UK Only Article:  standard article Issue:  The rise of state capitalism Fly Title:  American banks Rubric:  Lenders can cheer for their own survival, and not much else Location:  New york Main image:  20120121_FND001_1.jpg BY THE time JPMorgan Chase finished reporting its fourth-quarter results on January 14th, any optimism about a lovely, if surprising, sign-off to a difficult year had been squashed. Its return on equity was just over 11%, and if that is how the institution widely thought to be the best managed and best balanced of the big American banks performed, the only question was how poorly the rest would fare. If there was a positive spin on the final quarter of 2011, and the overall year, it was that things were worse three years ago. No big bank, for example, went bust or seems on the verge of doing so. Bank of America, notable for its vast potential to make both profits and losses, has seen its share price …

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American banks: Losing altitude