On The Fly: Top stock stories at midday

Stocks were mildly higher at midday after a quiet morning of trading as investors continue to stay on the sidelines ahead of tomorrow's policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. While almost no chance is seen that the Fed will raise rates tomorrow, it may give a clearer signal about its plans to hike in December and could begin to make changes to the rate at which it has been buying bonds as it slowly starts to tighten its incredibly loose monetary stance. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the current account deficit widened unexpectedly to $123.1B in Q2 from a revised $113.5 B in Q1. Import and export prices both rose 0.6% month-over-month in August, topping expectations. Housing starts dipped 0.8% to a 1.180M rate in August. Building permits increased 5.7% to a 1.3M rate, however. In Europe, the German ZEW survey for September came in strong, with both the Current Situation and Expectations readings beating forecasts. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of T-Mobile (TMUS) have advanced nearly 5% while Sprint (S) has added 9% after CNBC's David Faber reported that the companies and their corporate parents, Japan's SoftBank (SFTBF) and Germany's Deutsche Telecom (DTEGY), are in active talks for an all stock-for-stock merger of the number three and four wireless carriers in the U.S. Sources note that a deal could be "weeks away," even though talks are continuing "with vigor," added Faber. Of note, Verizon (VZ) shares jumped following the report, and remain up about 2.5% near noon, possibly because consolidation may be seen as decreasing the competitive pressure in the market... In other M&A news, shares of Bob Evans Farms (BOBE) have jumped following an announcement that it has agreed to be acquired by Post Holdings (POST) for $77 per share. Post is up 0.5% following the deal announcement, while Bob Evans is up 6% to trade above the agreed upon deal price... Also, Rite Aid (RAD) announced that it has secured regulatory clearance to sell 1,932 stores and other assets to Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) for an all-cash price of $4.375B. Following the completion of the transaction, Rite Aid will continue to operate approximately 2,600 stores and six distribution centers, the company noted. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Kohl's (KSS), which gained a bit over 1% after announcing that it will offer free Amazon (AMZN) returns in 82 stores starting in October. Also higher following its earnings report was Steelcase (SCS), which rose 1.5% after reporting better than expected second quarter sales and earnings. Among the noteworthy losers was Autozone (AZO), which dropped 5% after reporting on its own earnings. Also lower was Synchronoss Technologies (SNCR), which plunged 39% after major shareholder Siris Capital said it was no longer interested in an all-cash acquisition of the company. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 32.78, or 0.15%, to 22,364.13, the Nasdaq was up 11.83, or 0.18%, to 6,466.47, and the S&P 500 was up 3.23, or 0.13%, to 2,507.10.