British scientists develop ‘brain to brain communication’

A system that creates “brain to brain communication” has been developed by British scientists, it has been claimed.

Telegraph | Oct 15, 2009

By Andrew Hough

The system, developed by a team at the University of Southampton, is said to be the first technology that would allow people to send thoughts, words and images directly to the minds of others, particularly people with a disability.

It has also been hailed as the future of the internet, which would provide a new way to communicate without the need for keyboards and telephones.

“This could be useful for those people who are locked into their bodies, who can’t speak, can’t even blink,” said the lead scientist Dr Christopher James.

The scientists claimed the research proved it could eventually be possible to create a system where people sent messages through their thoughts alone, although they conceded it was many years away.

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Scientists hail a thoughtful future with ‘brain-to-brain communication’

Scientists used “brain-computer interfacing”, a technique that allows computers to analyse brain signals, that enabled them to send messages formed by a person’s brain signals though an internet connection to another person’s brain miles away.

According to Dr James, during transmission two people were connected to electrodes that measure activity in specific parts of the brain.

The first person generated a series of zeros and ones, where they imagined moving their left arm for zero and right arm for one.

After the first person’s computer recognises the binary thoughts, it sends them to the internet and then to the other person’s PC.

A lamp is then flashed at two different frequencies for one and zero, the Times reported.

The second person’s brain signals are analysed after staring at this lamp and the number sequence is picked up by a computer.

“It’s not telepathy,” Dr James told the paper.

“There’s no conscious thought forming in one person’s head and another conscious thought appearing in another person’s mind.

“The next experiments are to get that second person to be aware of the information that is being sent to them. For that, I need to get my thinking cap on, so to speak.”

GM Soy Herbicide Linked to Birth Defects

NaturalNews | Oct 13, 2009

by David Gutierrez

The active ingredient of the popular herbicide Roundup, widely used on lawns and genetically modified (GM) crops worldwide, causes birth defects of the brain, heart and intestines even in minuscule doses, Argentinean researchers have found.

“The observed deformations are consistent and systematic,” said lead researcher Andres Carrasco, director of the Laboratory of Molecular Embryology at the University of Buenos Aires.

Argentina is the world’s third largest exporter of soy, planting nearly 17 million hectares (42 million acres), or half of the country’s cropland. Much of this soy has been genetically modified by the Monsanto Corporation to be resistant to the company’s trademark herbicide, Roundup. As a consequence, massive quantities of Roundup are sprayed over soy fields across the country. In many cases, the herbicide is sprayed from the air and may drift over nearby communities or enter their water supplies.

Approximately 200 million liters (53 million gallons) of Roundup are used in Argentina each year.

The new study, conducted by the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), was ordered by the Argentinean Health Ministry in response to complaints filed before federal courts over the health effects of widespread herbicide spraying. For the past five years, a wide coalition of environmental and rights groups have pointed to significantly higher rates of birth defects, cancer, lupus, and diseases of the kidney, skin and respiratory systems in communities located near field of GM soy. Most recently, the nonprofit Rural Reflection Group (GRR) published a paper containing reports of health effects from rural doctors, residents and experts.

The group has called for a ban on the use of Roundup in accordance with the precautionary principle.

In the first phase of the CONICET study, researchers diluted Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, to a strength 1,500 times less than that used on GM soy crops. Other than water, no ingredients were added. The researchers then submerged amphibian embryos into this glyphosate solution, finding that the embryos consistently developed into animals with deformed heads.

In the second phase, researchers injected embryos directly with the diluted glyphosate solution. In addition to head deformity, the researchers observed reduced head size, increased death of skull-forming cells, deformed cartilage and genetic changes to the animals’ central nervous system, on a much larger scale than in the first part of the study.

“One should be able to suppose, with certainty, that the same thing that happens to amphibian embryos can happen to humans,” Carrasco said, noting that the observed results were “completely comparable to what would happen in the development of a human embryo.”

