Before the Bell

Winter is officially over, but there's no spring in Wall Street's step.

Stock futures are pointing sideways since the market has hours to wait until the Fed makes its pronouncement on interest rates.

No one's expecting rate hike, but everyone wants to hear the outlook, especially given the recent subprime meltdown.

The dollar is up against the yen, and U.S. Treasuries are flat to lower.

The shift to an ostensibly warmer season isn't bringing oil prices down. U.S. crude is up near $60 a barrel because in spring a car owner's fancy turns to driving and data coming out today is likely to show a further drop in gasoline stockpiles.

Mortgage applications fell last week for the first time in a month as consumers lost their appetite for both refinancings and purchases.

It could be a nice day on the tech side. Shares of Oracle and Adobe Systems are both up after they posted better-than-expected results late yesterday.

Morgan Stanley just reported sharply higher earnings.

Stay tuned for results from FedEx.
Lisa Von Ahn Mail - Reuters