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    Here’s what investors should look for in Rivian's quarterly results after the bell

    Rivian stock is off 57% so far this year.
    The EV automaker reports fourth-quarter earnings and 2022 guidance after the bell Thursday.
    While investors will be monitoring last quarter’s financial results, their prime focus will be on guidance and any changes to previously announced plans.

    A Rivian R1T electric pickup truck during the company’s IPO outside the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021.
    Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Rivian Automotive’s electric pickups and SUVs are built to handle rough terrain, but even they might have trouble navigating the steep 57% decline in the company’s stock so far this year.
    Rivian will be called upon to answer whether it can turn its fortunes around after the company missed 2021 production targets and made a controversial price increase for current reservation holders when the automaker reports its fourth-quarter earnings and 2022 guidance after the markets close on Thursday.

    While investors will be monitoring last quarter’s financial results, their prime focus will be on guidance and any changes to previously announced plans amid global supply chain problems, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and significant cost increases in crucial raw materials for its EVs.

    Wall Street will also be looking at Rivian’s customer reservations and progress in ramping up simultaneous production of electric pickups and SUVs for consumers and an electric delivery van, the first orders of which are going to Amazon, holder of a 20% stake in the start-up.
    “Ramping a new program, not to mention three, is always challenging especially for a start-up,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak in an investor note last week.
    Spak lowered his firm’s 2022 production estimate — from roughly 43,000 vehicles to fewer than 25,000 — and slashed its price target on the stock from $165 to $116 a share.
    Shares of Rivian, which went public through a blockbuster IPO in November, closed Wednesday at $43.95 a share, up 4.1%. They were off about 8% midday Thursday.

    Here’s what investors should know before Rivian’s results are announced:

    Expect losses

    Rivian is a growth story. Like many speculative EV start-ups, Rivian is a bet on its future, not its current financials.
    Rivian is expected to report a fourth-quarter adjusted loss per share of $1.97 on revenue of $60 million, according to estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
    For the third quarter, Rivian reported an operational loss of $776 million and a net loss of $1.23 billion.

    Outlook

    Rivian has said it plans to produce 150,000 EVs by 2023. That’s going to be a heavy task, given the company at the end of last year was averaging about 50 vehicles a week — an annual pace of 2,600 vehicles.

    The company last year said it expected capital expenditures to be about $8 billion through the end of 2023.
    Bank of America analyst John Murphy has said Rivian’s “near-term business success will be measured by orders and production trends” rather than financials.
    For 2022, Refintiv consensus estimates put Rivian’s full-year adjusted loss per share at $4.97 and revenue at about $3.16 billion.

    Production snags

    Shares of Rivian nosedived in December after CEO Robert “RJ” Scaringe disclosed the company would miss its 2021 production target due to supply chain issues as well as challenges ramping up production of the complex batteries that power the vehicles. The shares haven’t been able to recover and are off 60% since that disclosure.
    “Ramping up a production system like this, as I said before, is a really complex orchestra,” Scaringe said in December. “We’re ramping largely as expected; the battery constraint is really an artifact of just bringing up a highly automated line, and, as I said, it doesn’t present any long-term challenges for us.”

    An electric Amazon delivery van from Rivian cruises down the street with the Hollywood sign in the background.

    Analysts and investors will want to know whether the company has been able to fix any or all of those problems.
    Rivian paused production at its Normal, Ill., plant for 10 days to make some fixes, Scaringe said last month during a Wolfe Research conference, adding “we’re now of course reaping the benefits of some of those line improvements that were made.”
    The company previously said it planned to add a second battery pack assembly line at its plant in early 2022.

