Wall Street's Rocketed First Half

New York's securities industry notched its largest first-half profit since 2009 due to sharp increases in trading and underwriting activity, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a Thursday report. Pretax profits through the first six months of the year surged 82% to $27.6 billion. Underwriting revenues hit a record of $10.4 billion in the second quarter. The first-half performance suggests the securities industry "will be markedly profitable for the year, barring any further unforeseen events," DiNapoli said.