By David Enna, Tipswatch.com
By the time you are reading this, I will probably be sipping a dry rosé wine somewhere in southern France, where I will be traveling for two weeks. We will be starting in Marseille and eventually ending in Lyon.
I should have internet access through most of the trip and I’ll attempt (sort of) to keep up with financial news and reading & answering your comments. No promises. Expect delays. My article updates will be spotty and ill-timed.
This won’t be a particularly newsy two weeks, but of course crazy things do happen every few days in our current United States.
What’s ahead
All of France is following Central European Summer Time, which is six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.
Wednesday, June 17. The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee will complete its first meeting under new Chairman Kevin Warsh. Any rate decision will be announced at 2 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. in southern France), and Warsh has committed to conduct a very interesting news conference a half hour later. The Fed is also expected to release a summary of economic projections.
I don’t write about Fed meetings, since you can get that content from 2,000 other sources. But if I can, I will watch the Warsh news conference out of pure curiosity. And it will be interesting to see if Jerome Powell, still a member of the Fed Board of Governors, pops up anywhere. (Prediction: He won’t.) These are questions I raised in my Sunday article:
- Will the FOMC statement drop its “easing bias,” signaling the possibility of future rate increases?
- Will Warsh suggest he is open to future rate increases, if needed?
- Will the governors go along with Warsh’s plans to reduce the Fed’s balance sheet, which could cause long-term rates to rise?
- What will the dot points predict for future interest rates, inflation and economic growth?
- How much dissent will we see from voting members of the board?
Thursday, June 18. We will get the results of the reopening auction of a 5-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Security at 1 p.m. EDT, which translates to 7 p.m. CEST. We are traveling with friends, so my timing on this is uncertain. I will eventually post the auction results on Thursday.
That’s all I have marked on my calendar through my return on June 28. If you know of other upcoming events worthy of “vacation attention,” let me know in the comments.
The trip
I adore France and the French (probably an unpopular opinion, I know) and have traveled through most of the country, north to south. Never been to Marseille. We will be using that city as a base to travel around the south until reaching Avignon, where we will board the Viking longship Buri for a week-long trek on the Rhône to Lyon.
Along the way we will see some new places: Viviers, Tournon, Vienne. But mostly this trip will be about enjoying time with our friends, combined with great wine and great food. And I will get to butcher my basic French along the way. (This results in the French switching to English, tout de suite!)
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David Enna is a financial journalist, not a financial adviser. He is not selling or profiting from any investment discussed. I Bonds and TIPS are not “get rich” investments; they are best used for capital preservation and inflation protection. They can be purchased through the Treasury or other providers without fees, commissions or carrying charges. Please do your own research before investing.
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities 
You might want to be a “travel writer”, along with your excellent Tips and I-bond columns. You are pretty good at both.
Be safe and have fun over there!
Looks like since you left the 5-year TIP bond auction is going to have a real yield considerably over your previous expectations tomorrow.
The 5-year real yield jumped 16 basis points to 1.96% today, the highest it’s been since early January 2025.
What day are you speaking at the G7 gathering?
I was scheduled to speak right after Trump but he went way too long.
I’m not sure why loving the French isn’t a popular opinion. We go to France regularly (at least 20 times) and at the risk of over-generalizing, they’re lovely people!
“And [Fed Chairman Kevin] Warsh has committed to conduct a very interesting news conference a half hour later.”
Since Trump’s announcement of his Walsh nomination explicitly mentioned that in the opinion of Trump (a man to whom people’s physical appearances are important and worthy of Trump’s comment), Walsh looked like a Fed chairman “from central casting,” I’m expecting that tomorrow’s event will be just the first of many very, very telegenically handsome news conferences, regardless of whether any of them prove to have been interesting.
Poor Jerome Powell: he just looks like a competent banker, not a TV personality. 🙂
You will I surmise enjoy a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the wine of the popes, made near Avignon. I wonder how many I-bonds you need for a trip to the South of France these days? Probably more than it used to be…
First of all: Enjoy your vacation!! 🙂
Have a great time.
Please say hello to our French allies.
The only event that warrants your vacation attention is your vacation. I’ve only been to France twice, and both times I visited Paris like a typical American tourist. I’d love to hear your recommendations for a non-Paris visit to France thar I hope to take in the future. I’d also appreciate hearing your views on a Viking River cruise. I’ve been on Caribbean cruises and an Alaska cruise (my favorite) but not a European cruise. Have a great time. Inflarion will still be here when you get back.
Normandy. Sobering. Moving. Mont Saint-Michel. Stay overnight on the island. Skip the egg soufflé.
I’ve been to both and actually stayed the night in Mont Saint-Michel. Beautiful and peaceful at night. Omelet was great. This trip ends at Lyon.
Fellow Francophile here. Between a semester in Lyon and a year teaching English in Dijon, I have incredibly fond memories of my time in France. Lyon is an underrated city and Avignon and Aix-en-Provence are enchanting towns. Bon voyage!
First of all ,thank you for educating us in I bonds / Tips.
I share your love for France….have been all over the area you are going to, traveling but car for weeks ,several different times over the last 30 years.
Have a wonderful time…..and thank you again
I absolutely love Avignon and surrounding. There is a reason (lighting and lifestyle mostly) the impressionists such as Van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet flocked to the region to paint. I’m jealous. Been trying to get my wife on that very same river cruise but she is anti-cruise. Please report back on the quality of your journey!
I am not a cruise person either, but I REALLY enjoy Viking on river or sea. Simple decor, no kids. Great food.
Great trip. Try the house special cocktaqil at Le Dome in Lyon.