Among the major movers at around noon today are Thomas & Betts Corp. (NYSE: TNB), Pep Boys — Manny, Joe & Jack (NYSE: PBY), Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN), GTX Inc. (NASDAQ: GTXI), and Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

Shares of Thomas & Betts are up nearly 23% in early trading this morning on a $3.9 billion buyout offer from ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB). Nearly 12 million shares have been traded so far today, compared with a 3-month daily average of about 330,000.

Another big winner this morning has been Pep Boys, also up about 23% following a $1 billion buyout from private equity firm Gores Group. More than 11 million shares have traded this morning, compared with a 3-month daily average of around 500,000. More coverage here.

Amylin up about 19% on news that its new diabetes drug has gained regulatory approval. Nearly 12 million shares have traded this morning, compared with a 3-month daily average of about 2.3 million.

GTX is up about 38% at $5.15 on nearly 2.5 million shares traded compared with a daily average of about 188,000. The drug maker’s shares have been given a new price target of $19/share from Citigroup. We have more coverage here.

Gannett is down more than -7% at $14.14, with nearly 4.6 million shares traded this morning, compared with a 3-month daily average of about 4 million shares. The newspaper publisher reported a -33% drop in quarterly profit and newspaper ad revenue fell -7.1%.

Paul Ausick