Wall Street Roundup: Citi said to bet on proprietary trading. Fed status-quo announcement anticipated.

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Markets up. The stock market opened higher this morning. The Dow Jones industrial average was up as much as 20 points in early trading.

Housing slows. Construction companies broke ground on 5.9% fewer houses in February than in January, according to the Commerce Department. The decline was expected due to heavy snowstorms.

Fed meeting. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee will make its announcement Tuesday on whether it is keeping a key lending rate near zero, as expected.

Citi’s bet. Bloomberg reports that Citigroup is beefing up its proprietary trading division. The move comes as Congress is looking to limit proprietary trading and soon after Citi’s chief executive, Vikram Pandit, criticized proprietary trading in front of Congress.

Dodd’s proposal. Everyone is talking about Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) new financial regulation bill and what challenge it might present for the nation’s largest banks.