The Market In 5 Minutes: Interest Rates In Focus, Jones Beats Moore, And Cryptocurrency Excitement

IN THE NEWS

Tesla Inc TSLA closed the Tuesday session up 3.68 percent after PepsiCo, Inc. PEP announced it will expand its 10,000-truck fleet with 100 Tesla Semis: Link

The excitement surrounding cryptocurrencies has more to do with the underlying technology that powers them than the idea of a digital currency. After all, credit cards, checks and wire transfers have transferred cash digitally for decades: Link

Shares of Digital Power Corporation DPW were soaring Wednesday morning after the company announced the creation of a new business unit dedicated towards mining cryptocurrencies: Link

Benzinga will bring together some of the Street’s vying voices next week during the PreMarket Prep Bitcoin Special on Dec. 19: Link

Democrat Doug Jones of Alabama on Tuesday scored an upset win in a deeply Republican state, capturing the U.S. Senate seat here in a special election that drove a wedge within the Republican party and gave Democrats another burst of momentum ahead of the 2018 midterm races: Link

The Federal Reserve is likely to raise short-term interest rates by a quarter percentage point after its two-day policy meeting concludes Wednesday: Link

President Donald Trump will make a final push on Wednesday to shepherd a Republican tax overhaul over the finish line, hosting congressional negotiators for lunch before delivering a speech in which he will make his closing arguments for the legislation: Link

House Republicans plan to hit Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein with a barrage of questions about what they say is an anti-Trump bias at the FBI and Justice Department, in an attack aimed at undermining Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation: Link

Republican regulators moving to kill Obama-era open internet regulations say one big reason for their action is that the rules have depressed investment in broadband: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• USA CPI (MoM) for Nov 0.40% vs 0.40% Est; Prior 0.10%
• The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.
• The Fed Chair Janet Yellen will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• RBC upgraded O'Reilly Automotive ORLY from Sector Perform to Outperform
• JPMorgan upgraded Extended Stay America STAY from Neutral to Overweight
• KBW upgraded Morgan Stanley MS from Market Perform to Outperform
• JPMorgan downgraded Choice Hotels CHH from Overweight to Neutral
• Barclays downgraded Hersha Hospitality HT from Equal-Weight to Underweight

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.