Judge Rules AT&T Merger Will Be Fine

No one was allowed to leave, announced the judge, except “on a gurney.” That judge, Richard Leon, then delivered his decision in the Justice Department’s antitrust case against AT&T Inc.’s deal to buy Time Warner Inc. To them. Time Warner’s stock crept up into the close and in after-hours trading, while they were in the room, before shooting up a few points when the ruling—a complete victory for AT&T and Time Warner, allowing the merger to close with no conditions—finally became public at about 4:40. If you were trading Time Warner stock at, like, 4:20 p.m. yesterday, I would love to know why.