“Pure glyphosate, in doses lower than those used in fumigation, causes defects … (and) could be interfering in some normal embryonic development mechanism having to do with the way in which cells divide and die,” he said. Because the researchers deliberately excluded any of the additives that are also found in Roundup, they concluded that the herbicide’s active ingredient was definitely to blame for the effects.

Because the levels of glyphosate used “were much lower than the levels used in the fumigations,” the risk in real life “is much more serious” than that seen in the lab, Carrasco said.

“The companies say that drinking a glass of glyphosate is healthier than drinking a glass of milk, but the fact is that they’ve used us as guinea pigs,” Carrasco said.

Berlusconi backs Tony Blair to be President of Europe

Silvio Berlusconi kisses Tony Blair (Thierry Chesnot/Reuters)

The former Prime Minister has enjoyed the Italian leader’s hospitality

London Times | Oct 15, 2009

by Lucy Bannerman in Rome

Tony Blair can count on the support of at least one old ally as he manoeuvres himself to become the first president of Europe.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, found time out from his political battles to write a front-page letter in a right-wing newspaper, declaring his former holiday companion to be the best man for the job.

“Tony Blair has got everything it needs to become the first president of the European Council,” he wrote in Il Foglio. “He has everything it needs to be designated to that role, as soon as it will be judicially and politically possible . . . In agreement with many other heads of government, and heads of state, and in co-ordination with the powers of the European Parliament, my Government and I will work to ensure we do not lose a great political legacy, made with courage, equilibrium and prudence without uncertainty.”

Mr Blair’s appointment, he added, would renew the governance of the European Union.

The Italian leader has made no secret of his support for Mr Blair to win the historic role, created under the Lisbon treaty.

A summit in Brussels was due to name the new president, and also the foreign minister, at the end of the month but the path has since been blocked by President Klaus of the Czech Republic, who refuses to put the final signature to the document, which has been ratified by the rest of the EU member states.

Mr Berlusconi was one of Mr Blair’s key allies over the Iraq war, during the days of the Bush Administration. He also played a memorable role in their Italian holidays, treating the Blairs to his legendary hospitality during a visit to his villa in Sardinia in 2004.

Because he was recovering from a hair transplant at the time he also treated the world’s press to photographs of a world leader in a bandana. Cherie Blair later spoke of the impressive festivities held in her husband’s honour, including live music and a fireworks display that spelt out the words “Viva Tony”.

Mr Berlusconi also made a personal call to the head of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, to put in a good word for the former British Prime Minister, according to Il Foglio, a Milanese daily, whose largest stakeholder is Mr Berlusconi’s estranged wife, Veronica Lario, and whose editor is Giuliano Ferraro, a former spokesman in his first Government. Mr Barroso, a Portuguese conservative, is strongly supported by Britain and was appointed in 2004, thanks largely to Mr Blair.

The Irish bookmaker Paddy Power said this week that Mr Blair was the 4-6 favourite, followed by the Dutch Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende (4-1); the Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker (11-2); and the Danish Nato chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen (6-1).

Mr Berlusconi, 73, who faces a series of criminal trials after a court stripped him of his immunity from prosecution last week, was removed from the running after his odds reached 100-1.

Iraqi Does Not Regret Throwing Shoes at President Bush

AP | Oct 14, 2009

GENEVA —  The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush said Wednesday he has no regrets and would carry out his brazen protest again, even if it cost him his life.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi told Swiss television station Leman Bleu that, after being mistreated in Iraqi custody for two days following his outburst last Dec. 14, a judge asked him whether he regretted the gesture.

“I told the judge only one thing: if the hands of the clock could go back I would do the same act even if it cost my life,” al-Zeidi said, speaking through a translator.

Al-Zeidi, a TV reporter, became a hero for many in and outside Iraq angered by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq when, at a press conference in Baghdad, he hurled his shoes at Bush, shouting “this is your farewell kiss, you dog!” and “this is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”

Bush’s term in office expired the following month.

“I knew I was doing something that would put my life in danger, and I was sure of that, but I wasn’t afraid,” he told Leman Bleu during the live interview.

