Every month, Wall St. hopes that bank write-downs will slow or stop and every month matters seem to get worse.

It looks like July will turn out to be no exception as a deteriorating housing market and faltering credit environment continue to damage bank balance sheets.

According to the FT, In a regulatory filing, JPMorgan said since the beginning of July, trading conditions in the mortgage market “had substantially deteriorated . . . causing the company to incur losses” of $1.5bn, excluding hedges. Mortgage-backed securities continue to take victims.

Since JP Morgan is viewed as having one of the stronger balance sheets on Wall St., the news is a sign that July may have been a critical turning point for weaker financial firms.

Third quarter bank earning could be much worse than they were in Q2.

Douglas A. McIntyre