U.S. banks will lose about 35% of profits in the first quarter

According to analyst Christopher McGratti of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, this quarter will be challenging for the largest banks. He said the biggest obstacle is an expected 36% decline in revenue in investment banking and an 18% decline in trading.

Investors are increasingly concerned about whether banks, especially JPMorgan, are allowing costs to rise too much. JPMorgan's non-interest expenses jumped 11% in the last quarter, in part because of higher payrolls.