Al-Zeidi was wrestled to the ground by security guards. He claims he was tortured during his nine months in prison.

After his release last month he obtained a tourist visa for Switzerland with the help of a Geneva lawyer. He arrived in the country Tuesday to seek medical treatment and to promote a new human rights group for Iraqi civilians.

“I wanted to create this foundation to help my people, the Iraqis, after all they have suffered,” he said. “The aim is to help the five million orphans, the one million widows and three million handicapped.”

His lawyer, Mauro Poggia, said an earlier plan to apply for asylum in Switzerland was canceled.

Study: Fluoride in Water = Money Wasted

PR Inside | Oct 14, 2009

Millions of dollars are spent adding non-required fluoride chemicals into public water supplies to reduce tooth decay. A recent dental journal article reveals the same decay rates whether water is fluoridated or not

Children’s cavity rates are similar whether water is fluoridated or not, according to data published in the July 2009 Journal of the American Dental Association by dentist J.V. Kumar of the NY State Health Department (1).

In 2008, New York City spent approximately $24 million on water fluoridation ($5 million on fluoride chemicals)(1a). In 2010, NYC’s fluoride chemicals will cost $9 million (1b).

Fluoride in water at “optimal” levels (0.7 – 1.2 mg/L) is supposed to reduce tooth decay without creating excessive fluorosis (fluoride-discolored and/or damaged teeth). Yet cavities are rampant in NY’s fluoridated populations (1c).

Attempting to prove that fluorosed teeth have fewer cavities, Kumar uses 1986-1987 National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) data which, upon analysis, shows that 7- to 17-year-olds have similar cavity rates in their permanent teeth whether their water supply is fluoridated or not

In 1990, using the same NIDR data, Dr. John Yiamouyiannis published equally surprising results in a peer-reviewed journal. He concluded, “No statistically significant differences were found in the decay rates of permanent teeth or the percentages of decay-free children in the F [fluoridated], NF [non-fluoridated], and PF [partially fluoridated] areas.” (2).

Kumar divided children into four groups based on their community’s water fluoride levels:

Less than 0.3 mg/L where 55.5% had cavities

From 0.3 to 0.7 mg/L where 54.6% had cavities

Optimal 0.7 to 1.2 mg/L where 54.4% had cavities

Over 1.2 mg/L where 56.4% had cavities

“Dr. Kumar’s published data exposes more evidence that fluoridation doesn’t reduce tooth decay,” says attorney Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.

“It’s criminal to waste taxpayers’ money on fluoridation, while exposing entire populations unnecessarily to fluoride’s health risks, especially when local and state governments are attempting to balance budgets by cutting essential services,” says Beeber.

More fluoride = more money for dentists?

Despite 60+ years of water fluoridation, Americans are spending more than ever on dental care. “between 1998 and 2008 the increase in the cost of dental services exceeded that of medical care and far exceeded the overall rate of inflation,” according to Slate Magazine. Americans paid 44.2 percent of dental bills themselves compared to 10.3 percent of physician costs, Slate reports. (3)

Dentists pat themselves on the back claiming they are the only profession endorsing something that would put them out of business. But apparently the more fluoride people get, the more money dentists make.

Dentists’ Nominal Net Income

for 2000 was $533,000 up from $141,000 in 1982, according to the American Dental Association Survey published in the March 2005 Journal of the American Dental Association. During the same time period, the number of Americans living in fluoridated communities went from 116 million to 172 million.

Full Report

Rough Road Ahead for New York Eagle Scout as School District Won’t Budge on Pocketknife Suspension

Matthew Whalen, right, says he was suspended from high school for four weeks because he kept a 2-inch pocketknife in his car. He completed an Army basic training course this summer. Photo: Matthew Whalen

Fox News | Oct 14, 2009

By Joseph Abrams

As a 17-year-old Eagle Scout continues to wait out a one-month suspension from his upstate New York high school for having a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car, the U.S. Military Academy says the missed school days could pose a big problem when it reviews his application.

