Stock Market News Today Focuses on FOMC Meeting Outcome

Stock market news today, Oct. 30: Stocks are fairly steady today as investors await the Federal Reserve's next decision on whether to taper its massive bond-buying program, with general expectations being that tapering will be delayed until 2014 amid the recent onslaught of more negative economic indicators.

For several months, investors have had difficulty deciphering how the Fed will pare back this stimulus program, and confusion persists today. Some say tapering may begin at the next Fed meeting in December, while others are predicting next January or March.

We think the pairing of a slow economic recovery and the arrival of Janet Yellen in 2014 to take over the Fed from Ben Bernanke will delay any tapering until at least the second quarter of 2014.

The Fed's monetary statement, which should include comments on how the government shutdown affected the economy, will be released at 2 p.m.

The Standard & Poor's 500 is down about 0.02% at 1,771 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.1% to 15,688 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index down 13 points to 0.34%.

Meanwhile, crude oil is trading down yet again today, with light crude oil for December delivery trading down about 1% near $97.29. And gold is up about 1% near $1,357.50 an ounce. Silver is up more than 3% at $23.04 per ounce.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and Comcast Corp.'s (Nasdaq: CMCSA) quarterly reports are among the more notable earnings news today.

Comcast is trading down about 1% after it reported third-quarter earnings per share of $0.65 and revenue of $16.2 billion. The Street view was for $0.61 per share on $16.2 billion in revenue.

And Sprint has pulled up 1% out of the red in volatile trading today as it reports third quarter net revenue of $8.68 billion and a profit of $383 million, versus a loss of $767 million a year prior. Revenue was down froom $8.8 billion a year prior and off from the $8.81 billion the Street expected.

In other earnings news today, Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq: BWLD) is trading up about 8%, marking a new 52-week high as it reports third quarter earnings of $0.95, up from the $0.85 Street view. Revenues were $315.8 million, also above analysts' estimates of $311.9 million. Same store sales increased about 5% year-over-year.

Finally, Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) has plunged about 7% today after its third-quarter earnings release in after-hours trade yesterday. Yelp said it expects between $66 and $67 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, topping the Street view of $64.8 million.

Today is also a noteworthy day for IPOs...

The NASDAQ OMX Group said its IPO market has added more than 100 initial public offerings so far this year, making it the first time since 2007 that the exchanged has added more than 100 IPOs in a single year.

The combined proceeds from the 102 IPOs year-to-date total more than $12.5 billion, Nasdaq said in a release.

In other IPO news, Chrysler, which recently filed plans for an IPO, reports third-quarter earnings were up 22% in the ninth consecutive quarter of profits amid lower interest rates and slow job growth.

Several upgrades and downgrades today are producing significant stock movements.

Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: EA) is up 8.4% today after Needham upgraded it to a "Strong Buy" from hold with a price target of $33. EA is trading at around $26 today, with a 52-week range of $11.90 to $28.13.

And Ambarella Inc. (Nasdaq: AMBA), which develops semiconductors, is down about 7% today after Morgan Stanley downgraded its share to equal weight from overweight while removing their $18 price target.

Today's top story: New Rental Securitization Deal Likely Heralds Double Dip in Housing