Jockeying to join Trump’s cabinet

Good morning and on right now’s agenda:

• Fed and BoE fee choices

• German coalition collapses

• Wall Avenue celebrates Trump’s victory

After securing a historic victory yesterday Donald Trump has now begun serious about who will serve in his new White Home administration.

Scott Bessent, a hedge fund supervisor and high fundraiser for Trump, is canvassing to function the president-elect’s deputy and Treasury secretary, probably the most necessary and highly effective positions within the new cupboard.

Bessent, a billionaire who made his fortune betting in opposition to the Japanese yen with liberal philanthropist George Soros, grew to become one in all Trump’s high financial advisers final 12 months. Trump lately described Bessent as “one of many high analysts on Wall Avenue”.

Different attainable contenders for the publish embrace John Paulson, one other billionaire hedge fund supervisor and Trump marketing campaign donor, and Robert Lighthizer, the previous US commerce consultant. Senator Invoice Hagerty, who served as US ambassador to Japan in the course of the first Trump administration, has additionally been talked about in reference to the job. Learn extra on Bessent’s campaign.

Who else will be part of the brand new administration? Here are some top contenders.

Within the coming days, we can have extra evaluation on the far-reaching repercussions of Trump’s second time period, together with in our White Home Watch e-newsletter. Sign up here.

And right here’s what else I’m maintaining tabs on right now:

• Financial coverage: The Federal Reserve and Bank of England are anticipated to chop rates of interest right now. Learn Chris Giles’s commentary on what Trump’s return means for central banks.

• Earnings: Warner Bros Discovery, The Hershey Firm, Ralph Lauren and Tapestry will all publish outcomes earlier than the opening bell. Airbnb, Expedia, Information Corp and Rivian will announce earnings after the market closes. 

• European leaders meet: Leaders of the EU meet in Budapest right now and the way forward for Ukraine can be high of the agenda because the continent prepares for a extra hostile president within the White Home.

5 extra high tales

1. Wall Avenue yesterday rejoiced at Donald Trump’s re-election and the prospect of looser regulation for the monetary companies trade and a wave of recent merchandise. The banks element of the S&P 500 hit an all-time excessive whereas the KBW regional banks index rose greater than 12 per cent. Personal fairness teams additionally rose. Here’s what Wall Street is expecting from the new administration.

• Massive Tech: The chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft rushed to congratulate Trump, with the sector hoping for a more permissive stance on offers, antitrust and AI.

2. Chinese language exports soared in October and its commerce surplus ballooned, simply days after Donald Trump secured victory on a promise to aggressively elevate tariffs to scale back the commerce surplus with China. The bumper export figures are expected to inflame tensions between Beijing and the incoming administration.

3. Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, has appointed his financial adviser Jörg Kukies as the brand new finance minister after yesterday sacking the earlier holder of the workplace, triggering a collapse of the nation’s ruling coalition. A former Goldman Sachs banker, Kukies has labored with Scholz since 2018. Read more on Germany’s new finance minister.

4. AstraZeneca’s China chief has been detained by Chinese language authorities over the previous week, the drugmaker advised the Monetary Occasions. The FTSE 100 firm additionally confirmed that two different present executives within the area and two former executives have been underneath investigation. Read the full story.

5. The US authorities has come to assistance from Argentina by urging a New York court docket to dam the seizure of the nation’s belongings as partial fulfilment of a $16bn authorized judgment. Officers in President Javier Milei’s authorities have privately vowed to struggle to the bitter finish to scale back the nation’s authorized liabilities and shield Argentina’s scarce sources. Here’s more on the US government’s intervention.

The Massive Learn

Ultimately, it wasn’t even shut. A presidential election lengthy forecast to bop on a knife’s edge in a short time was a rout for Donald Trump. Right this moment’s Massive Learn has the 5 maps and charts that present how the Republican candidate defied standard assumptions about his assist and redrew America’s political map.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• The Democratic Occasion: The dimensions of Donald Trump’s victory reveals that Kamala Harris’s progressive agenda failed to connect with American voters.

• Trump 2.0 reads: Gideon Rachman and Frederick Studemann choose some of the best books for understanding the previous president’s return to energy.

• Markets: Buyers referred to as this US election accurately however what do they do now, asks Katie Martin.

Chart of the day

The financial and geopolitical circumstances of the previous 12 months or two have created arguably probably the most hostile surroundings in historical past for incumbent events and politicians throughout the developed world. The Democrats have joined Britain’s Tories and Japan’s Liberal Democrats in 2024’s graveyard of incumbents in an unprecedented 12 months of elections, writes our chief knowledge reporter John Burn-Murdoch.

Take a break from the information

HTSI’s drinks columnist Alice Lascelles was requested to guage the very best teas on this planet at The Leafies awards. These were the winners.