Pressure is mounting on a Troy, N.Y., school board to overrule Matthew Whalen’s suspension from Lansingburgh High School, which was issued because of a zero-tolerance policy that is facing increasing opposition from parents and education advocates.

Whalen, a senior, says he stocks his car with a sleeping bag, water, a ready-to-eat meal and the small knife, which was given to him by his grandfather, a police chief in a nearby town.

But Lansingburgh High has a zero-tolerance policy for weapons, and when school officials discovered that Whalen kept his knife locked in his car, he says, they suspended him for five days — and then tacked on an additional 15 after a hearing.

Related

Cub Scout faces 45 days in reform school for carrying Swiss Army camp set

On Wednesday, West Point’s director of admissions told Foxnews.com that Whalen’s suspension alone wouldn’t be a “show-stopper” and “didn’t appear to be a big issue” for the youth, though it will appear on his record as the military academy considers his moral and ethical fiber.

“My concern would be, how does this impact on his academics?” said Col. Deborah McDonald, the academy’s head of admissions. “Because 20 (school) days is a long time to be suspended.”

But the Lansingburgh School District is not budging. A person reached at the home of a school board member referred all calls to the superintendent, who told a local newspaper he thinks the punishment was “appropriate and fair,” and that it was necessary for the district to enforce its zero-tolerance policy evenly.

“Sometimes young people do things they may not see as serious,” Superintendent George Goodwin told the Albany Times-Union. “We look at any possession of any type of knife as serious.”

Yet the knife is not considered a weapon by the New York State Education Department — definitions and punishments are left up to local school boards to decide.

“Districts by law are given a great deal of discretion for the conditions they impose,” said Jonathan Burman, spokesman for the Education Department.

“The discipline that’s meted out … [is] a matter of local discretion,” he said, and “simply here if the school board decides to make a change in their policy it’s a matter for them to decide.”

Whalen’s family says they’ve given up hope that their school district will rethink the penalty, even after a school board in Delaware reversed a similar decision Tuesday night, granting a reprieve to a 6-year-old first-grader who had been ordered to attend a reform school for 45 days after he brought a Cub Scout camping utensil to lunch.

“The board hasn’t even taken the issue,” said Bryan Whalen, Matthew’s father. “As far as the superintendent is concerned, he’s made his decision and we haven’t been offered the opportunity to even appeal that at a board meeting.”

That policy is coming under fire from some education advocates, who say it is “pernicious” and inflexible and must be overturned.

“I just don’t believe zero tolerance is the right way to go,” said John Young, a board member in the Delaware school district that voted unanimously Tuesday night to reinstate 6-year-old Zachary Christie.

Young, who was not aware of the details of Whalen’s case, said that as long as the school didn’t have reason to suspect any intent to use the knife, “I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be overturned.”

Young says the zero-tolerance policies were born in the wake of the 1999 Columbine school massacre, and were a response to worries from parents that school security needed to be beefed up. Though he doesn’t support the policies, he said he understand the impulse to ensure school safety.

But Bryan Whalen says the policy allowed no room for his son, who did not pose a danger to the school. “It was another example of an administration not providing any thought, just trying to hide behind a blind rule for whatever reason.”

Whalen said his son is more or less resigned to his fate but is still bewildered that he’s in trouble over possession of a “keychain knife” after he handled M16s during an Army basic training course he completed over the summer.

He’s “frustrated because he knows he’s falling so far behind on his studies — he’s missing a ninth of his senior year,” Whalen said.

But Whalen says his son is feeling reassured from positive feedback he’s getting from cadets at West Point who have “contacted him through Facebook and told him they’re behind him and to keep fighting.

“‘When he gets down there he’ll be carrying a machine gun around campus,'” they wrote.

Eagle Scout suspended for keeping 2-inch knife in car

AP | Oct 14, 2009

TROY, N.Y. — An Eagle Scout who kept a 2-inch pocketknife in his car was suspended from his high school for 20 days for bringing the weapon onto school grounds. Now he is concerned about his chances for acceptance to West Point.

