by Calculated Risk on 3/20/2018 06:36:00 PM

Here is my FOMC preview and a preview from Goldman Sachs economists.

Wednesday:
• At 7:00 AM ET, The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

• At 10:00 AM, Existing Home Sales for February from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The consensus is for 5.42 million SAAR, up from 5.38 million in January. Housing economist Tom Lawler expects the NAR to report sales of 5.44 million SAAR for February.

• During the day, The AIA's Architecture Billings Index for February (a leading indicator for commercial real estate).

• At 2:00 PM, FOMC Meeting Announcement. The FOMC is expected to increase the Fed Funds rate 25 bps at this meeting.

• At 2:00 PM, FOMC Forecasts This will include the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants' projections of the appropriate target federal funds rate along with the quarterly economic projections.

• At 2:30 PM, Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press briefing following the FOMC announcement.