    Commodity costs

    The rapidly rising costs of commodities such as nickel, a critical ingredient in most long-range EV batteries, is likely to be a key focus during Rivian’s earnings call. Russia is a major global supplier of nickel, and the price of the metal has surged as investors grapple with the implications of the heavy sanctions imposed in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
    Against that backdrop, Rivian last week announced steep price increases – about $12,000 – on higher-end “quad-motor” versions of its R1T pickup and R1S SUV, saying that rising costs made the move necessary.
    “Since originally setting our pricing structure, and most especially in recent months, a lot has changed,” Scaringe wrote in a letter to stakeholders on March 3. “The costs of the components and materials that go into building our vehicles have risen considerably. Everything from semiconductors to sheet metal to seats has become more expensive and with this we have seen average new vehicle pricing across the U.S. rise more than 30% since 2018.”
    The company had initially applied the price increases retroactively to vehicles that had been ordered before March. But that plan was walked back after an outcry from customers. In a letter apologizing for the move, Scaringe acknowledged the company “made a mistake” that “broke” customers’ trust.

    Reservations

    Wall Street views vehicle reservations as an indicator of demand for new vehicles. That’s a relatively recent development, driven by EV leader Tesla which takes reservations for its vehicles.
    As of Dec. 15, Rivian reported 71,000 reservations for its electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV, up by 28.2% from 55,400 units in November. The company previously said it planned to complete those orders by the end of 2023.

    It’s unclear how the pricing changes affected reservations. Rivian said it would allow customers who canceled a preorder after the increase to reinstate their order with the original configuration, pricing and delivery timing. But it maintained the higher pricing for reservations placed after March 1.
    “Raising the cost significantly (~20%) on early adopters willing to take that leap of faith is not a great way to build brand equity,” RBC’s Spak said last week. “The debate will now become do the orders slow as the vehicles become more expensive (~$90k+) and invite more cross shopping.”
    Beyond the consumer reservations, Wall Street will be monitoring Rivian’s production and inventory of commercial vans to Amazon. The retail giant, the largest stakeholder in Rivian, has preordered 100,000 electric vans from the start-up that with expected delivery through 2025.
    —CNBC’s John Rosevear and Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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    There is 'nowhere to hide’ for consumers as inflation hits food, gas, housing

    Shelter, gasoline and food were the largest contributors to inflation in February, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
    These categories are also the biggest components of household budgets. They accounted for 63% of total expenses for the average household in 2020.
    Grocery bills and housing costs are rising at their fastest annual rate since April 1981 and May 1991, respectively. Energy costs (which include gasoline) are up the most since July 1981.

    David Sacks | Getty Images

    Consumer prices are rising at their fastest pace in decades — and that inflation has been most acute in household staple items like food, housing and transportation, making it hard to escape the budgetary sting.
    The Consumer Price Index jumped 7.9% in February relative to a year earlier, the largest 12-month increase since January 1982, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

    The index measures price fluctuations across a broad basket of goods and services. A $100 basket a year ago would cost $107.90 today.
    Shelter, gasoline and food were the largest contributors to the increase in overall prices in February, the Labor Department said. (The price index jumped by 0.8% over the month.)

    These three categories were the three largest components of household budgets in 2020, respectively. Together, they accounted for 63% of total expenses, according to most recent Labor Department data.
    “There’s nowhere to hide,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate. “This is hitting everybody.”
    Inflation “is most pronounced on items that are necessities,” he added.

    (Gasoline is part of the broader “transportation” category, which also includes public transit costs and vehicle purchases. Car sales have also spiked over the last year.)
    More from Personal Finance:How to save money at the grocery store as food prices riseRetirees likely shielded from inflation hit on some expensesThe Great Resignation is still in full swing
    Of course, inflation doesn’t impact all consumers equally. For example, a consumer who commutes by car and has to fill up a gas tank may feel higher prices more acutely than one who works from home or uses public transportation. And American workers have gotten big raises in the past year, reducing (though not always overriding) the sting of higher prices.
    The Federal Reserve is also expected to start raising interest rates next week in an attempt to tame inflation.

    The big three

    Household grocery bills swelled by 8.6% in the last 12 months, the largest jump since April 1981, according to the Labor Department.
    Costs for all major food groups increased in February; dairy and fruits and vegetables saw prices rise at their fastest monthly pace in over a decade.
    Gasoline price are up 38% in the last year. That statistic doesn’t include the recent run-up due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which pushed prices at the pump to more than $4 a gallon, on average, on Sunday — the highest since 2008.
    Overall energy costs (which include items beyond gasoline) are up the most since July 1981, on an annual basis.