Matthew Whalen, 17, said he gave the knife to an administrator at Lansingburgh High School in Troy last month after another student told officials he had been carrying a knife. He was suspended for violating the district’s zero-tolerance policy for weapons on school grounds.

Related

Cub Scout faces 45 days in reform school for carrying Swiss Army camp set

The high school senior said the knife was a gift from his grandfather, the police chief in a nearby village.

Whalen, a member of the Army National Guard, said he kept the knife in his car along with other survival items in case of an emergency. He now worries the suspension may hurt his chances of gaining admission to West Point, where he has wanted to go for years.

“I just want to be able to go back to school,” Whalen told the Times Union of Albany. “I didn’t intentionally do anything wrong. I don’t even consider it a weapon.”

Whalen will be allowed to return to school Oct. 21.

District officials said they don’t comment on student disciplinary matters, but superintendent George Goodwin said in a prepared statement that the district has a zero-tolerance policy for possessing weapons of any kind on school property.

“We believe this policy allows us to fulfill our duty of maintaining the safety of our district’s education environment for our students, faculty and community members,” said Goodwin.

In another zero-tolerance case this week in Delaware, a 6-year-old boy was facing 45 days in an alternative school as punishment for bringing his favorite camping utensil — a combination folding knife, fork and spoon — to school to use at lunch. The school board voted Tuesday to reduce the punishment for kindergartners and first-graders who take weapons to school or commit violent offenses, and the boy was allowed to return to school.

Flu Windfall Billions Boost Big Pharma

Flu Windfalls Boost Big Pharma

Reuters | Oct 12, 2009

LONDON (Reuters) – It is turning out to be a better year for Big Pharma than initially feared, thanks to hefty drug price increases and windfall sales from swine flu.

What’s more, the industry dodged a bullet over the summer on U.S. healthcare reform, leaving company executives relatively upbeat going into the third-quarter reporting season, which kicks off next week.

The long-term problems have not gone away, with companies facing record losses to generics over the next four years, threatening a yawning gap in future sales and driving sector valuations to a steep discount to the wider market.

But pharmaceuticals have shown their defensive colours in the downturn, with no sign yet of a late-cycle hit to revenues.

“Our initial view was that we would see something by the third quarter, but it is starting to feel like that is not going to happen,” said UBS analyst Gbola Amusa.

Drug sales, in fact, are now expected to grow by 4.5-5.5 percent this year in the all-important U.S. market, according to IMS Health, the leading tracker of prescription drug data.

Only six months ago, IMS was predicting a 1-2 percent fall.

Resilient demand for medicines means pharmacies have been forced to rebuild inventories that were slashed late last year and drugmakers have pushed through steep price increases, despite the struggling economy.

Credit Suisse analyst Catherine Arnold said the average price increase for major U.S. drug companies in the third quarter was 8.7 percent.

Investors seeking reassurance about the sector’s performance will need to look through some sizeable currency distortions.

U.S. firms will benefit from a recent weakening in the dollar, given their large international exposure, though currency is still negative on a year-on-year basis.

Conversely, European companies — barring those reporting in dollars — will start to feel the pinch as their currencies strengthen.

DIVERSIFICATION

Diversified healthcare group Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> opens the reporting season on October 13 with the market wanting to see that its broad-based business model, which means its stock trades at a premium to pure pharmas, is continuing to deliver.

Abbott Laboratories <ABT.N>, which reports on October 14, should show that at least some blockbusters still have a good future, with arthritis drug Humira proving a key driver.

Switzerland’s Roche <ROG.VX> reports sales figures only on October 15 and Helvea analyst Karl-Heinz Koch expects growth in the pharmaceuticals division to be driven increasingly by new use of cancer drugs including Avastin and Herceptin, underscoring the logic of this year’s buyout of Genentech.

Flu drug Tamiflu, which is being stockpiled by governments to deal with the H1N1 pandemic, will also boost Roche, while demand for swine flu vaccines promises to boost GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> and Novartis <NOVN.VX>.

Most swine flu vaccine revenues will only be booked from the fourth quarter, but companies may clarify the profit implications this month, according to analysts.

