STOCKS SLIDE: Here's what you need to know

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Stocks slipped in trading on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve kicked off its March meeting.

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Despite snowy conditions on the East Coast, the Fed kicked off their two-day monetary policy meeting as scheduled. The decision - which the market nearly unanimously thinks will be a rate hike - will be released Wednesday.

All three indexes dipped into the red during trading and oil fell on the back of news from OPEC.

We've got all the headlines, but first, the scoreboard:

  • Dow: 20,839.77, -41.71, (-0.20%)
  • S&P 500: 2,365.13, -7.69, (-0.32%)
  • Nasdaq: 5,874.19, -18.49, (-0.31%)
  • US 10-year bond yield: 2.595%, (-0.013)
  • WTI crude oil: $47.85, -0.55, (-1.14%)
  1. Traders are almost certain the Fed is going to hike. Bloomberg's World Interest Rate Probability showed that market implied odds of a 25 basis point hike from the Fed heading into their March meeting stand at 100%. CME Group's FedWatch tool showed the odds of a hike at 93% as well.
  2. Oil fell after Saudi Arabia said it increased production last month. The kingdom said it increased production in February back above the level of 10 million barrels a day (to 10.011 million), according to figures submitted by the kingdom.
  3. Natural gas slid. The commodity fell in trading after snowstorm Ella's worst snow fall missed New York City and dampened hopes of increased fuel usage for the storm.
  4. Troubled pharmaceutical company Valeant fell after Pershing Square's Bill Ackman sold off his shares. This ends a three-year involvement with the company for Ackman. During that time, Valeant's stock price fell from a high of about $279 in the summer of 2015, to under $11 today, after federal investigations into the company.
  5. Hudson's Bay is reportedly interested in Neiman Marcus. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Canadian retailer was in talks with Neiman Marcus after it had expressed interest in Macy's last month.

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