Stocks Up For Second Day In A Row, All Eyes On The Fed Today

Plus 5 New Strong Buys for Today Stocks Up For Second Day In A Row, All Eyes On The Fed Today [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Up For Second Day In A Row, All Eyes On The Fed Today [Stocks Up For Second Day In A Row, All Eyes On The Fed Today]Image: Bigstock Stocks closed higher yesterday, making it two up days in a row. All eyes will be on the Fed today when they announce their decision on interest rates, and their plans for reducing their balance sheet. The expectation is for a 50 basis point increase today. But the market will also be interested in what the Fed might be thinking for their next meeting. Fed Funds traders at the moment have placed a 91% chance that the Fed raises rates by 75 basis points in June. The market will also be listening for the Fed's plans on balance sheet reduction. It's been suggested they could pare down their balance sheet by $1 trillion per year. (It's currently at a record high of nearly $9 trillion.) If true, $1 trillion a year equals roughly $83.3 billion per month. The question is, when, and at what level, do they start? What's the expected monthly pace? And how far down will they go? All $9 trillion? Half of that? Or just a few trillion? We expect to learn all of this and more when the Fed makes their announcement at 2:00 PM ET, which will then be followed by the Fed Chair Press Conference at 2:30. In other news, yesterday's Factory Orders report came in better than expected with a 2.2% m/m increase vs. last month's upwardly revised 0.1% and views for 1.1%. And the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Report (JOLTS) showed an increase in job openings with 11.549 million vs. last month's upwardly revised 11.334M and the consensus for 11.270M. In addition to the FOMC Announcement today, we'll also get MBA Mortgage Applications in the morning, the ADP Employment Report, International Trade in Goods and Services, the PMI Composite report, and the ISM Services Index. And earnings season continues as well with another 502 companies on deck to report today (1,336 between today and the rest of the week). But the Fed announcement will be the main event today. Should be a busy day. See you tomorrow, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research Sponsor [Investors See Opportunity in Huge Global Demand for Lithium]( The global lithium market is projected to surge 500% due to a growing need for lithium-filled batteries. And one junior mining company in a renowned location in South America is in the right place at the right time to capitalize on this megatrend. 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