While it's not likely all the big U.S. banks will match JPMorgan's (JPM) - Get Report strong second quarter earnings, it would appear the banking industry is back, opening the door for some great investing opportunities.

The company announced its results Thursday morning. It was the first of the major U.S. banks to report earnings and its results are being considered as a sign of how the rest of the industry will be doing in its latest quarters. 

JPMorgan is a buy.

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The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.55 for the quarter, easily beating expectations of $1.43 and above the $1.54 it reported for the same quarter last year. Net revenue increased from the $24.53 billion posted last year to $25.21 billion.

Revenue climbed by 13% in the banks trading division, largely helped by a 35% increase in the fixed income trading unit. The consumer bank division grew by 4% as deposits and loans grew.

The bank stated that credit cards were used more and customers carried higher credit card balances during the quarter. This is usually a sign that the consumer feels more confident about the economy. But from an investing perspective, this is the sort of development that cheers investors in Visa, MasterCard and Discover Financial Services. The more a credit card is used, the more transaction fees that credit card companies collect.

Consumer loans excluding cards grew by 14%, which again is a good sign for the economy and another indication that other financial institutions will likely post healthy quarterly results. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup should post similar loan growth results this quarter.

JPMorgan did have a few negatives in its earnings report, with the biggest being its increase of loan loss provisions. The bank set aside $1.4 billion during the quarter due to increased losses on credit cards and right-offs in the banks energy loan department. Last year during the same quarter, JPMorgan had only set aside $935 million for these losses.

Nonetheless, JPMorgan's overall performance is impressive, especially considering current economic conditions. Low interest rates and tougher government regulations haven't hurt the bank's earnings or growth by much. If and when interest rates increase, JPMorgan and the other banks will be in prime positions to fully benefit and EPS should experience massive growth quickly. The time to buy JPMorgan is now, before interest rates rise and boost the stock even more.

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This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held positions in JPMorgan Chase, Visa, and Bank of America.