Despite the recent upturn in the stock market, Wall Street these days is hardly the avenue of joy. Most firms are still reducing payrolls, closing branches and trying to sublet excess space. One notable exception is Salomon Bros., the nation's biggest bond-trading house and fourth largest underwriter of securities. Salomon Bros.' broad-ranging business has been better than ever, and the firm has outgrown its quarters. Last week it moved into new, highly computerized walnut-and-glass offices that are more than double the size of those it occupied for almost half a century.
The...