Probably a stupid question... For a trading firm (not individual), what exactly is considered revenue? On WSJ, I saw the Bank of America's "Trading Revenue" increased from $3.3B to $4.0B for the first quarter. I'm trying to decide if this means they got better at trading... or if they just did more trading. If a firm buys $100 worth of stock, and later sells it for $115.... Is this $115 or revenue or $15 of revenue? Profit would obviously be $115 - $100 - $Costs.
15. Costs will be salaries, infrastructure, and corporate charges. Revenue will include commissions, bid/offer (market making), some Portion of banking fees (ipos and other issuance) and speculation.