Connect with us

Published

on

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 440 points to a record close on Monday after President-elect Donald Trumps pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, laid out his priorities including tax cuts.

In his first interview as Treasury nominee with The Wall Street Journal, Bessent said he will also focus on imposing tariffs, cutting spending and keeping the US dollar as the worlds reserve currency.

The Dow closed up 1% at 44,736.57, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and hit an intraday record.

The longtime hedge fund manager said he is focused on making Trumps 2017 tax cuts permanent, as well as eliminating taxes on tips, social security benefits and overtime pay.

Bessent himself is a very prominent investor and has a stellar track record which makes him a great choice, and the markets are responding to the excitement about how they think he will handle fiscal policy and interest rates, Ted Jenkin, co-founder and business consultant at oXYGen Financial, told The Post. 

On Friday, Trump nominated the seasoned hedge fund manager, who has studied economic history for around 40 years, as US Treasury Secretary.

That’s despite protests from Elon Musk, who donated millions to Trump campaign efforts and rallied in swing states on the president-elects behalf. Musk had dogged Bessent as a business-as-usual choice, and threw his support behind Howard Lutnick, who Trump ended up nominating to head the Commerce Department instead.

Investors and Wall Street bigwigs have largely applauded the nomination of Bessent, who worked at George Soros firm before starting his own, because he is seen as the moderate choice, Mahoney Asset Management CEO Ken Mahoney said.

Trump has ruffled feathers with some of his controversial nominations, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the health department, former Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general and former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense.

Disruption is the goal when it comes to ripping DEI out of government, or getting the politics out of the Justice Department, but not when managing our banking system or world financial markets, Kenin Spivak, chief executive at SMI Group, told The Post. Bessent is an experienced, steady, capable expert in all aspects of the department he has been chosen to lead.

Spivak said investors view Bessent as the wise choice and expect him to advise Trump to use restraint when implementing some of his economic policies.

The president-elect has pushed for massive tariffs of 10% on all imports and 60% on goods from China. Economists have warned the outsize tariffs could reheat inflation.

Bessent, meanwhile, had viewed tariffs as a negotiating tool, saying earlier this year that the tariff gun will always be loaded and on the table but rarely discharged. 

[Bessent] talked about gradual tariff changes, which had been a fear and a talking point of Trump adversaries, Mahoney told The Post. This ideology of massaging in tariffs and seeing how things go makes much more sense.

Mahoney said less intense tariffs could help foreign policy which was a mess in every way with the Biden administration by encouraging fair trade practices while still gaining leverage over other countries.

Another one of Bessents popular proposals is what he calls the 3-3-3 rule, inspired by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who revitalized Japans economy with a threefold policy. Bessents three goals are to slash the budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2028, boost GDP growth by 3% through deregulation and produce an additional 3 million barrels of oil per day, according to the Journal.

We also like to hear his policies around reducing the budget deficit and getting that under control, as we know there is a massive debt and spending problem within the government, Mahoney said. He also wants to increase oil productionso it is possible lower energy costs balance out the possible inflationary effects of tariffs.

Continue Reading

Sports

Oilers keep pace for home ice, but lose Draisaitl

Published

on

By

Oilers keep pace for home ice, but lose Draisaitl

SAN JOSE, Calif. — NHL leading goal scorer Leon Draisaitl left the Edmonton Oilers‘ game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night in the second period because of an undisclosed injury and didn’t return.

Draisaitl appeared to be injured midway through the second period and skated gingerly to the bench before leaving for the dressing room. Coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game that he had no update on the severity of the injury.

Jeff Skinner scored the tiebreaking goal shortly after Draisaitl left the game, giving the Oilers a 3-2 victory that kept them within two points of the Los Angeles Kings in the race for second place in the Pacific Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

“Obviously we’ve had some injuries to key guys,” Skinner said. “It’s a lot of opportunity for other guys to step up and I think guys have done a good job so far. We’re going to have to continue that and keep working together to get the results we want.”

Draisaitl had an assist earlier in the second period. He leads the NHL with 52 goals and is third in the league with 106 points.

Draisaitl sat out four games last month because of an undisclosed injury.

The Oilers are already without star center Connor McDavid, who has been sidelined since colliding with Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey on March 20. McDavid has resumed skating with the team in a noncontact jersey but there is no timetable for his return.

The playoffs begin in just over two weeks.

“You never want to miss those guys,” Knoblauch said. “You never want your top players not to play because every time they’re not in, it decreases your chances of winning because they are good players, obviously. But what happens is other guys have some opportunities to play, get some confidence, hopefully score some goals, because we’re going to need them.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Makar 9th NHL blueliner with 30 goals in season

Published

on

By

Makar 9th NHL blueliner with 30 goals in season

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Avalanche star Cale Makar scored against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night to become the ninth defenseman in the NHL, and the first with Colorado, to score 30 goals in a season.

The sixth-year player is the NHL’s first defenseman to reach the 30-goal mark since Mike Green of the Washington Capitals had 31 in 2008-09.

Makar put the Avalanche up 5-2 by scoring a power-play goal with 38 seconds left in the second period. He was set up in the left circle for a one-timer by a pass from Nathan MacKinnon. He also had two assists as the Avalanche won, 7-3, to clinch their eighth consecutive playoff appearance.

Overall, NHL blue liners have now combined to reach 30 goals 18 times, led by Bobby Orr, who had five 30-goal seasons. Paul Coffey (four) and Denis Potvin (three) are the only others to have had multiple 30-goal seasons. The list is rounded out by Ray Bourque, Kevin Hatcher, Phil Housley and Doug Wilson.

With the goal and two assists, the 26-year-old Makar also increased his point total to 90, matching the franchise record for defenseman he set last season. In doing so, he became the NHL’s fifth defenseman to produce consecutive 90-point seasons, and first since Coffey (1988-89 to 1990-91) and Al MacInnis (1989-90 to 1990-91).

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Blues’ Holloway exits with lower-body injury

Published

on

By

Blues' Holloway exits with lower-body injury

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis forward Dylan Holloway left the Blues’ 5-4 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first period Thursday night because of a lower-body injury.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery had no additional information on the injury after the game.

“We’ll have more, I’m sure, tomorrow,” Montgomery said.

The team announced the injury during the first intermission and said he would not return to the game. It was not clear when Holloway was injured.

Holloway had eight shifts in the first period.

Holloway has been a driving force in the Blues’ 11-game winning streak, which ties a franchise record. He has 26 goals and 37 assists in 77 games this season.

“Obviously, that’s an elite player for us, someone who plays in all situations, and, you know, a really important piece to our team,” forward Jake Neighbours said. “We had to focus on the task at hand. … it sucked losing Dylan, and just hope he’s OK.”

Continue Reading

Trending