Bessent's Bond Buying "Mistake" | Bloomberg Businessweek Daily 8/25/2026

Watch on YouTube ↗ | August 25, 2026 at 21:11 | 57:23 | Bloomberg Markets

Speakers

Erik Schatzker — Editorial Director, Bloomberg New Economy

Kathy Warden — Chair, CEO and President, Northrop Grumman

Daniel Rausch — VP, Alexa and Echo, Amazon

Kristine — Managing Editor

Charlie Pellett — Anchor/Reporter, Bloomberg

Summary

The video covers Stanley Druckenmiller's criticism of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's long-term bond buyback plan, with Erik Schatzker explaining why Druckenmiller sees it as fighting market fundamentals and why long-term Treasury yields should rise. It then features Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden discussing solid rocket motor capacity, global defense demand, B-21, Golden Dome, and rare earth supply-chain risks. Finally, Amazon's Daniel Rausch discusses Alexa Plus AI shopping benefits, and markets are reviewed ahead of Nvidia earnings.

Druckenmiller argues Treasury bond buybacks are a mistake and long-term Treasury yields should be allowed to rise.
Erik Schatzker highlights deficits, entitlement spending, and central bank independence risks.
Northrop sees solid rocket motors and tactical missiles as a fast-growing market.
Kathy Warden sees robust global defense demand across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Northrop cites clear demand for B-21 and a tangible Golden Dome missile-defense opportunity.
Rare earths are described as mission-critical for defense supply chains with China dependency risk.
Amazon says Alexa Plus drives larger baskets and higher Prime attachment.
Stock movers include Moderna up on cancer vaccine data, while Intuit and CrowdStrike face AI or valuation questions ahead of earnings.

Ideas

Erik Schatzker Editorial Director, Bloomberg New Economy 4:12

Treasury buyback can't stop rising yields

Druckenmiller argues the Treasury's long-term bond buyback program is a mistake because it fights market fundamentals. The bond market is pricing inflation and default risk, nominal growth is above the 10-year yield, and governments always lose when defending prices. Long-term Treasury yields should be allowed to rise and bond prices are vulnerable.

Kathy Warden Chair, CEO and President, Northrop Grumman 18:05

Northrop positioned to grow solid rocket motors

Northrop was not a primary tactical missile provider but is now qualifying as a second-source supplier for solid rocket motors. The company has already doubled capacity, is building another plant to roughly triple capacity, and expects this to be one of the fastest-growing parts of its market.

Kathy Warden Chair, CEO and President, Northrop Grumman 23:10

Rare earths critical for defense supply chain

Defense microelectronics depend on rare earths, and the economics alone do not support trusted sourcing outside China. The U.S. government must use policy, regulation, subsidies and financing to build a secure rare earth supply chain; this will become mission-critical for the defense industry.

Kathy Warden Chair, CEO and President, Northrop Grumman 30:12

Global defense demand is robust and broad

The global defense demand environment is the most robust in a long time, driven by the broader threat landscape. Europe has transformed since the Russia-Ukraine war, Middle East demand is elevated, and Asia is a growing market, with broad-based national security spending across common products like missile defense.

Daniel Rausch VP, Alexa and Echo, Amazon 45:17

Alexa Plus boosts Amazon shopping and Prime

Amazon's Alexa Plus AI assistant is rearchitected from the ground up and is producing tangible commerce results: Alexa for shopping leads to 40% bigger basket sizes, and customers who try Alexa Plus attach to Prime at a 25% higher rate, benefiting Amazon's bottom line.

Kristine Managing Editor 52:57

AI overhang clouds Intuit's long-term viability

Ahead of earnings, Intuit faces AI as an overhang despite investments in QuickBooks and TurboTax. The key question is whether it has long-term viability beyond what AI can do, even with revenue expected to rise 12%.

Kristine Managing Editor 54:07

CrowdStrike's high expectations create risk

CrowdStrike has been immune to the SaaS slowdown and is up 58% year-to-date, but heading into earnings the stock has lofty expectations and is expensive versus peers. Earnings need to justify the high valuation and agentic AI optimism.

Kristine Managing Editor 55:27

Moderna mRNA cancer vaccine offers promise

Moderna was upgraded to peer perform from underperform after promising mRNA melanoma vaccine data with Merck. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates the vaccine could generate $9 billion in sales by 2040 across melanoma, lung, and kidney cancers.

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This Bloomberg Markets video, published August 25, 2026, features Erik Schatzker, Kathy Warden, Daniel Rausch, Kristine discussing U.S. 10-Year Treasury Note, U.S. 30-Year Treasury Bond, NOC, REMX, ITA, AMZN, INTU, CRWD, MRNA. 8 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Erik Schatzker, Kathy Warden, Daniel Rausch, Kristine · Tickers: U.S. 10-Year Treasury Note, U.S. 30-Year Treasury Bond, NOC, REMX, ITA, AMZN, INTU, CRWD, MRNA