Northwest Airlines Corporation (NYSE: NWA) swung to a loss this quarter but things weren't nearly as bad as Wall Street had expected given the record fuel costs that hit the industry. The Minnesota-based company reported a loss of $377 million, or $1.43 per share, versus a profit of $2.15 million in the year-earlier second quarter. And let's not forget that all of this is just a year after it emerged from bankruptcy!

On a positive note, revenues for Northwest came in at $3.58 billion, up from $3.18 billion a year ago. The airline also disclosed that it has $3.3 billion in unrestricted liquidity and sees its merger with Delta Air Lines closing in the fourth quarter. The merger should help the company cut costs while lowering oil prices and fare raises should help improve margins over the next few quarters.

Northwest Airline Corporation is the direct parent company of Northwest Airlines, Inc. Northwest is engaged in the business of transporting passengers and cargo. Recently, the company has faced sharp declines in margins thanks to higher fuel costs and slower consumer spending. Shares of the company rose more than 5% during today's session.

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Just when many thought the banking sector was improving, Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) reported a huge second quarter loss. The financial services company reported a loss of $8.66 billion with a shocking $6.1 billion in writedowns. This compares to a net income of $2.34 billion a year earlier. Shares recovered on the day, but the news remains bearish for the sector.

Even the Chairman shared the disappointment: "These bottom-line results are disappointing and unacceptable," said Chairman Lanty L. Smith. "While to some degree they reflect industry headwinds and weaker macroeconomic conditions, they also reflect performance for which we at Wachovia accept responsibility."

Wachovia also cut its dividend again by 87% in an attempt to conserve about $700 million in capital. Clearly, this was a decision that had to be made in order to help the company stay alive over the long-term. The bank is also fresh off issuing some $8.3 billion in cpaital through preferred stock and other securities.

Finally, Wachovia has hired Goldman Sachs to help it analyze and value the billions of dollars in loans sitting on its balance sheets. Once it has a true idea of the valuation, shareholders will be able to better evaluate the company. Until then, Wachovia remains somewhat of an enigma.

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Yahoo Inc. (NDAQ: YHOO) decided to play it safe and settle with activist investor Carl Icahn. The search giant agreed to provide the billionaire investor with three board seats, which will give it some say but no power. The settlement is the latest in the sage over Microsoft's attempt to take over the company. Interestingly, Icahn expressed his belief that a sale of the company merits "full consideration".

Icahn said in a statement he's pleased with the settlement. "While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole company or the sale of its Search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo's valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders."

The news of the concession by Yahoo management comes just days after the same management sent a letter to shareholders calling Microsoft's actions "stupifying" and criticizing Carl Icahn for his lack of knowledge of the internet business. However, the move is still seen as a victory for Yahoo. Icahn now has limited voting power while Yahoo management remains in place. So, why did Icahn accept the deal? Many believe that he thought he would end up losing if he went through with the proxy contest.

Perhaps the largest catalyst behind this settlement was Legg Mason's statement that it would back the Yahoo board and urged the two sides to settle their dispute before conducting an actual proxy contest. Carl Icahn owns a 5 percent stake in Yahoo and has been pushing for the company to pursue an acquisition by Microsoft. Eight of Yahoo's directors will now stand for re-election to an expanded 11 member board, including CEO Jerry Yang.

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