SECURITIES

Lehman 2nd-Quarter Profits Nearly Triple: The rebound by Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. from the year-ago period offers the latest sign of a Wall Street recovery from 1994’s traumatic bond market plunge. Sources said this week that Goldman Sachs & Co., a leading securities firm, more than doubled pretax profits for its second quarter. Lehman, the nation’s third-largest underwriter of bonds, said it earned $58 million, or 43 cents a share, for the quarter, compared to $20 million, or 11 cents a share for the period last year. Net revenue, after subtracting interest expenses, rose 2% to $731 million from $719 million. Lehman said revenue jumped because a steep drop in interest rates attracted more investors and boosted the firm’s securities underwriting business. Lehman also said it cut costs by paring 233 jobs, or nearly 3% of its work force.