Jamie Dimon and Meredith Whitney

on a conference call earlier today:

But Mr. Dimon was also quick to state that his bank is not cutting back significantly and said he sees the loan market returning to normal in the future.

Ms. Whitney, who has a “perform” rating on JPMorgan’s stock, then asked: “If you really believed that, you would be gunning credit card lines, right?”

“We are not speculators,” Mr. Dimon shot back. (No one on the call challenged him on this point, or at least not audibly.) “We are buying slightly more risky assets and we are growing our business, so we are not panicking.”

Mr. Dimon continued: “Obviously we are trying to modify what is going on — we are not going to say ‘Yahoo, this is over,’ and go extend credit — like we did — without fear. If you are not fearful, you are crazy.”

Then from Ms. Whitney: “I’m fearful, thanks.”

“We know you are,” Mr. Dimon replied, his smile coming through the conference call. “We are waiting for you to reverse your position.”