Could we be seeing the lasting upturn in Wall Street trading revenues the optimists have been predicting for so long? Bank bosses are careful not to say so, at least in public. But some traders are daring to hope this might be it.

You can see why the bosses would be cautious. There have been many false dawns since trading revenues tumbled following the post-crash spike. And the bumper profits made in the second quarter of 2020 were clearly driven by the unrepeatable impact of the market bailout by central banks. Yet trading had picked up significantly before the pandemic struck and it has fallen much less from the peak than many forecast.