Stocks Wriggle Upward

Updated from 11:10 a.m. EDT

New York's major averages were modestly higher Monday as investors awaited the upcoming Federal Reserve gathering amid merger news and positive earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded on both sides of the flat line before recently rising 18 points to 12,909. The S&P 500 rose 2 points to 1400, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 6 points to 2428.

The Fed will begin its two-day meeting Tuesday, and it is widely expected to cut the fed funds target rate by 25 basis points. Many analysts also believe the central bank will signal a pause in its months-long easing cycle, which since September has taken the overnight lending rate down three percentage points to 2.25%.

On the corporate side, among the day's winners was Wrigley (WWY Quote - Cramer on WWY - Stock Picks), which shot up 23.2% to $76.74 after Mars and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A Quote - Cramer on BRK.A - Stock Picks) said they would acquire the chewing-gum outfit for roughly $23 billion, or $80 a share.

Wrigley also beat analysts' first-quarter expectations with earnings that surged 18.1% to $168.6 million, or 61 cents a share.

Rival Hershey (HSY Quote - Cramer on HSY - Stock Picks), meanwhile, climbed 4.9% on the hope that the chocolatier would seek a similarly generous bid. Britain's Cadbury Schweppes (CSG Quote - Cramer on CSG - Stock Picks), which has discussed a potential merger with Hershey several times in the past, bumped up 2.9% on the New York Stock Exchange.

Ford (F Quote - Cramer on F - Stock Picks) was also advancing on word that Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda has collected a 4.7% stake in the automaker, or about 100 million shares, and plans to offer $8.50 each for an additional 20 million shares. Ford was up 9.7% to $8.23.