Stocks closed lower yesterday ahead of this afternoon's FOMC Announcement.

But yesterday's dip prettied up the charts by filling in the gap from last Friday's gap-higher open in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100.

Since common gaps are typically filled, doing so strengthens the technical picture. Especially since plenty of chartists and technicians are reluctant to add to their positions until those gaps are filled in. But once those gaps are finally filled, the technical picture improves.

Yesterday's Employment Cost Index rose 1.2% q/q vs. last month's 0.9% pace and views for the same. The y/y rate came in at 4.2%, just under last month's 4.3%.

The Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose 0.9% (unadjusted) m/m vs. last month's -0.1%. The y/y rate was up 7.7% vs. last month's 6.6% and the views for 6.7%.

The Chicago PMI declined to 37.9 vs. last month's 41.4 and the consensus for 45.0.

And Consumer Confidence slipped to 97.0 vs. last month's 103.1 and estimates for 104.0.

In other news before the open yesterday, it was a slightly mixed bag of reports with McDonald's posting a negative EPS surprise -0.37% (although that translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 2.66% vs. this time last year), Coca-Cola posting a positive EPS surprise of 4.35% (translating to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 5.88% vs. this time last year), and Eli Lilly posting a positive EPS surprise of 1.98% for a quarterly EPS growth rate of 59.3% vs. this time last year. While the above names varied in surprise and price action yesterday, they all showed EPS growth.

After the close yesterday, Amazon reported a positive EPS surprise of 36.14%, and a positive sales surprise of 0.55%. That equated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 264% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 12.5%. They were up 2.0% in after-hours trade.

Starbucks, on the other hand, posted a negative EPS surprise of -13.92%, and a negative sales surprise of -6.31%. That showed a quarterly EPS growth rate of -8.11%, and a sales growth of -1.83%. They were down more than -12% in after-hours trade.

Pinterest also reported after the close, and posted a positive EPS surprise of 42.86%, and a positive sales surprise of 5.72%. That was a quarterly EPS growth rate of 150%, and a sales growth of 22.8%. They were up roughly 20% in after-hours trade.

Today we'll hear from another 378 companies on deck to report with widely held names like Mastercard, Marriott, and CVS going before the open, and Qualcomm, DoorDash, and Allstate after the close.

In addition to earnings, we'll have a busy day of economic reports today with MBA Mortgage Applications, the ADP Employment Report, the PMI and ISM Manufacturing reports, Construction Spending, and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report (or JOLTS for short).

But the main event today will be the FOMC Announcement and Fed Chair Press Conference.

While 'nobody' is expecting a rate cut tomorrow, everybody will be listening to what the Fed has to say about inflation, the economy, and their expectations on rate cuts. Both when and how much?

The Fed's last official estimate forecast 3 rate cuts this year (presumably by 25 basis points each). Everybody will be looking to see if that changes this afternoon.

The announcement on rates comes out at 2:00 PM ET, followed by Fed Chair, Jerome Powell's press conference at 2:30.

Should be a busy day.

See you tomorrow,