Wednesday morning arrived with U.S. stock futures in a holding pattern, advancing modestly after Tuesday's mixed finish. The real action, though, is expected this afternoon when the Federal Reserve concludes its two-day meeting and announces its rate decision.

If you're wondering what the smart money thinks will happen, the CME Group's FedWatch tool shows markets pricing in an 89.9% likelihood that the Fed will cut rates today. That's about as close to a sure thing as you get in finance without actually being a sure thing. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.20% and the two-year bond sat at 3.62%, with investors positioning themselves ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's afternoon press conference.

Here's where futures stood in early trading:

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 respectively, were both higher in premarket trading. SPY was up 0.066% at $683.49, while QQQ advanced 0.042% to $625.31, according to market data.

Individual Stocks Making Moves

GameStop's Revenue Problem

GameStop Corp. (GME) dropped 6.38% in premarket trading after delivering a decidedly mixed third-quarter report. The video game retailer posted revenue of $821 million, which sounds fine until you realize analysts were expecting $987.28 million. That's a miss of more than $160 million, which is the kind of gap that gets investors' attention.

The silver lining? Earnings came in at 24 cents per share, beating estimates of 20 cents. But when you miss revenue expectations by that magnitude, beating on earnings doesn't quite compensate. According to market data rankings, GME maintains a weaker price trend across short, medium, and long-term timeframes, with a moderate value ranking.

GE Vernova's Big Day

GE Vernova Inc. (GEV) had a much better morning, jumping 7.72% after announcing it's doubling its dividend and raising its multi-year outlook. As part of its 2025 Investor Update event, the energy technology company laid out strong guidance extending all the way to 2028, which gave investors plenty to feel good about.

The stock maintains a stronger price trend over short, medium, and long-term periods, though it carries a weak value ranking. Sometimes paying up for growth is worth it, and today's market reaction suggests investors think GE Vernova falls into that category.

Adobe and Oracle: The Waiting Game

Adobe Inc. (ADBE) was essentially flat, down just 0.02% ahead of its earnings report scheduled for after the closing bell. Analysts are expecting earnings of $5.39 per share on revenue of $6.11 billion for the latest quarter. The company maintains a stronger price trend over the short term but shows weakness in long and medium-term trends, with a moderate quality score.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) rose 1.07% as investors positioned ahead of its earnings release. Analysts expect earnings of $1.64 per share on revenue of $16.22 billion. The database giant maintains a stronger price trend over the long term but shows weakness in short and medium-term trends, balanced by a solid growth ranking.

Braze's Guidance Boost

Braze Inc. (BRZE) shares climbed 15.37% after the customer engagement platform delivered better-than-expected third-quarter revenue and raised its fiscal 2026 guidance. The stock maintains a stronger price trend across all timeframes, though it carries a poor growth ranking, which makes today's guidance raise particularly significant.

How Tuesday Closed

Energy, information technology, and consumer staples stocks recorded the biggest gains on Tuesday, while health care and industrials moved lower. Here's how the major indices finished:

What the Strategists Are Saying

BlackRock is maintaining what they describe as a decidedly "pro-risk" stance, staying overweight U.S. stocks based on the artificial intelligence theme. Their view is that the massive AI buildout isn't just another tech trend—it's potentially transformative enough that "micro is macro." The scale of investment happening in AI infrastructure could, in their view, reshape the broader economy.

Are they worried about a bubble? Sure, they acknowledge the concerns. But they reject bubble analysis as a "practical lens for investing," focusing instead on whether corporate revenues can ultimately justify the capital expenditure pouring into AI.

Here's where it gets interesting: BlackRock believes a "growth breakout" is possible, stating that "AI's self-reinforcing innovation loop could break the U.S. out of its 2% growth trend" that's held for roughly 150 years. That's a bold claim, but it explains why they're willing to lean into risk.

On the economic front, they see a favorable backdrop with continued Federal Reserve easing. Recent inflation data has "reinforced our view that the Federal Reserve is on track to cut interest rates," which supports their optimistic positioning. They do note one challenge: the divergence between immediate AI spending and future revenues creates what they call a "financing hump," making greater private sector leverage inevitable.

What's Coming Today

Wednesday's economic calendar is packed. The delayed third-quarter employment cost index report will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Then at 2:00 p.m. ET, we get the FOMC's interest rate decision along with November's monthly U.S. federal budget data.

The main event comes at 2:30 p.m. ET when Fed Chair Powell addresses a press conference. Investors will be parsing every word for clues about the Fed's thinking on future rate moves and how policymakers view the current economic landscape.

Commodities and Crypto Watch

Crude oil futures were trading higher by 0.19% in the early New York session, hovering around $58.36 per barrel.

Gold fell 0.31% to trade around $4,195.46 per ounce. Its most recent record high was $4,381.60 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.08% lower at the 99.1410 level.

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading 2.48% higher at $92,555.93 per coin, continuing its volatile dance as investors weigh regulatory developments and institutional adoption trends.

Global Markets Roundup

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index being the notable exception. China's CSI 300, South Korea's Kospi, India's NIFTY 50, Japan's Nikkei 225, and Australia's ASX 200 indices all fell. European markets were mixed in early trading as investors there also awaited the Fed's decision.

The global focus on the Federal Reserve's announcement underscores how much influence U.S. monetary policy continues to wield over worldwide markets. When the Fed moves, everyone pays attention.