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 | 15,294.50 | -12.67 | -0.08% |
| Nasdaq | 3,459.42 | -3.88 | -0.11% |
| S&P 500 | 1,650.51 | -4.84 | -0.29% |
| Treasuries | 2.02 | -0.00 | -0.15% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 13.21 | -0.10 | -0.75% |
| Hewlett-Packard Co | 24.86 | 3.63 | 17.10% |
| Micron Technology In... | 11.40 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| Dean Foods Co | 20.41 | 10.73 | 110.85% |
| Microsoft Corp | 34.16 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.77% | 3.60% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 2.88% | 2.74% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.66% | 2.54% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.76% | 3.58% | |
| 15 yr refi | 2.88% | 2.73% |
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