    Shelter costs like rents are up 4.7% in the last year, the most since May 1991. While that percentage increase was smaller than in other categories, housing costs account for more than a third of the average household budget — giving it an outsized dollar impact.
    “That comparatively benign increase … is likely to put the biggest squeeze on household budgets for the remainder of the year,” McBride said.
    A 5% increase in a $1,000-a-month apartment lease amounts to much more money than a 20% rise in something that costs $5, for example ($50 a month versus $1, respectively). And a lease locks in that price over a fixed term.

    Why inflation?

    Elevated inflation began emerging in spring 2021 as the U.S. economy came out of its pandemic hibernation.
    Consumers had pent-up demand after staying home for months to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Households were flush with cash; they’d been unable to spend on things like entertainment and travel, and had savings from stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits the federal government issued to prop up the economy.
    High consumer demand stressed supply lines already beleaguered by virus-related disruptions. Higher prices followed, though were initially concentrated in just a few categories. Many economists and federal officials thought the phenomenon would be temporary.

    However, inflation has persisted. Consumers may see costs rise even faster in the next few months, according to financial experts.
    That’s likely to be true of gasoline and other categories negatively affected by the war in Ukraine. Further, the supply-chain snarl “may be worsened by prolonged economic consequences” of the conflict, according to Jason Pride, chief investment officer of private wealth at Philadelphia-based Glenmede Trust Company.
    He expects prices to rise at a more modest 4% to 5% annual rate by the end of 2022.

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    BMW says 2021 profit surged as it favored higher-margin vehicles during chip shortage

    BMW’s full-year profit margin surged as it prioritized production of higher-profit models amid a global shortage of semiconductor chips.
    Vehicle deliveries rose 8.4% from pandemic-challenged 2020 levels, driving a strong increase in revenue.
    BMW will present its full results, and its guidance for 2022, at its annual meeting next week.

    Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    German automaker BMW AG said Thursday its revenue and net profit hit all-time highs in 2021, despite increased spending on research and development related to electric vehicles.
    In a preview of results that it will present at its annual meeting next week, BMW said its full-year net profit jumped to 12.46 billion euros, or roughly $13.7 billion, from just 3.86 billion euros in 2020. Revenue jumped 12.4% year over year to 111.24 billion euros, or about $122.4 billion.

    Both profit and revenue notched records for the company.
    The increase in BMW ‘s annual revenue was driven the old-fashioned way: by increased sales of cars, SUVs and motorcycles. The automaker’s vehicle deliveries, including cars and SUVs, rose 8.4% from its coronavirus-challenged 2020 result, to just over 2.5 million vehicles. That came despite production disruptions related to an ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips.
    About 13% of those 2021 deliveries were “electrified” vehicles, meaning plug-in hybrids or fully electric models. Sales of BMW Group’s electrified vehicles were just over 328,000 in 2021, up 70% from the company’s 2020 result, but still well short of EV leader Tesla’s 936,000 2021 total.
    BMW is aiming to have fully electric vehicles account for at least half of its global deliveries by 2030.
    The EV push is coming at a cost. BMW’s research and development spending, much of which was focused on new EV architectures and components, rose 10.7% to 6.3 billion euros. But it remained roughly consistent with 2020 when expressed as a percentage of revenue, about 6.2%.

