Book Bits: Noise, And Other Stories

● Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment
Daniel Kahneman, et al.
Summary via publisher (Little, Brown Spark)
In Noise, Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein show the detrimental effects of noise in many fields, including medicine, law, economic forecasting, forensic science, bail, child protection, strategy, performance reviews, and personnel selection. Wherever there is judgment, there is noise. Yet, most of the time, individuals and organizations alike are unaware of it. They neglect noise. With a few simple remedies, people can reduce both noise and bias, and so make far better decisions. Packed with original ideas, and offering the same kinds of research-based insights that made Thinking, Fast and Slow and Nudge groundbreaking New York Times bestsellers, Noise explains how and why humans are so susceptible to noise in judgment—and what we can do about it.

 

● Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire
By Brad Stone
Review via GeekWire
On the other hand, Stone concludes, Amazon’s ability to overcome its missteps shows it’s “getting perilously close to invincible.”
That’s what he writes after detailing Amazon’s search for a second headquarters, or HQ2. Stone uses diligent reporting and inside sources to shed new light on that process, the creation of Alexa, the changing sentiments of third-party sellers, Amazon’s last-mile delivery initiatives, its response to the pandemic, Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture, and many other topics.

● Convergence: Technology, Business, and the Human-Centric Future
Deborah Westphal
Summary via publisher (Unnamed Press)
There is no longer a choice in the matter. There is no turning back. All aspects of human life are rapidly converging at an intersection of people, business, and environment. With potential for either a historic integration or catastrophic collision, leaders have two clear choices: remain committed to profits above all else; or shift to a human-centric approach that embraces this convergence. Author Deborah Westphal, a leader in future-focused strategy, leverages her experiences working with some of the world’s most innovative business leaders, to show how the interests of people (as human beings, not customers), overlap with those of companies in ways never before seen. Convergence charts the path forward for those leaders―particularly in business―who seek to shift to a human-centric mental model.

● The Complete Guide to ETF Portfolio Management: The Essential Toolkit for Practitioners
Scott Weiner
Summary via publisher (McGraw Hill)
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are growing and they’re growing fast. With more than $5.5 trillion in assets and cash flows exceeding those of mutual funds over the last several years, ETFs have become the dominant investment vehicle of our time. Now, The Complete Guide to ETF Portfolio Management provides everything you need to know to manage an ETF with the knowledge and skill of a seasoned pro. As Janus Capital’s first ETF Portfolio Manager, Scott Weiner helped build much of the infrastructure around Index-based ETF Portfolio Management for the global asset management group Janus Henderson.

● Machine Learning in Asset Pricing
Stefan Nagel
Summary via publisher (Princeton University Press)
Investors in financial markets are faced with an abundance of potentially value-relevant information from a wide variety of different sources. In such data-rich, high-dimensional environments, techniques from the rapidly advancing field of machine learning (ML) are well-suited for solving prediction problems. Accordingly, ML methods are quickly becoming part of the toolkit in asset pricing research and quantitative investing. In this book, Stefan Nagel examines the promises and challenges of ML applications in asset pricing.

Please note that the links to books above are affiliate links with Amazon.com and James Picerno (a.k.a. The Capital Spectator) earns money if you buy one of the titles listed. Also note that you will not pay extra for a book even though it generates revenue for The Capital Spectator. By purchasing books through this site, you provide support for The Capital Spectator’s free content. Thank you!

Disclosures: None.

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