Pfizer <PFE.N>, the world’s biggest drugmaker, will report on October 20 and may offer little cheer. Across-the-board losses in its key products are likely to highlight just why it needs Wyeth <WYE.N>, the smaller company with a promising pipeline that it agreed to buy for $68 billion (43 billion pounds) in January.

The challenges at Pfizer — facing loss of patent exclusivity on the world’s biggest selling drug, Lipitor, in 2011 — mirror those in the wider industry and explain Big Pharma’s fall from favour.

The sector’s relative derating has gathered pace this year as the overall market has rallied, leaving global pharma trading at a 25 percent forward price-to-earnings discount to the wider market.

Investors will probably need several more quarters of results to decide when, if ever, the industry can regain its traditional premium rating.

Drugmakers, Doctors Rake in Billions Battling H1N1 Flu

Swine Flu Is Bad for Victims, But Good for Businesses That Cater to Expanding Market

ABC News | Oct 14, 2009

By DALIA FAHMY

Americans are still debating whether to roll up their sleeves for a swine flu shot, but companies have already figured it out: vaccines are good for business.

Drug companies have sold $1.5 billion worth of swine flu shots, in addition to the $1 billion for seasonal flu they booked earlier this year. These inoculations are part of a much wider and rapidly growing $20 billion global vaccine market.

“The vaccine market is booming,” says Bruce Carlson, spokesperson at market research firm Kalorama, which publishes an annual survey of the vaccine industry. “It’s an enormous growth area for pharmaceuticals at a time when other areas are not doing so well,” he says, noting that the pipeline for more traditional blockbuster drugs such as Lipitor and Nexium has thinned.

Related

Flu Windfall Billions Boost Big Pharma

As always with pandemic flus, taxpayers are footing the $1.5 billion check for the 250 million swine flu vaccines that the government has ordered so far and will be distributing free to doctors, pharmacies and schools. In addition, Congress has set aside more than $10 billion this year to research flu viruses, monitor H1N1’s progress and educate the public about prevention.

Drugmakers pocket most of the revenues from flu sales, with Sanofi-Pasteur, Glaxo Smith Kline and Novartis cornering most of the market.

But some say it’s not just drugmakers who stand to benefit. Doctors collect copayments for special office visits to inject shots, and there have been assertions that these doctors actually profit handsomely from these vaccinations.

It is a notion that Dr. Lori Heim, president of the American Academy of Family Practitioners, says is simply not true.

“According to most of the physicians I have talked to, the administration of these vaccines is done for the community’s benefit as opposed to anything that helps profit,” she says. Heim adds that even though doctors will not have to shell out for the H1N1 vaccine, they will bear the usual costs associated with storage and administering the shots.

“There is an administration fee, for the costs that you can’t get reimbursed through Medicare or Medicaid,” she says. “This is usually less than, or right at the break-even point.”

Still, pharmacies also charge co-payments or full price of about $25 to those without insurance and often make more money if patients end up shopping for other goods.

“Flu shots present a good opportunity to bring new customers into our stores,” says Cassie Richardson, spokesperson for SUPERVALU, one of the country’s largest supermarket chains. Drawing customers to the back of a store, where pharmacies are often located, offers retailers a chance to pitch products that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Even companies outside of the medical industry are benefiting: the UPS division that delivers vaccines in specially designed containers, for example, has seen a bump in business.

Full Story

JPMorgan Chase Reports Surprisingly Strong Profit of $3.6 Billion As Financial System is Brought to its Knees

NY Times | Oct 14, 2009

By ERIC DASH

A year after the financial system was brought to its knees, a resurgent JPMorgan Chase reported a second consecutive quarter of surprisingly strong profit on Wednesday, solidifying its position at the pinnacle of American banking.

JPMorgan’s results — $3.6 billion in profit for the third quarter — fanned hopes on Wall Street that the nation’s financial sector was entering a new period of prosperity, despite lingering troubles. The bank’s robust showing, amid tentative signs that its consumer loan losses might soon peak, has set the pace for other big banks that will report results in coming days.