    BMW’s profitability also surged as the company prioritized production of its most profitable vehicle lines amid the chip shortage, a good sign for investors hoping that the company will be able to comfortably finance its transition to zero-emissions vehicles. The operating profit margin in BMW’s automotive segment, a widely watched figure among auto analysts, rose to a healthy 10.3% in 2021 from just 2.7% in 2020 and 4.9% in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic roiled global industries.
    Sales of BMW motorcycles rose 14.8% in 2021, to just over 194,000. The motorcycle unit’s operating profit margin rose to 8.3% from 4.5% in 2020.
    “Our business figures are proof that we were able to combine the underlying transformation and the major investment it entails with strong operational success in a very volatile environment in 2021,” said Nicolas Peter, who holds a title equivalent to a U.S. company’s chief financial officer at BMW. “We are in a good position and optimistic about the future.”
    BMW plans to share some of that hefty profit with its shareholders. The company said that it will propose an annual dividend of 5.80 euros per share, up from 1.90 euros in 2020, as well as a new share repurchase program, at next week’s annual meeting.
    Separately, BMW announced on Thursday that it has agreed to purchase Alpina, the brand of a longtime builder of higher-performance versions of BMW cars, some of which have been offered from time to time via BMW’s own dealership network. The Alpina brand will eventually become an in-house trim line for BMW, similar to the AMG brand at rival Mercedes-Benz.
    BMW will report its complete fourth-quarter and full-year results at its annual conference for shareholders, set to begin on March 16.

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    Goldman Sachs shutters Russia business, first major Wall Street bank to leave after Ukraine war

    Goldman Sachs says it is exiting Russia, becoming one of the first major global investment banks to do so after the country invaded its neighbor Ukraine last month.
    Most big U.S. banks had modest operations in Russia, a geographically large nation with a relatively small economy. Goldman was estimated to have $940 million in total exposure, or less than 10 basis points of its total assets, according to Bank of America analysts.
    While New York-based Goldman is shuttering its operations in Russia, it still facilitates trades in debt securities tied to the nation.

    David M. Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, speaks during the Milken Institute’s 22nd annual Global Conference in Beverly Hills, April 29, 2019
    Mike Blake | Reuters

    Goldman Sachs says it is exiting Russia, becoming the first major global investment bank to do so after the country invaded its neighbor Ukraine last month.
    The bank said Thursday in an e-mailed statement that it is working to wind down operations in Russia.

    “Goldman Sachs is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements,” said a bank spokeswoman. “We are focused on supporting our clients across the globe in managing or closing out pre-existing obligations in the market and ensuring the well-being of our people.”
    The move is the latest sign of Russia’s increasing isolation in the third week of President Vladimir Putin’s campaign to overthrow the government of Ukraine. Tech firms including Apple and Google and payments firms like Visa and Mastercard were among the first to pull back from Russia, followed by retail brands including McDonald’s and Starbucks.  
    Most big U.S. banks had modest operations in Russia, a geographically large nation with a relatively small economy. Citigroup had the biggest exposure as of year-end 2021 at $9.8 billion, according to filings. Goldman was estimated to have $940 million in total exposure, including $650 million in credit, or less than 10 basis points of its total assets, according to Bank of America analysts.
    Meanwhile, banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley don’t disclose their Russia exposure in filings, suggesting limited dealings with the country, according to the analysts.
    Citigroup had disclosed plans to sell its Russia operations last year as part of a strategic overhaul, well before the conflict began. But the war has forced it to run its consumer banking operations there on a “more limited” basis and could reportedly force Citigroup to simply shutter the business.

    While New York-based Goldman is closing its operations in Russia, it still facilitates trades in debt securities tied to the nation, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the bank’s move.
    “In our role as market-maker standing between buyers and sellers, we are helping our clients reduce their risk in Russian securities which trade in the secondary market, not seeking to speculate,” the bank said.
    With reporting from CNBC’s Jim Forkin.

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    Hypersonic aircraft start-up Hermeus raises $100 million to finish prototype, build out fleet

    Hypersonic aircraft start-up Hermeus announced a $100 million round of funding that it says will help complete development of its first prototype aircraft, with first flights planned for 2023.
    The company is developing aircraft that would travel at five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5.
    Hermeus’ fundraising was led by venture capitalist Sam Altman, and joined by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and In-Q-Tel, both new investors.

    The company test firing the Quarterhorse aircraft’s engine at an unveiling event in 2021.

    Hypersonic aircraft startup Hermeus on Thursday announced a $100 million round of funding that it says will help complete development of its first prototype aircraft and build out its fleet of high speed jets.
    Hermeus’ fundraising was led by venture capitalist Sam Altman, and joined by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and In-Q-Tel, both new investors. The round included existing investors Khosla Ventures, Canaan Partners, Bling Capital, and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest.

