It's Wednesday, but it's not just any Wednesday. Today will be a key Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve will release the Federal Open Market Committee decision at 1 p.m. Et. The Fed statement will be followed by updated forecasts for the U.S. economy, a summary of which will include the central bank's new median estimate of the ultimate level of interest rates. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will try to explain these market concerns at a press conference at 2:30 p.m.How Fed Chairman Jerome Powell articulates policy will largely determine whether markets can overcome their fear of the Fed.That's going to be a tough challenge given the deep inversion of the Treasury yield curve, and with inflation still above 7.0% and average hourly earnings up 5.1% year-over-year, the market is desperate for the Fed chair to sound dovish.We think the inability of stocks to sustain yesterday's rally is related to the fact that the Fed chairman will continue to be inclined to emphasize that inflation remains too high, pointing to core services inflation and labor market tightness that will require the Fed to do more to bring inflation down to its 2% target.This idea is likely to be mentioned in the summary of economic forecasts, in which the Fed raises the median estimate of the final rate by 50 basis points from 4.60% in September. The Fed funds futures market is more in favor of a 25 basis point increase in the final rate estimate, and the futures are pricing in a 69.6 percent probability that the Fed's final rate will rise to the 4.75-5.00 percent range by mid-2023.Of course, because forecasts are always revised, markets have now realized that the Fed's policy on paper is written in pencil.Therefore, if the Fed's median estimate for the final rate is higher than the market expects, the market's reaction will largely depend on whether the market really believes/fears that the Fed is determined to raise rates this high.The subtlety here is where the tone and pace of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference today will have a huge impact.The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.25 to 4.50 percent. Whether the voting preferences of committee members are unanimous will draw some additional attention. According to the CME FedWatch tool, Fed funds futures are pricing in a 20.6 percent chance of a 75 basis point rate hike.In any case, the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates today, which means that interest rates on variable-rate debt will also rise today, which will increase the repayment burden for holders of revolving debt and increase the installment burden for borrowers who need to take out new fixed-rate loans. This reality will undoubtedly weigh on economic activity and lead to concerns about the long-term and lagging effects of monetary policy on economic activity.The delayed impact of the Fed's monetary policy is a big uncertainty for both the U.S. economy and the global economy. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England meet on Thursday and are expected to raise rates by 50 basis points.The market's current dilemma lies in the pending Federal Open Market Committee decision of the Federal Reserve, and whether to hesitate whether to rise or not, Delta Air Lines released US stock earnings guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023, Delta Air Lines data exceeded market expectations.S&p 500 futures were down 3 points, trading just below fair value, Nasdaq 100 futures were down 17 points, trading 0.1 percent below fair value, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 5 points, trading roughly in line with fair value.