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Published April 15, 2008 at 12:49 PM
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 Waiting for Delta Air Lines Inc. [DAL] and Northwest Airlines Corp. [NWA] to reach a merger agreement was like waiting to board a flight during a heavy snow storm. It took a very long time and, at times, seemed like it would never happen. The green light arrived late Monday evening as Delta-Northwest announced a $3.63 billion stock-swap deal, creating the largest airliner in the world. Investors, however, shunned the merger as Delta and Northwest traded down in Tuesday midday trading. Overall, the Dow traded down 3.59, or 0.03%, to 12,298.47 while the Nasdaq declined 0.27, or 0.01% to 2,275.55 in Tuesday midday trading. Here's a closer look at the performance of Deal Stocks:
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- Delta traded down as much as 12% while Northwest declined as much as 7% following news of the merger. The merged company would still have to contend with reaching an integration agreement with the pilots' union of both airlines. But The Deal's senior writer Lou Whitemen reported, "Delta said it has an agreement in place with pilot leadership to extend that group's collective bargaining agreement through the end of 2012."
- Meanwhile, Bear Stearns Cos. [BSC] reported first-quarter earnings that fell short of expectations. Overall, the company posted a profit of $110 million, or 86 cents per share, down from $548 million, or $3.82 per share, a year earlier. Revenue also declined to $3.43 billion from $4.8 billion while revenue after interest expense fell to $1.95 billion from $2.32 billion.
- Lastly, all eyes will be on Washington Mutual Inc. [WM], which recently announced a $7 billion capital infusion. The Seattle-based thrift is expected to announce first-quarter earnings after Tuesday market close.
- Gerald Magpily
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