    The company declined CNBC’s request to disclose its valuation following the raise.
    “Hermeus is pursuing an ambitious vision that seems impossible at first glance, but they pair it with an engineering culture and business roadmap that can actually bring it into reality,” Altman said in a statement. In a tweet, he said: “i [heart] fast airplanes!”
    The Atlanta-based company is developing aircraft that would travel at five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5. Founded in 2018, Heremeus has been developing its Chimera engine and Quarterhorse prototype aircraft, to demonstrate the capability and reliability of its approach.
    Hermeus said the new funds will be dedicated to completing development of its first Quarterhorse jet, build three flight-capable Quarterhorse jets, and begin flight testing. Then, the company plans to move to development of its next aircraft, called Darkhorse.
    “Quarterhorse is a sprinter, effectively the smallest possible airframe to flight test our engine, Chimera, across all modes of operation and Mach numbers. Darkhorse will be capable of sustained hypersonic flight and be able to carry cargo or payloads,” Hermeus COO Skyler Shuford told CNBC.

    The company unveiled its first, non-flying Quarterhorse prototype at an event in 2021, where Hermeus test fired the aircraft’s engine. Hermeus last year said that it aimed to begin Quarterhorse flight testing in late 2022, but on Thursday said it is now on track to fly in 2023.
    Hermeus’ testing and development of Quarterhorse and Darkhorse are part of the company’s plan to then build a hypersonic commercial passenger jet, called Halcyon.

    An artist’s rendering of the company’s Halcyon aircraft.

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    Retirees likely shielded from inflation hit on these expenses, report finds

    Advice and the Advisor

    Annual inflation rose by 7.9% in February, the U.S. Department of Labor reported, which is a new 40-year high.
    However, some retirees may not feel the brunt of certain rising costs, according to J.P. Morgan.

    High gas prices at stations in Garden Grove, California, on Monday, March 7, 2022.
    Jeff Gritchen | Medianews Group | Getty Images

    Inflation has continued to increase amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict and ongoing supply chain issues. But certain retirees may not feel the brunt of rising costs, financial experts say.
    Annual inflation rose by 7.9% in February, a new 40-year high, the U.S. Department of Labor reported, covering everyday expenses like energy, food, shelter and more.

    However, spending changes throughout people’s golden years, reducing the blow of some rising costs, according to J.P. Morgan’s 2022 Guide to Retirement.

    More from Advice and the Advisor:

    “It’s getting below the headline,” said Katherine Roy, chief retirement strategist at J.P. Morgan, explaining how the basket of goods retirees purchase may shift over time.
    Although gasoline prices have spiked by about 24% over the past month, according to AAA, older households tend to spend less on transportation than families ages 35 to 44, making them less vulnerable, the report found.
    And some retirees may have the flexibility to buy less gas by combining trips or sharing rides, said certified financial planner Catherine Valega, wealth consultant at Green Bee Advisory in the greater Boston area.
    “I don’t think we need to panic,” added Valega, explaining how price changes may be a chance to revisit budgets and long-term plans.

    While J.P. Morgan suggests using a separate line item for the rising cost of health care, with a 6% growth rate, other spending categories may only inflate by 1.5% to 2% annually, Roy said.
    If you pull out health care, retirees tend to spend less in real terms until age 80 on other categories, she said.
    These findings align with a SmartAsset analysis showing retirement spending decreases in 11 of the 14 core categories found in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey.
    Although the rising cost of health care is a concern, it’s not enough to offset the decreases in retirees’ spending on housing, food and transportation, said CFP Anthony Watson, founder and president of Thrive Retirement Specialists in Dearborn, Michigan.
    “For the majority of people, those other expenses go down over time,” he said.

    For the majority of people, those other expenses go down over time.

