JP Morgan Looking Smart

While it's true that in the midst of the Monday Massacre where the Dow fell 777 points J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM - Analyst Report) was not spared -- the stock fell to $41 per share -- this was off near 52-week highs, once the U.S. mega-bank picked up what was left of failed retail bank Washington Mutual (WM - Snapshot Report) last Friday.

But JPM shares are surging strongly on today's rebound -- up $4 per share, nearly 10% -- as the Dow bounds up nearly 2.5% in Tuesday's mid-morning trading.  Perhaps waiting out the fall of WaMu was the strategic masterstroke of JPM's board, especially after the company did the same thing when Bear Stearns fell earlier this year.

Analyst estimate revisions seem to have turned around in the course of the last 30 days, as well.  Even though 6 analyst have recently revised September-quarter (Q3) estimates down, 3 have upped expectations for the bank's Q4.  In just the last week, the fiscal year 2009 estimates (ending December 2009) have been ratcheted up by 2 separate analysts.