Bank of America today said it had seen a $653m profit in the first quarter of this year, well down from the same period last year.
The fall came as credit bets swallowed a vast chunk of the firm's revenue.
Earnings were down nearly 70% as the company booked a $4.8 billion loss from a one-off assessment of investments designed to guard against the bank's liabilities.
Revenues fell 17%, although operating income rose.
This allowed the company's chief executive Brian Moynihan to put a brave face on the earnings and compare them favourably to the last quarter of 2011.
"By focusing on building strong customer and client relationships, we're doing more business and winning in the marketplace," he said.
"Our strategy is paying off: With the economy steadily improving and because of the work we have done to strengthen and simplify our company, we saw improved profitability in all of our businesses this quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year," he added.