JPMorgan’s profit was powered by its investment banking division, where earnings more than doubled from the period a year earlier because of trading in the fixed-income markets and a flurry of deals. The unit’s results more than offset the bank’s losses on credit card loans and home mortgages, which continued to rise as consumers struggled with a weak economy.

The earnings seemed to light a fire under Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 144.80 points, closing above 10,000 for the first time in a year.

Although the recession weighed heavily on its businesses, JPMorgan appeared to be taking advantage of the financial crisis to leapfrog investment banking rivals in the rankings and expand its consumer lending franchise. Meanwhile, it added $2 billion to its consumer credit reserves for future losses, bringing the total amount it has set aside to $31.5 billion.

Net income rose to 82 cents a share, far surpassing analysts’ estimates for the third quarter. The bank reported a profit of $527 million, or 9 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2008.

“The revenue growth was very impressive,” said Anthony Polini, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates. “They’re benefiting from a turn in the economy, and they’re asserting their dominance.”

The results also reflected the broader rebound in once-stymied financial markets, with companies again issuing stock, raising money from bond markets and signing merger deals. After being forced to take huge write-downs on the value of some its assets a year ago, JPMorgan said it booked about a $400 million gain on the sale of mortgage securities and buyout loans.

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chairman and chief executive, said the earnings reflected growth across several business lines, but he gave only a cautious outlook. “While we are seeing some initial signs of consumer credit stability, we are not yet certain that this trend will continue,” he said in a statement.

Consumer loss rates remain high, but there were upbeat signs in the bank’s numbers. Bank officials said they saw “a little bit of stabilization” in home values, especially for lower price properties and in states like California. And while delinquencies remain high, fewer borrowers were falling behind on mortgages.

Michael J. Cavanagh, the bank’s chief financial officer, called that a “hopeful sign” but stopped short of declaring that heavy losses were over. “We have to watch the economy and see where it heads,” he said in a conference call with reporters.

JPMorgan was the first of the nation’s biggest banks to report third-quarter earnings. Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs also release results this week. As one of the first major banks to warn of troubles with subprime mortgages, home equity loans and credit cards, JPMorgan is seen as a bellwether for the financial industry.

Although the housing market and economy remain weak, analysts expect to see a slowdown in consumer loan losses at the biggest banks and for them to start setting aside less money in their reserves. Meanwhile, the troubles are quickly moving to commercial real estate loans, which will place a heavier burden on smaller lenders.

Mr. Dimon still must contend with several problems. His decision last month to replace the two co-heads of the investment banking division with a single leader, James E. Staley, raised concern within the ranks. JPMorgan’s credit card division is unlikely to turn a profit until 2011, and, like most of the industry, its consumer franchise has seen a fall-off in new mortgage lending.

Mr. Dimon also faces obstacles in Washington. He must balance paying bonuses to JPMorgan investment bankers based on blow-out earnings with public furor over Wall Street pay. New regulations on credit cards threaten to lower the profitability of that business, and lenders face other legislative efforts to curb bank fees and derivatives trading.

Despite repaying its $25 billion taxpayer investment in June, JPMorgan is still waiting for the government to sell warrants it was given last year. Their value, now at nearly $2 billion, has risen almost $800 million since rivals like Goldman Sachs cut deals to buy them back this summer, according to Linus Wilson, a finance professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. That could be a windfall for taxpayers but would not affect the bank’s capital.

Even so, JPMorgan is emerging from the crisis with renewed confidence. Its investment bank, which posted a $1.9 billion profit, reported strong trading revenue, though short of the record levels earlier this year when the markets were in constant flux and prices skyrocketed.

The bank’s consumer businesses are still bleeding from bad loans. Its mortgage and consumer banking operations posted a narrow $7 million profit, while its credit card division lost $700 million in the quarter. By next year, charge-offs could reach 11 percent of loan balances.

“You are seeing the underlying earnings power is there, albeit challenged by the need in this quarter to add to reserves,” Mr. Cavanagh said. “Stabilization is just the first phase; we need losses to return to more normalized levels.”