This morning, I was wondering if there was a way for Obama to provide any kind of effective policy leadership on the economy before he is inaugurated in January, since the current status quo has left any progress in this area at loose ends. Well, perhaps I have my answer:
Then in what has become a common occurrence, the final hour of trading turned volatile again. Stocks surged this afternoon after CNBC and Wall Street Journal reported that New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy J. Geithner will be nominated to be Treasury secretary in the new administration.
The Dow closed up 6.5 percent, or 494 points, at 8046. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.3 percent or 48 points, to 800, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq spiked 5.2 percent, or 68 points, to 1384.
Well, that's something. Now about that stimulus package, President Bush ...
--Tim Fernholz
