Let's get the basics out of the way: the Fed will announce its latest interest-rate decision at 2 p.m. Eastern, alongside the latest summary of economic projections (i.e., the dot plot). That will be followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 2:30 p.m.

Wall Street is holding near its records after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates.

U.S. stocks briefly shot higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points, the high side of estimates for its first cut in more than four years. Citing a "greater confidence" that inflation is moving toward the central bank's 2% target,