Consolidated Shares Fall After Talks End

Shares of Consolidated Freightways Corp., one of the largest U.S. trucking companies, fell nearly 18% after it broke off merger talks with an unidentified company. Shares fell $3.13 to close at $14.63 on Nasdaq. It rose 6.4% on Wednesday on speculation it might be weighing a possible combination with rival carrier Yellow Corp. Menlo Park-based Consolidated confirmed it had been in talks with an unnamed party, adding that no agreement was reached. Yellow executives declined to comment. Consolidated said it expects fourth-quarter profit from operations to be about 50 cents a share, following a recent rate increase. The company was expected to earn 28 cents a share.