OfficeMax (OMX, Fortune 500) shares rallied 30%, while shares of Office Depot (ODP, Fortune 500), the larger of the two, surged 24%.
Office Depot has 1,262 stores worldwide, 39,000 employees, and 2011 sales of $11.5 billion, the last full year for which it has reported results.
Office Max has 978 stores, 29,000 employees and 2011 sales of $7.1 billion.
The talks come as mergers and acquisitions have picked up.
Just last week, US Airways (LCC, Fortune 500) announced a merger with American Airlines parent AMR (AAMRQ, Fortune 500), Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) announced it was buying Heinz (HNZ, Fortune 500), and Comcas (CMCSA)t announced a $16.7 billion deal for the 49% of NBC Universal that was still owned by General Electri (GE, Fortune 500)c.
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Both Office Depot and OfficeMax are dwarfed by Staples (SPLS, Fortune 500), which operates 2,248 stores worldwide and had 2011 sales of $25 billion. Staples has also face increased competition from online retailers, such as Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500). Staples shares were also up nearly 14% in early trading.
The merger talks were widely reported Monday, when U.S. markets were closed for a holiday. 
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 15,307.17 | -80.41 | -0.52% |
| Nasdaq | 3,463.30 | -38.82 | -1.11% |
| S&P 500 | 1,655.35 | -13.81 | -0.83% |
| Treasuries | 2.03 | 0.08 | 4.22% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 13.31 | -0.13 | -0.97% |
| Pfizer Inc | 29.30 | 0.52 | 1.81% |
| General Electric Co | 23.86 | 0.20 | 0.85% |
| Ford Motor Co | 14.97 | 0.02 | 0.13% |
| Microsoft Corp | 34.61 | -0.24 | -0.69% |
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.73% | 3.65% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 2.85% | 2.79% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.60% | 2.59% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.72% | 3.64% | |
| 15 yr refi | 2.85% | 2.78% |
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