The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up modestly Monday at midday, led by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. on the news that Snickers and M&Ms candy maker Mars Inc. and billionaire investor Warren Buffett are buying the candy and gum company for $23 billion in cash.
At 1:24 p.m., the S&P 500 gained 2.38 points to 1,400.22.
Shares of Wrigley soared $14.51, or 23.2 percent, to $76.96 after reaching an all-time high of $77.25 earlier in the session.
Mars, the world's largest chocolate seller, is offering $80 per share _ a 28 percent premium to Wrigley's Friday closing price of $62.45 _ for the company in a bid to unseat Britain's Cadbury Schweppes as the world's largest confection maker.
Shares of Ford Motor Co. gained 83 cents, or 11.1 percent, to $8.33, as billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian said he would boost his stake in the ailing automaker to 5.6 percent. Kerkorian's investment company, Tracinda Corp., offered $8.50 per share in cash for up to 20 million shares.
Shares of Sysco Corp. gained $2.42, or 8.6 percent, to $30.54 after the food distributor said third-quarter net income rose 9 percent to $240.9 million, beating Wall Street estimates.
On the losing side, shares of Radioshack Corp. plunged $2.31, or 13.2 percent, to $15.19. Early Monday, the electronics retailer said its first-quarter profit fell 8.7 percent, though it topped analyst estimates.
Shares of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. gave up $1.66, or 5.7 percent, to $27.25 after a JPMorgan analyst downgraded the stock to "Neutral" from "Overweight" and lowered his profit estimate.
And semiconductor maker MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. shed $4, or 5.7 percent, to $66.50.
(This version CORRECTS the spelling of Warren Buffett's name.)
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