NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported strong third-quarter earnings yesterday as its thriving investment banking business more than offset rising loan losses the bank said could continue for the foreseeable future.

JPMorgan, the first of the big banks to report earnings for the July-September period, reported a $3.59 billion profit but also said it doubled the amount it set aside for failed home and credit card loans in the quarter.

The bank's stock rose on the news, helping to lift the overall market. Still, JPMorgan's performance shouldn't be taken as a forecast for how well other banks did during the quarter. Many financial companies don't have such big investment banking operations, which includes trading of stocks and bonds and allowed JPMorgan, the nation's largest bank by assets, to overcome its loan losses.

ROTA ISLAND TARGETED FOR CASINO RESORTS

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — Casino investors are buying up hotel properties on Rota, the second-largest island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, in hopes of attracting military gamblers once the U.S. increases its presence in nearby Guam.

Japanese and Korean investors bought two Rota hotels this month in anticipation of turning them into the island's first casinos.

CONSUMER SPENDING MIXED IN SEPTEMBER

WASHINGTON — Auto sales dried up in September, but Americans spent more money on food, gas and furniture than they did in August, according to new government data — a small step on the long road to economic recovery.

Over the summer, consumer spending was boosted by the government's popular "Cash for Clunkers" program, which gave buyers up to $4,500 toward the purchase of new, fuel-efficient cars. But that incentive ended in August, and auto sales plunged 10.4 percent in September, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Commerce Department.

That dragged total retail sales down 1.5 percent, the biggest monthly drop so far this year. But shoppers remained resilient. Retail sales excluding autos rose 0.5 percent in September compared with the previous month.