Get Ready For The Fed's New Dots

Get ready for the newest Fed dot plot.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce its latest monetary policy decision at 2:00, with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will also holding a press conference at 2:30.

Additionally, the Fed will release its latest Summary of Economic Projections, which include GDP and inflation projections from FOMC members, as well as the famous dot plot.

The dot plot is a chart that shows where FOMC members think the Fed's benchmark interest rate will be at the end of upcoming years and over the long term. On Wednesday we'll get the Fed's first outlook for interest rates through 2017.

The dots aren't used a policy tool but do give insight into what FOMC members think about the future of interest rates, and is the best insight we have into the long-term thinking of the Fed's members.

Recently, economists at the San Francisco Fed highlighted the discrepancy between where the Fed sees rates in the future, and what the market currently expects.

On Wednesday, the market is expected to focus on the Fed's language regarding its first interest rate hike, namely, if the Fed drops the phrase "considerable time" to describe how much time elapses between the end of its QE program and the first interest rate hike.

But don't forget about the dots.

Here's the most recent dot plot from the FOMC, which was released in June.

And in a note to clients this week, economists at Credit Suisse gave a projection for what the latest dots could look like, including projections for 2017.