Could Donald Trump be the best thing to happen to Wall Street since Ben Bernanke first uttered the phrase “quantitative easing”? To look at bank share prices, it would seem so. Goldman Sachs’ stock is up 25 per cent since Mr Trump’s victory, despite the billionaire businessman’s well-publicised attacks on the investment banking industry on the campaign trail. Citigroup and JP Morgan have made double-digit gains, too.
For Barclays, the British bank with the biggest stake in Wall Street, the post-election period has seen the Bald Eagle’s shares rise by 24 per cent. Indeed, the bank is worth more than a third of its value when the summer holidays ended in September.
This astonishing turnaround in Barclays’ fortunes has merited some introspection among analysts.