3 Things to Watch in JPMorgan’s First Quarter Earnings Report

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) - Get Report  will report first quarter earnings on Wednesday, before the markets open. Analysts expect the New York-based bank to post earnings of $1.26 a share on sales of $23.4 billion. During the same quarter last year, the bank reported net income of $1.45 with revenue of $24.8 billion. Morningstar senior equity analyst Jim Sinegal said JPMorgan's results gauge the health of the broader banking sector. 'JPMorgan is the bellwether for the big banks and it touches basically all areas of financial services,' Sinegal said, adding that it hasn't had the problems that some of its peers like Citigroup (C) - Get Report  and Bank of America (BAC) - Get Report  have had. He said the biggest part of the report to watch is its investment banking division. 'The quarter, especially the first half, was terrible in terms of markets,' he said. 'It looks like deal volumes and trading volumes will be down and I think the big question is by how much and was there a rebound in the second half of the quarter?' TheStreet's Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.