A slumping market has help boost bank stocks above those of Wall Street securities firms for the first time since early last year. Bloomberg News reports that Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase – the country’s three biggest banks – climbed in the second quarter, while Goldman Sachs Group, Lehman Brothers Holdings and Merrill Lynch saw their share prices fall. In starker view, the Philadelphia KBW Bank Index was off only 1.6%, while the Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index tumbled 6.4%. According to Bloomberg, banks— which are seeing fewer company and consumer defaults and an increase in earnings – are in a better position to weather declines that make investment firms wither.