Geithner likely Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Wall Street thrilled

Timothy Geithner, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is expected to be appointed as Treasury Secretary in the administration of Barack Obama, the business daily The Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Friday.

Obama is expected to announce the names of his economic team members on Monday to calm the markets, NBC News reported. Geithner (47) has been mentioned since the beginning as one of the most likely candidates for Treasury Secretary, who will succeed Henry Paulson in a key position in the U.S. government’s fight against the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Geithner, who leads a key regional branch of the U.S. central bank, the FED, in New York, has closely collaborated with Secretary Paulson since the onset of the crisis on implementing bailouts and other measures to recover the U.S. financial sector. The FED’s New York branch is crucial in the interaction between economic policy makers in Washington and Wall Street.

Wall Street reacted extraordinarily to the news of Geithner as the next Treasury Secretary. After significant fluctuations in today’s trading, stocks recorded a major surge in the last hour, with the Dow Jones index rising by 494.37 points, or 6.6 percent, to 8,046.66 points. The S&P 500 index gained 6.3 percent, closing trading at 800.01 points, while the technology index Nasdaq rose by 5.2 percent to 1,384.35 points.

"This is an excellent choice. He knows where all the bones are buried on Wall Street," said Tom Sowanick, Chief Investment Officer of Clearbrook Financial LLC from Princeton, New Jersey. Although relatively young at 47, Geithner has extensive experience working in the Treasury Department, where he has been since 1988. He served as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs during the Clinton administration, alongside Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers, who was also a candidate for Obama’s Treasury Secretary. Among other appointments in the future U.S. administration, it was reported on Friday that retired General James Jones, former NATO Supreme Commander, is likely to become the President’s National Security Advisor.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is the most likely candidate for Secretary of Commerce, The Washington Post reported on its website. The New York Times reported on Friday afternoon on its website that Senator Hillary Clinton accepted the offer to become Secretary of State, but this news was soon denied by Clinton’s office, as well as by Obama’s transition team, noting that the two sides are still negotiating on this matter.  (H)