kayla tashi has more on what investors will be looking for from some of the nation's biggest banks. >> reporter: earnings season starts on tuesday. jpmorgan chase and mortgage giant wells fargo kicking off fourth quarter results at a tenuous time for the country's money centers. >> it was an all-time record year in terms of record earnings but it didn't come from more widgets and higher margins. it came because the cost structure of the industry was adjusted so reserves came down and actual operating costs came down. 2014 will be altogether different so the fourth quarter is the quarter. >> reporter: with rates rising, new and refinanced mortgages have slowed, corporations are doing fewer mergers, and federal investigations have lingered. the latter, a major issue for jpmorgan, the largest u.s. bank by assets, which will take an $850 million charge from a settlement over its ties to ponzi schemer bernie madoff. evercore analysts say lower trading and mortgage activity could put even more pressure on the bank's bottom line. a shrinking mortgage pipeline will hit wells fargo. analysts d