Opening Bell: 8.31.26

Jackson Hole Highlights New Tug-of-War for the Treasury and Fed [WSJ]Bessent surprised market watchers last week by announcing that the Treasury would at least double the government’s buybacks of long-term debt. His goal was to push down yields that had hit 19-year highs, Nick reports. That process could loosen financial conditions at the very moment the Fed may want to tighten them.Aon CEO says insurance broker seeks to build ‘premiere middle market platform’ with purchase of rival USI [CNBC]Insurance broker Aon announced on Monday it will purchase rival USI Insurance Services from private equity firm KKR…. The acquisition for Aon builds on the company’s purchase of NFP in 2024, another insurance broker focused on the U.S. middle market….Shares of Aon tumbled 7% in response on Monday. States can regulate prediction markets as gambling, federal appeals court rules [CNN]The 3-0 ruling came from a panel of three Trump-appointed judges. The case originated from Nevada, where regulators tried to shut down the Kalshi prediction site…. With the backing of the Trump administration, prediction markets have been operating as federally regulated financial exchanges….The ruling Friday creates a circuit split, with dueling rulings on the same question, teeing up the issue for potential Supreme Court review.Former White House teleprompter operator ordered to turn over profits, pay fine over insider trading [AP]The settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced Friday, also dealt Gabriel Perez a three-year trading ban. Perez was placed on unpaid leave from his job at the White House after reports emerged that he used his position to make bets on what President Donald Trump would say in speeches…. Perez was ordered to repay his profits in full, along with the $65,000 civil penalty, which the commission said was a reduction because of his “exemplary cooperation.”Ex-Congressman George Santos Receives Kalshi’s First-Ever Lifetime Ban [WSJ]In addition to the ban, Kalshi said its compliance department had imposed a penalty of $71,356…. Kalshi announced several other disciplinary actions on Monday, including a three-year ban for a Republican congressional candidate in North Carolina….The CFTC alleged that in February 2026, Santos made a series of misleading statements on social media about whether he would attend Trump’s State of the Union speech, while placing lucrative bets on Kalshi on the matter. Power, Betrayal and the Fall of Leon Black [WSJ]Black said he didn’t realize he had spent that much because after an initial written contract with [Jeffrey] Epstein, all subsequent payments had been agreed to by handshakes between the two men.I was incredulous that he would have such a loosey-goosey fee arrangement with Epstein, especially considering Black’s Wall Street reputation as a tough negotiator. In response, Black quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson to me: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”