● Running Against the Herd: Battling Biases to Make Better Investment Decisions
Eddie Perkin
Summary via publisher (Columbia U. Press)
Why do smart, capable individuals and teams so often make poor decisions? Running Against the Herd offers new answers to this question by blending insights from behavioral economics with hard-earned lessons from a twenty-five-year investing career. Eddie Perkin draws on his extensive experience leading global investment teams to identify biases that shape our decisions, not just in markets and boardrooms but also in sports, gambling, and everyday life. He shows how groupthink and mental shortcuts—from anchoring and framing to short-termism—impair judgment and shares practical tools to counteract them. Through real-world examples and data from hundred-million-dollar investment decisions, Perkin demonstrates that success depends less on predicting the future than on designing teams and processes that challenge assumptions, welcome dissent, embrace uncertainty, and learn from mistakes.
Foreign Bonds Take the Lead Over US Fixed Income in 2026
Diversifying into foreign bond markets has been a win for US investors this year, based on a review of a set of ETFs through yesterday’s close (Aug. 27). The strongest gains have come from the riskier segments of overseas fixed income and from inflation‑linked securities, which together have delivered most of the lift for international bond portfolios from a US‑based perspective.
Disinflation Stalls and the Fed’s Margin for Error Just Got Thinner
The July inflation report wasn’t surprising, but it was revealing.
A Mixed Year For Bonds Ahead of Warsh’s Jackson Hole Speech
The bond market has had a rocky year, but several fixed‑income sectors are posting gains so far in 2026, based on a set of ETFs through Tuesday’s close (Aug. 25). The main downside exceptions: medium‑ and long‑term Treasuries, which are modestly in the red this year.
Treasury Raises the Stakes in a Battle to Cap Long‑Term Yields
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is escalating the government’s campaign to cap, if not lower, long‑term yields. After last week’s expanded buyback plan failed to sway the bond market, the government raised the stakes again on Monday, floating the prospect of a dramatically larger pool of funds to step up purchases of government debt.
Q3 Growth Still Firm, But Fresh Headwinds Cloud the Outlook
US economic activity remains on track to strengthen in the third quarter, based on the latest nowcasts compiled by The Capital Spectator. But the degree of the estimated rebound has softened lately amid recent hints that headwinds are building.
Book Bits: 22 August 2026
● We Are Not Machines: The Fight for the Future of Work
Sarah O’Connor
Review via The Guardian
It’s never been easy to land and keep a decent job. But it feels like it’s getting harder. In June, the number of job vacancies in the UK fell to a five-year low; headlines warn of a looming AI-employment shock. What might the future of work look like – and who or what will shape its terms? In her new book, Sarah O’Connor goes looking for answers in the modern collision of artificial intelligence, automation, and human labor.
Buybacks vs. Bond Bears: The High‑Stakes Standoff Continues
The brinkmanship between the U.S. government and the bond market continued on Thursday following the Treasury Department’s announcement the day before that it would double repurchases of longer‑dated Treasuries in a bid to lower yields. The statement worked—briefly—as yields dipped in early trading on Thursday, but by the end of the session rates snapped higher.
US Treasury Tries to Slow Surging Yields with a Band‑Aid Fix
The Treasury tried to put a lid on rising yields this week, doubling the size of its bond‑buyback program in a bid to steady the market. The move triggered an immediate rally—the price of Treasury bonds jumped and yields fell. But the relief will likely be fleeting. The same powerful economic and financial forces that have been driving yields higher remain firmly in place, and a larger buyback program won’t change market sentiment.
Equities Hit a Speed Bump as Semis Slide and Yields Climb
Stocks extended their decline for a third straight session on Tuesday (Aug. 18), renewing debate over the durability of the equity rally at a moment when rising Treasury yields, persistent inflation concerns, and a still‑simmering conflict with Iran threaten to keep pressure on risk assets. Short‑term market direction is unknowable, but several indicators are worth watching to gauge how resilience is evolving and if the current setback is an early clue of deeper trouble ahead.