Is It Safe? Pulte Faces Uphill Battle After Deal

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Buying Centex(CTX Quote) might keep Pulte Homes(PHM Quote) from sinking, but the deal isn't likely to generate returns for at least a year as the company wrestles with debt and the housing market struggles to stabilize.

Pulte, the biggest publicly traded U.S. homebuilder, is buying Centex for $1.3 billion in stock in an attempt to survive a brutal housing slump and weak economy. While the acquisition will keep Pulte in the game, it won't reverse falling home prices, shrink the vast number of houses for sale or bring buyers back. And profitability might be a ways off.

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