[Photo: CNN Money]

To the thousands of traders and salespeople who’ve lost their jobs since the financial crisis, Wall Street has a message: We’re doing OK without you.

• The 5 biggest U.S. investment banks reaped $20.7 billion in revenue from bond and stock trading in Q3 of 2016.
• Morgan Stanley revenue nearly tripled after axing 470 jobs, or about 25% of unit’s staff.
• Goldman fixed-income revenue jumped 49% after firm cut 250 jobs, or about 10% of its fixed income staff.
• The gains came even after the world’s 10 biggest firms, including European banks that haven’t yet reported Q3 results, sliced more than 5,000 front-office trading and investment-banking jobs in the past 7.

Some of the gains may be due to Deutsche Bank’s woes, according to Citigroup CFO John Gerspach.

A lingering question is whether the recent gains signal a long-awaited rebound in fixed income. Momentum has continued in the first 2 weeks of the 4^th quarter, which should benefit from the U.S. election and an expected Federal Reserve rate increase, JPMorgan CFO Marianne Lake said last week. Still, it’s too early to say whether the market’s improvement will last, bank executives said.