Jefferies Group, the investment bank whose trading results often foreshadow performance at bigger Wall Street firms, said Q4 profit quadrupled as revenue from trading stocks and bonds more than doubled.

“Our strong finish to the year, combined with the continued positive momentum in all of our businesses, positions us well for 2017.”  - CEO Richard Handler and Brian Friedman, chairman of the executive committee.

Investors watch the company’s trading results to gauge how business is faring at bigger investment banks, which typically finish their quarters a month later. While Jefferies’s performance reinforces what executives at Bank of America and JPMorgan have said about their fourth-quarter trading gains so far, Morgan Stanley’s president said last week that some banks are exhibiting “over-exuberance” about a lasting revenue rebound.

Jefferies averted posting a net loss for the year, even after being deluged at the start with a fiscal first-quarter loss of $166 million that caused Handler to say he was “humbled” and vowed to do better. Profit for the year was $15.4 million. The company has been shaking up management in almost all its major businesses -- bond and stock trading, investment banking and leveraged finance.