Salomon Loses $150 Million in July, August

Salomon Smith Barney Holdings Inc., the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, said it lost about $150 million after taxes during July and August because of trading in Russia, U.S. bond arbitrage and global arbitrage. Salomon, known for leveraged bets in bond markets around the world and for volatile earnings, had a string of trading losses since Travelers Group Inc. agreed to buy the firm a year ago and has shuttered some of its investment businesses. Now it’s cutting the risks it takes in global arbitrage, the company said. The losses would have been worse if the firm hadn’t stop making bets with its own capital in the U.S. bond market in July, Salomon said. It said its brokerage and asset-management businesses continued to perform well, cushioning the trading losses.