Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase posted record revenue because companies need someone to handle their AI money and you are not qualified.
Trading desks printed cash. Investment banking printed cash. Both banks rode the AI boom by doing what they always do: standing between two parties who want to exchange large amounts of money and taking a slice. Revolutionary stuff. The future is here and it looks exactly like 1985 except the computers are better at lying.
Wall Street benefits from every boom. Tech boom. Housing boom. Crypto boom. AI boom. They sell shares when companies go public. They facilitate trades when everyone panic-buys. They collect fees when the mergers happen. The business model is being the house and the house always wins unless you are Lehman Brothers.
Retail traders spent the last two years learning about large language models and training parameters and GPU clusters. They built watchlists. They read research reports. They bought calls on semiconductor stocks at the top. Goldman and JPMorgan did not care about any of that. They just moved the money and charged for moving it.
Record revenue means somebody paid record fees. Companies paid to go public. Hedge funds paid to execute trades. Institutions paid for access. The AI boom generated billions in transaction volume and the banks stood at the toll booth with their hands out.
You thought understanding the technology mattered. You thought being early mattered. You thought your technical analysis would help you capture some fraction of the move. Goldman Sachs thought about none of those things and made more money in one quarter than you will see in your entire life by answering the phone when rich people called.
The winners of the AI boom are the same winners of every boom: the people who move money for a living, not the people who guess where it goes next.
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