JPMorgan Chase reported earnings of $4.3 billion, or $1.02 a share, for the latest quarter.  The bad news is that these numbers are 4% below earnings for the same period one year earlier.  The good news is that JPMorgan's $1.02 beat analyst expectations.  Also, how bad can it be to post $4.3bn in earnings? As the first major U.S. bank to announce results for the period, JPMorgan attributed the drop, in part, to the European debt crisis, which has pushed investment banking clients to the sidelines.  The results also underscore how market turmoil has clobbered investment bank revenue, which is leading JPMorgan and others to cutting jobs and expenses.  CEO Wall Street analysts had estimated on average that the bank earned 91 cents a share. It was not clear if the bank's results were comparable with that estimate. Cutting back on commodities. JPMorgan also trimmed its commodities trading risk in the third quarter, while upping its risk in currencies and bonds, as heightened volatility across markets reduced the attractiveness of riskier assets such as raw materials. The banks said it had cut its average value at risk (VaR) in commodities to $15mn in the third quarter from $16 million in the second quarter. It was up from $13mn in the third quarter of 2010.  As a whole, JPMorgan's VaR fell in Q3, averaging $53mn versus $58mn in the second quarter due to reduced risks in equities as well as commodities.  [CNBC, 10/13/11]