On Tap Today: Had You Heard? There's a Fed Meeting. And CPI!

The meeting of the FOMC minds will most certainly capture Wall Street observers' attention today. Any change in the Fed's monetary policy -- most likely a half-percentage-point hike in the target fed funds rate -- will be announced this afternoon. In addition to that highly anticipated event, market mavens will pay close attention to Consumer Price Index numbers, released this morning by the Labor Department.

In the world of earnings announcements, stalwarts

Home Depot

(HD) - Get Report

and

Hewlett-Packard

(HWP)

are among companies in the limelight.

And finally, at the

Banc of America Securities

conference in Manhattan,

PSINet

(PSIX)

Chairman & CEO William L. Schrader takes the stage.

Expected Earnings Reports

(

This table includes S&P 500 companies only. Dates are as expected according to First Call/Thomson Financial, and may change. The full week's earnings calendar is published separately.

)

Economic Data

(

Forecasts are from

Reuters

. Times are Eastern. For a longer-term economic calendar and more, see

TSC's

Economic Databank.

)

8:30 a.m.: Consumer Price Index for April. Source: Labor Department. Forecast: +0.1%. Previous: +0.7%. Ex-food and energy: Forecast: +0.2%. Previous: +0.4%.
8:30 a.m.: Real earnings for April. Source: Labor Department. Forecast: N/A. Previous: -0.4%.
9 a.m.: Housing starts for April. Source: Census Bureau. Forecast: 1.645M. Previous: 1.604M. Building permits: Forecast: 1.601M. Previous: 1.579M.
9 a.m.: Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The Fed's monetary policymaking committee holds its third meeting of the year in Washington. Any change in monetary policy will be announced around 2:15 p.m. Source: Federal Reserve.
9 a.m.:BTM Weekly Chain Store Sales Index for the week ended May 13. Source: BTM. Forecast: N/A. Previous: +0.8%.
10:30 a.m.:Redbook Retail Average for the month through May 13, vs. April. Source: LJR Redbook. Forecast: N/A. Previous: -0.1%.

Conferences and Meetings

Banc of America Securities

Growth Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment Conference,

St. Regis Hotel

, New York. Second of three days. Companies presenting (times Eastern):

8 a.m.:Comcast (CMCSK) and Adelphia Business Solutions (ABIZ) .
8:30 a.m.:Adelphia Communications (ADLAC) .
9 a.m.:Cablevision Systems (CVC) and Pinnacle Holdings (BIGT) .
9:30 a.m.:Charter Communications Holdings (CHTR) - Get Report and Primedia (PRM) .
10 a.m.:Cox Communications (COX) and American Tower (AMT) - Get Report.
10:45 a.m.:Williams Communications (WCG) - Get Report and High Speed Access (HSAC) - Get Report.
11:15 a.m.:Triton PCS (TPCS) and Viatel (VYTL) .
11:45 a.m.:Nextel Communications (NXTL) and Orbital Sciences (ORB) .
12:15 p.m.: Luncheon. Featured speaker: William L. Schrader, chairman and CEO of PSINet (PSIX) .
2 p.m.:VoiceStream Wireless (VSTR) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings (XMSR) .
2:30 p.m.:Alltel (AT) - Get Report and Savvis Communications (SVVS) .
3 p.m.:Western Wireless (WWCA) .
3:30 p.m.:PanAmSat (SPOT) - Get Report and Metrocall (MCLL) .
4 p.m.:Insight Communications (ICCI) and Trimble Navigation (TRMB) - Get Report.

IPO Lockups Expiring

(TheStreet.com's

Ben Holmes, who heads

TSC's

ipoPros.com subsidiary, keeps a close eye on lockup expirations every week. For more on lockups and why they matter, check out Holmes' primer on the subject. The full current lockup list is published separately.

)