The announcement that Centex (CTX) and Pulte (PHM) would join together to become America's largest home builder made the media all abuzz, causing home builder stocks to jump. Since Pulte and Centex serve different market segments and have regions of the country where they do not compete, it was promoted as a great combination. The companies' press releases and the news reports that followed appeared to convey that this was a sign that home building is going to spring back to life. But, one should take a closer look to find the real story behind the Centex-Pulte combination.

In the next two to three weeks, both companies will report earnings for the first calendar quarter of 2009. Expect the numbers to provide more insight as to why these two companies are joining together. Looking at data from the last four quarters provides an idea what to expect.