    Anthony Watson
    Founder and president of Thrive Retirement Specialists

    Of course, rising costs may currently be hardest on the lowest-income households, which tend to experience higher inflation rates, according to a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
    However, it’s important for retirees to have a long-term perspective when it comes to inflation, the J.P. Morgan report argues.
    “It’s just a point in time and what matters is the average,” Watson said.
    “Yes, we’re experiencing high inflation right now,” Roy added. “But we’ve come out of a historically low period for a really long time.” More

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    Rising airfares are giving people spring break sticker shock

    Spring break travelers are experiencing sticker shock as they attempt to book flights.
    According to travel app Hopper, the average price of a domestic round-trip ticket has surged 26% over the last year to $290.
    Rising fuel costs, due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, are helping to drive the surge.

    Elizabeth Smith was stunned after she saw how much a roundtrip ticket from Spokane, Washington, to Orlando, Florida, cost for this year’s spring break — just six years after her family’s first trip to Disney World.
    “In 2016, the same seven of us went, and we paid $350 for airfare round-trip per person. Currently the same flights we were hoping to go on are over $1,000 per person,” Smith, an Idaho schoolteacher, told CNBC. “We were really shocked. Not in a million years would I think that I needed to have as much for airfare that I did for Disney.”

    For months, the mother of three says she scoured the web for cheap flights – including Google Flights, Kayak, and Expedia.
    “Everything said, ‘Don’t buy now. We expect better prices,’ including Google. And so I kept waiting,” she said.
    But those prices never came down. 
    “I have students that were gonna be flying to see their family for spring break, and they’ve told me that they can’t go, or they’re gonna have to drive because of these airline tickets,” Smith said. “The prices are just so high.”
    Smith and her students aren’t the only ones experiencing sticker shock on travel rates. According to travel app Hopper, which analyzes historical airfare data, the average price of a domestic round-trip ticket has surged 26% over the last year to $290, while the average international ticket is $730 round-trip. Rising fuel costs, due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, are helping to drive the surge.

    In Ohio, Miami University college freshman Anna Thompson started planning her spring break trip months ago. 
    “I started looking at the West Coast. Really anywhere warm,” she said. “I started to look south as well – in areas like Florida and Louisiana.”
    But her plans to relax with friends at the beach were canceled when she found out how much it would cost.
    “The flight prices were a lot higher than I was expecting,” Thompson told CNBC. “I remember looking months prior when they were closer to $100 to $150. But upon looking again – they had skyrocketed upwards of $300, $400 for the same flights.”
    Thompson said she ultimately used a travel app to find a cheap flight to Boston, where her brother lives.

    Busy travel season

    “Looking at TSA travel volumes, we’re seeing about 2 million travelers going through TSA security checkpoints over the weekends. That’s about 85% to 90% of 2019 volumes,” Hopper economist Adit Damodaran told CNBC. “So it’s definitely getting busy, and travel demand is definitely picking up.”
    For those checking into a hotel, $144 is the average daily rate – that’s up 40% compared to the same time a year ago, according to data firm STR.
    Meanwhile, analysts say the Russian invasion of Ukraine and global oil concerns continue to push crude and jet fuel prices to their highest level in 13 years.
    “Higher jet fuel prices that airlines are having to contend with is another reason that airfare is having to rise for travelers,” Damodaran said.

    Travelers head to check-in at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California.
    Paul Bersebach | MediaNews Group | Orange County Register via Getty Images

    According to Hopper’s 2022 Spring Break travel report, domestic airfare is expected to climb an average of 7% each month toward July. As for international airfare, “that one’s a little harder to gauge right now – especially with the situation in Ukraine and Russia,” Damodaran said.
    If geopolitics continue to make headlines, travel experts are anticipating Americans to rethink transatlantic travel. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, flight searches from the U.S. to Europe are down 9 percent from expected levels, according to Hopper.
    The world’s largest online travel platform Booking Holdings disclosed on Tuesday that room occupancy fell 10% in the last week, compared to 2019 levels, primarily led by Eastern Europe and Russia.
    “We may just see travelers stay closer to home … until the situation, you know, eases a little bit,” said Jan Freitag, national director for Hospitality Market Analytics at CoStar.

