Stocks are deep in the red midday, shaking off several much-anticipated quarterly earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) both sport triple-digit losses at last check, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is hovering just below breakeven. All three benchmarks are on track to snap five-day winning steaks.

Meanwhile, investors await a monetary policy update from the Federal Reserve as the two-day meeting begins this afternoon. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the risk of inflation could be more than transitory, which could prompt pre-emptive action from the central bank. 

One stock getting attention from call traders today is Wendy's Co (Nasdaq: WEN), last seen trading at $23.11 after Guggenheim initiated coverage on the fast-food giant with a "buy" rating and $26 price target. So far today, 8,220 calls have crossed the tape, which is nine times the intraday amount and nearly 100 times the amount of puts exchanged. Most popular by far is the August 24 call, with new positions being opened. Wendy's stock still is a ways off its June all-time high of $29.46, and support from the 80-day moving average will certainly push the security in the right direction. Longer-term, WEN is up 5.2% year-to-date.

TAL Education Group (NYSE: TAL) is one of the best stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by far today, last seen up 11.9% at $4.93. TAL Education stock fell to its lowest level since 2014 yesterday amid a crackdown by Chinese regulators on the private education sector. TAL is  down 92.7% year-to-date, 

Meanwhile, Bit Digital Inc (Nasdaq: BTBT) is towards the bottom of the Nasdaq, last seen down 24.2% at $6.72. Today's negative price action comes one session after the stock soared on an announcement about a bitcoin-mining agreement with Digihost Technology. BTBT is on track to lock in its 10th loss in 12 sessions and is down 67.7% in 2021.