed. America added a robust 160,000 jobs a month in the

second quarter of the year. Stocks keep climbing to new highs.

从资本市场的好消息开始。以十年期国债收益率衡量的利率似乎已经见顶。自4月底以来，它们已经下降了0.5个百分点。随着通胀放缓，投资者越来越预期美联储今年会降息，然后继续降息。尽管经济增长可能有所放缓，但绝不是崩溃。今年第二季度，美国每月新增16万个工作岗位。股市不断攀升至新高。

学习：

abates： 英 [ə’beɪts] 减少；减轻；（abate的第三人称单数）

by no means：绝不；决不；丝毫不

原文：

All this is spurring company bosses to make moves. At JPMorgan Chase and

Morgan Stanley investment-banking income was up by around 50% year on

year, as companies began issuing more debt and equity. Firms including

Reddit, a social-media site, have gone public. Others, like Skims, a clothing

firm, and Stubhub, a ticket vendor, may soon follow. With bond markets

swinging around and stocks booming, trading desks also did well.

所有这些都促使公司老板们采取行动。随着公司开始发行更多的债券和股票，摩根大通和摩根士丹利的投资银行收入同比增长了约50%。包括社交媒体网站Reddit在内的公司已经上市。其他公司，如服装公司Skims和售票公司Stubhub，可能很快也会效仿。随着债券市场的波动和股票的繁荣，交易部门也做得很好。

学习：

make moves：采取行动

debt and equity：债券和股票

vendor：销售者；供应商；

swinging：活泼的；充满活力的；摇摆的；

swinging around：剧烈波动

这里的“swinging around” 是指“剧烈波动”或“迅速变化”。在这个上下文中，它表示债券市场的价格和收益率在不断变化和波动。

例句：During times of economic uncertainty, stock prices often swing around, requiring investors to keep a close eye on market trends.
（在经济不确定的时期，股票价格经常会剧烈波动，投资者必须密切关注市场趋势。）

原文：

On to the less happy news. Consumer banks’ bottom lines are being pinched

for three reasons. First, deposit bases continue to shrink. Consumers are well

aware that interest rates are no longer zero and are enthusiastically moving

deposits into high-yield saving accounts. The amount that banks are paying

for funding has steadily climbed, and continued to do so in the second

quarter. Wells Fargo pointed to deposit flight as the main reason its net

interest income—the difference between what it collects on loans and pays

out on deposits—fell by 9% year over year.

关于不太好的消息。消费银行的利润受到挤压有三个原因。首先，存款基数继续缩小。消费者很清楚利率不再是零，他们正热情地将存款转移到高收益储蓄账户。银行支付的融资金额稳步攀升，并在第二季度继续攀升。富国银行指出存款外逃是其净利息收入同比下降9%的主要原因。

学习：

pinch：挤压；紧缩（开支）

这里的 “pinched” 是指受到挤压或压力。在这个上下文中，它表示消费者银行的利润受到压力。

例句：The rising costs of raw materials have pinched the profit margins of many manufacturing companies.
（原材料成本的上升挤压了许多制造公司的利润率。）

原文：

Second, as interest rates seem to have peaked, the amount bankers can

collect on loan books is gradually starting to fall. This is also compressing

net interest income.

其次，随着利率似乎已经见顶，银行家可以从贷款账户上收取的金额开始逐渐下降。这也在压缩净利息收入。

原文：

Third, credit quality is slipping. Banks have begun to write down the value

of their loan books, especially in credit-card businesses, as consumers start

to struggle with their debt burdens. At JPMorgan such net charge-offs

jumped by 57% year-over-year. At Citigroup credit-card loans that are 90

days delinquent now make up 1.5% of total credit-card loans, up from just

1.1% in the same period last year.

第三，信贷质量正在下滑。随着消费者开始努力应对债务负担，银行已经开始减记贷款账面价值，尤其是信用卡业务。在摩根大通，此类净核销额同比增长了57%。在花旗集团，拖欠90天的信用卡贷款现在占信用卡贷款总额的1.5%，高于去年同期的1.1%。

学习：

write down：降低…的估价；贬值

delinquent：美 [dɪˈlɪŋkwənt] 拖欠的；逾期未付的；不良的；

charge-offs：核销

“Charge-offs” 是指银行或其他金融机构在认为贷款无法收回时，将贷款的未偿还金额从其资产中核销。这意味着这些款项被认为是坏账，不再期待能够收回。

例句：The bank had to increase its charge-offs due to a significant rise in delinquent loans.
（由于逾期贷款显著增加，银行不得不增加坏账核销。）

原文：

These credit losses are still low in absolute terms and consumer banks

remain very profitable. JPMorgan generated roughly the same amount of

profit from its consumer bank in the second quarter of this year as it did in

the second quarter of 2019, despite having to deduct write-offs and

provisions for loan losses that were almost double their level five years ago.

But the shift does indicate that ordinary folk are feeling a little more

economic pressure than they have done in recent years.

这些信贷损失的绝对值仍然很低，消费银行仍然非常盈利。摩根大通今年第二季度从其消费者银行产生的利润与2019年第二季度大致相同，尽管不得不扣除几乎是五年前两倍的冲销和贷款损失准备金。但这种转变确实表明，普通民众比近年来感受到了更多的经济压力。

学习：

deduct：扣除；（从总量中）减去

write-offs: 坏账核销

provisions for loan losses：贷款损失准备金

“Write-offs” 和 “provisions for loan losses” 是银行处理坏账和潜在贷款损失的两种会计方法：

1. Write-offs（坏账核销）：当银行确认某笔贷款无法收回时，将该笔贷款金额从资产中核销。这表示贷款被视为完全损失，银行不再期待能收回这笔钱。

例句：The bank decided to write off the uncollectible loan after several attempts to recover it failed.
（多次尝试收回失败后，银行决定核销这笔无法收回的贷款。）

2. Provisions for loan losses（贷款损失准备金）：这是银行根据预期的贷款损失金额，在财务报表中预留的一笔资金。银行每个季度或年度都会根据实际情况调整这笔准备金，以应对未来可能的贷款损失。

例句：The bank increased its provisions for loan losses to account for the higher risk of defaults in the current economic climate.
（为了应对当前经济环境中违约风险增加，银行增加了贷款损失准备金。）

原文：

Whereas Wall Street felt the pain of higher interest rates immediately, Main

Street has felt it a little more slowly. There is a bright side, though. If the

economic picture remains rosy—with decent jobs growth, falling inflation

and declining interest rates—then Main Street should feel the balm of lower

rates soon enough. ■

尽管华尔街立即感受到了高利率的痛苦，但普通民众的感受要稍慢一些。不过，也有好的一面。如果经济形势保持乐观——体面的就业增长、通胀下降和利率下降——那么民众应该很快就会感受到低利率的安慰。■

学习：

balm：镇痛膏；镇痛软膏；抚慰剂；安慰物

后记

2024年7月26日13点31分于上海。