(FORTUNE Magazine) – The banking industry found some much needed good news in the third quarter. While many corporations were saddled with lackluster results, most major U.S. commercial banks strutted double-digit profit gains. The happy results were a welcome tonic for an industry hurt by a rash of bank failures and toting about $80 billion of shaky Latin American debt. Chase Manhattan reported a 61% increase, J.P. Morgan 74%, and Chemical 24%. One perennial straggler, BankAmerica, still struggling with bad loans in real estate, agriculture, and shipping, saw net income drop 29%. Banking industry analysts say several factors helped boost third-quarter results. Foreign exchange trading generated good profits when the dollar dropped in September. New York banks benefited from a tax law change, and interest margins -- the difference between what banks borrow money for and what they get when they lend it out -- had widened for most major banks. ''Even with the one-time factors, you are still left with a very solid performance,'' says James McDermott, director of research at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, a New York brokerage firm that specializes in commercial banks.