Oct. 16--NEW YORK -- The big banks are showing they can still make money, even as Main Street struggles -- though not from lending, refinancing homes or other bread-and-butter business.

Instead, they're doing what Wall Street does best -- betting big on stocks, bonds, commodities and other assets.

Citigroup, the shakiest of the major banks during the financial crisis, reported Thursday it eked out a quarterly profit from trading, despite suffering more losses on consumer loans. Trading also drove big profits at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

Helped by trading gains, Citi reported a $101 million profit in the third quarter. But including the $288 million the bank paid out in preferred stock dividends, plus the deal that gave the government a 34 percent stake in the bank, it lost $3.24 billion.

That some banks are making money now is a sign of remarkable recovery from the crisis a year ago. But the lopsided business model raises questions about what happens if trading profits fall off and banks are left to rely on more traditional operations.

After all, the economy is still struggling to recover, unemployment is approaching 10 percent and Americans are saving money and trying to pay down debt, not taking on more.

Goldman Sachs Group said Thursday that third-quarter earnings swelled to $3.03 billion, more than triple what it made a year ago.

As in past quarters, Goldman leaned heavily on its trading operation -- buying and selling stocks, bonds, foreign

currencies and commodities like oil and gold -- to make money.

Goldman's strong showing came a day after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported its own big profits -- $3.59 billion for the quarter. That was even more impressive because, unlike Goldman, JPMorgan has suffered heavy losses on consumer loans like credit cards and mortgages.

Southwest Airlines

The company lost $16 million during the third quarter, although the airline said a surge in traffic kept things from being worse.

Southwest pinned the loss on fuel hedges and an early retirement program. Not counting those, it would have made a $23 million profit, a "remarkable accomplishment" for Southwest workers considering where the quarter started, said Gary C. Kelly, Southwest's chairman, president, and CEO.

"Sixty days ago, even a modest profit seemed unattainable," he said.

IBM

IBM Corp. has jacked up its profit guidance for the second time this year, a sign of the company's confidence that it can uncork more profit from its business despite falling sales.