75 Point Hike

Steph Curry getting close to 🐐 status?

Preview

• 75 Point Rate Hike

• Sports Corner by Tom Davis

• Ukraine Joining the E.U.?

• What CEOs are Saying

75 Point Rate Hike

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 75 points or 0.75%. This will have ripple effects throughout the economy since a tremendous amount of economic activity is fueled by debt. When you buy a home, car, or even a phone, you are financing it with debt. This debt is granted to you by a bank that has to borrow it from the Federal Reserve at a rate called the Federal Funds Rate. When the cost of money goes up, the banks pass those increases to the borrower.

This is the primary tool that the Federal Reserve has to fight inflation. Making it more expensive to borrow will cause spending in all sectors of the economy to slow. The more money consumers and businesses spend on financing debt, the less money that can be spent to buy or make things.

If you are in the market for a new home, this announcement means your interest rate will likely be higher, which means more of your mortgage payment will be going to the bank instead of into the square footage of your home. The only silver lining is if you have access to a higher interest savings account, you will probably earn a little more interest on your idle cash. Probably not enough to beat inflation, but with how the market has behaved this year, it might be your best bet.

If you are interested in learning more about how I am navigating these tumultuous times, make sure to try a 30-day premium subscription. You get access to the Husk Fund, where I outline all my trades and my analysis of the week's action.

Sports Corner

​​NBA Finals

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in game 6 of the NBA Finals 103-90, capturing the franchise's 7th NBA title. - Game 6 Highlights

MVP: Steph Curry joins the elite company of LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Tim Duncan with four rings, multiple league MVPs, and a Finals MVP. In this series, he averaged 31 points, six boards, five assists, and two steals per game on 43% 3-point shooting. Who has a better shot at five rings, Steph Curry or Lebron? - Steph's come a long way.

The Celtics had a phenomenal season where their young core stepped forward in developing into a championship-level team. At times this series looked like the younger and more talented side. However, by Game 6, Boston was outmatched and gassed.

I'm sure the NBA won't have any drama this offseason. The 2022 draft is this Thursday, June 23, on ESPN at 7:30 E.T.

For more coverage on the Stanley Cup Finals, the U.S. Open, and more, check out this week's edition of Week to Week Notes.

Ukraine joining the E.U.?

On Friday, the European Union officials recommended that Ukraine be recognized as a candidate to join the Union. Being recognized as a candidate is far from a sure thing to getting entry. North Macedonia was recognized as a candidate in 2005 and hasn't started the accession (being able to join) process.

This announcement follows the visit of German, Italian, and French leaders to Kyiv on Thursday to visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The leaders of the three E.U. countries also support the candidate's status. Zelensky says that the announcement would boost the morale of troops fighting the Russian invasion. 

Time will tell if Ukraine ever joins either the E.U. or NATO. Since Croatia joined in 2013, the E.U. has not added any more countries to the bloc. 

Western countries are concerned about the influx of economic migrants and the Union's ability to operate because of its increased size.

What CEOs are Saying

Fortune published the results of a survey of the Fortune 500 CEOs, and I'm going to highlight a couple that I found the most interesting.

Number One Threat to Business: Talent Shortage (24%)

This is something that I can see becoming a bigger issue as companies look to digitize and automate their operations. In the U.S., we have a big problem with the imbalance of tech workers versus business. Each year the U.S. graduates about 65,000 Computer Scientists versus 11.5 million business school students. Can't manage what you can't hire.

Should CEOs Take Positions on Social and Political Issues? No (72%)

I think CEOs like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Marc Benioff will become the exception, not the norm. On hot-button social and political issues, any statement a CEO makes in today's environment will turn off 50% of your workforce or customers.  

Most Admired CEO? Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase

I think Mr. Dimon has a great pulse on the economy, and I always enjoy listening to his interviews. The second was Satya Nadella of Microsoft, and the third was Tim Cook of Apple.