    Tips to save on travel

    Damodaran suggests the best way travelers can save money for domestic trips is to book three to four weeks in advance of the departure date — and definitely no later than that. “The earlier you can start to track prices, that will help you get the best ticket and best price on your trip,” he said.
    For international trips, Damodaran recommends booking at least four weeks in advance. “We tend to see prices on those trips start to rise a little bit earlier than domestic trips,” he said. “No later than four weeks should help you avoid the biggest price increases for international trips.”
    Damodaran also suggests for domestic or international travel, you can save a little bit by adjusting the days of your travel. “Fridays tend to be the most expensive to depart, and Sundays tend to be the most expensive day to return. So if you have a bit of flexibility, adjusting the day of your travel can help with that as well,” he said.
    That’s exactly how Liz Smith was able to find cheaper flights to Disney the first week of April – by shifting her dates. However, she and her family will have to compromise:
    “I had to take more time off work [and] my kids will be out of school for a couple of days,” Smith told CNBC. “We were hoping not to do that, [but] that’s sort of the price to pay, I guess.”

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    Deutsche Bank defends decision not to exit Russia: It's not 'practical' right now

    Deutsche Bank’s CFO said Thursday it is not “practical” to close its Russia business, despite similar moves by major corporations seeking to distance themselves from the pariah state.
    Speaking to CNBC, James von Moltke said the decision hinged on the bank’s duty of care to its clients in the country.
    The comments come as the list of Western companies closing or pausing their Russia operations grows.

    Deutsche Bank said Thursday it is not “practical” to close its Russia business, despite similar moves by major corporations seeking to distance themselves from the country over its invasion of Ukraine.
    Speaking to CNBC, the German bank’s chief financial officer defended the decision, saying it hinged on its duty of care to clients that still operate in the country.

    It comes as other major banks make moves to pull out of Russia. In Wall Street’s first departure, Goldman Sachs said Thursday that it was winding down its business in the country, while HSBC on Monday told staff to begin ceasing their dealings with Russian banks.
    “We’re there to support our clients. And so, for practical purposes, that isn’t an option that’s available to us. Nor would it be the right thing to do in terms of managing those client relationships and helping them to manage their situation,” James von Moltke said.
    Von Moltke added that the bank would be willing to reconsider its position should the political situation escalate further and its clients in Russia — mostly multinationals — cease their operations in the country.
    “Of course, we’ll need to look at how this situation evolves and consider our footprint in Russia as we gain some greater clarity as to the direction of travel here,” he said.
    “As that [client presence] diminishes, so too will our presence in Moscow.”

    Von Moltke did not name any of the bank’s clients in Russia.

    CFO of Deutsche Bank James von Moltke speaks to the media during the bank’s annual press conference to discuss financial results for 2019 on January 30, 2020 in Frankfurt, Germany.
    Thomas Lohnes | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    It comes as the list of Western companies closing or pausing their Russian operations grows.
    PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Starbucks all said on Tuesday that they would suspend business in the country, joining a league of brands that have exited the country following Russia President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
    Sanctions on a number of Russian banks and other businesses, meanwhile, have made it harder for companies to operate within the pariah state.

    Russian exposure ‘very limited’

    Shares of European banks have gyrated dramatically since Russia’s invasion, with markets seeking to quantify their exposure to the conflict and resulting Western sanctions.
    Deutsche Bank, for its part, has sought to reassure investors that its exposure to Russia is “very limited.”
    In an announcement released Wednesday, the bank said that included gross loan exposure to Russia of $1.4 billion euros ($1.55 billion), or 0.3% of its total loan book.
    Von Moltke said the bank had managed the market risk “quite successfully” in the war’s early days, and noted that it was working closely with clients to manage their response.
    He added that the bank’s capital in its Moscow subsidiary had been “fully hedged” to manage currency risks.
    “The market will always react to a crisis and the scenarios that unfold and look at the downside scenarios first. I think then, over time, we’re able to provide more information, we’re able to talk about our trajectory,” he said.
    Deutsche Bank has been burned in Russia previously. In 2015, it pulled back its investment banking business in the country following an investigation into potential money laundering by Russian clients.
    Later, in 2017, it entered settlements in the U.K. and the U.S. over so-called mirror trades, which saw the bank move $10 billion of Russian client money out of the country.

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