It's time to take that vacation

In partnership with

Moving in the right direction

There’s at least one person who is relieved inflation slowed last month: Jerome Powell. That being said, inflation is still running above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, as CPI inflation came in at 3.4% at an annualized rate. Car insurance is leading the way, up 22% over the past year. On a more granular level, inflation increased 0.3%from March to April, below the estimated 0.4%.

The discussion amongst economists, investment bankers, and traders remains whether the Fed will cut rates this year. The truth is, no one knows. Even if inflation is (barely) heading in the right direction, the truth is inflation is still much higher than it is supposed to be. In addition, any additional dovishness from the Fed (meaning they lower rates) could send inflation right back up again as markets take advantage of lower rates. This is not a prediction, but the decision tree seems to be as follows: the Fed lowers rates and accepts that inflation will run higher than 2%, the Fed keeps rates higher while hoping and praying inflation continues to come down at a decent clip over the next two years, or the Fed ends their pause and raises rates in 2025…. or something breaks (banks, commercial real estate, consumers stop spending) and the Fed lowers rates because it has to. It’s all anyone’s guess.

Newsletter advertising at scale, finally.

The beehiiv Ad Network delivers over a billion  impressions a month across thousands of the world's top newsletters, all paid on performance. 

Our managed service enables you to unlock newsletters as a growth channel without the added time. 

Learn more now.

Here’s some tips before you take that well deserved vacation

Here’s a couple quotes from our Knowledge Base Article on International Travel:

Passport

“A passport is the most important document when it comes to travel, and it’s crucial to have it on your person or to have it in a secure location whenever you are abroad.'“

Pick a location (or locations) and Check Travel and Lodging Options

“There are many options when it comes to scheduling travel. In fact many credit cards have travel portals where you can book flights and hotels including American Express, Chase, Capital One, Discovery, among others.”

“There are also many flight scanners where you can find deals on flights including Google Flights, Skyscanner, Scott’s Cheap Flights, Momondo, Hooper, amongst others.”

Visa

“Though most popular tourist destinations for US citizens do not require a Visa for stays under 90 days, there is still a sizable number of countries that require a Visa in order to visit as a tourist.”

Exchanging Currencies

“Not all vendors in foreign countries accept US dollars. Additionally, it will likely be more advantageous to pay for items and services in foreign countries with the local currency. Banks and credit unions in the US are the best place to exchange currency. If you need more money once abroad, try to use your financial institution’s ATM if possible.”

For the full article with explanations of all these international travel related topics, check out our full Knowledge Base article here.

Work with Hoskin Capital