AIRLINES

Northwest Stock Holds at $13 a Share: Northwest Airlines stock held steady Friday, the first day shares of the company have been traded publicly since a 1989 leveraged buyout. Northwest shares closed at $13 on the Nasdaq, unchanged from their offering price. On Thursday, Northwest sold 20 million shares to investors. The $13-per-share price was about $7 less than originally planned. After underwriting fees, the offering will mean nearly $250 million for Northwest, which plans to use the money to pay down debt incurred in the 1989 buyout. Northwest has been making money recently, but it narrowly avoided a bankruptcy filing last year.