The Federal Reserve will publish the minutes of its Oct. 27-28 policy meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. Eastern, according to CNBC's calendar. The minutes are the Federal Open Market Committee's written account of that meeting. They describe what was discussed. They do not change what was decided.

The timing

Minutes are generally issued about three weeks after each meeting, according to Fidelity. This set arrives three weeks after the Oct. 28 decision.

By then, the decision is old news. The minutes add the reasoning around it.

What was decided

The decision is in the statement. On Oct. 28, the Committee maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-3/4 to 4 percent, according to the Fed's statement.

The vote was 10-2. Lisa D. Cook and Beth M. Hammack dissented. Both preferred a 1/4 point increase.

The statement said "Inflation remains elevated." It described economic activity as "expanding at a strong pace."

Chairman Warsh held the press conference after the meeting.

What a reader should separate

The statement is a decision. It was voted on, and the vote is recorded with names.

The minutes are a summary of a conversation. They report arguments made in the room. Some of those arguments did not prevail.

That distinction is the main thing to hold onto on Wednesday. A passage that describes support for an increase is a record of discussion. It is not a decision to raise rates. Only a statement does that.

The vote also sets a scale. Twelve votes were cast in October: 10 for the hold, two against. A view attributed to some in the room should be weighed against that count.

One participant's account

Waller, a Fed governor, has already described his own reasoning. He voted to hold in October. In a speech in London on Nov. 10, he said the Committee held because its communication had already priced in tightening.

"It is not necessary, for example, to raise rates at consecutive meetings," Waller said. He also said "further tightening of monetary policy will be needed, sooner rather than later."

Those are one governor's views. They are useful context for the minutes. They are not the Committee's position.

Waller cited data in the same speech. The initial estimate of third-quarter real GDP growth was 3.4 percent. The unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in October. Payrolls rose 165,000 in October. The six- and 12-month averages were closer to 80,000 a month.

What has happened since

The minutes describe Oct. 27-28. Data published since then were not in front of the Committee.

October consumer prices rose 0.4 percent, and core prices 0.3 percent, CNBC reported. Producer prices rose 0.3 percent in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Nov. 13.

A reader should keep the minutes' date in mind. They describe the Committee as it stood at the end of October.

The next decision

The next meeting is Dec. 8-9. The CME FedWatch tool showed about a 90 percent chance of a quarter-point increase in December, Reuters reported on Nov. 13.

Futures prices are not a decision either. The December decision will be in the statement, with the vote and the names.