The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 400 points on Monday after President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, laid out his priorities, including tax cuts.
In my first interview as a Treasury candidate wall street journalBessent said he would also focus on imposing tariffs, cutting spending and keeping the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.
By Monday afternoon, the Dow had risen 0.9% and the S&P 500 had risen 0.3% on the news.
The longtime hedge fund manager said he is focused on making President Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent and eliminating taxes on tips, Social Security benefits and overtime pay.
“Mr. Bessent himself is a very prominent investor and has a strong track record, which makes him a great choice. Markets are reacting to excitement about how he will address fiscal policy and interest rates. co-founder Ted Jenkin said. a business consultant at oXYGen Financial told the Post.
On Friday, President Trump nominated a veteran hedge fund manager who has studied economic history for nearly 40 years to be Treasury secretary.
That's despite protests from Elon Musk, who donated millions of dollars to Trump's campaign and held rallies in battleground states on the president-elect's behalf. Musk endorsed Bessent as the “traditional choice” and ultimately endorsed Howard Lutnick, whom Trump nominated to head the Commerce Department in his place.
Investors and Wall Street bigwigs generally praised the appointment of Bessent, who worked at George Soros' firm before striking out on his own, said Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management. But that's because he's seen as a “moderate” choice.
President Trump has chosen several controversial candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health Department secretary, former Congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, and former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Some of the feathers have been disturbed.
“Destruction is the goal when you take DEI out of the government or politics out of the Justice Department, but not when you take control of the banking system or global financial markets,” said Kenin Spivak, chief executive of SMI Group. CEO told the Post. . “Mr. Bessent is an experienced, stable and capable professional in all aspects of the department and has been selected to lead.”
Mr. Spivak said investors see Mr. Bessent as a wise choice and expect Mr. Trump to advise restraint in implementing some economic policies.
The president-elect has pushed for massive tariffs of 10% on all imports and 60% on products from China. Economists have warned that oversized tariffs could reignite inflation.
Bessent, on the other hand, sees tariffs as a negotiating tool, saying earlier this year that “tariff guns are always loaded and on the table, but they are rarely lifted.”
“[Bessent] “Mr. Mahoney spoke about phasing in tariffs, which has been a topic of concern to President Trump's opponents,” he told the paper. “This ideology of ‘massaging’ tariffs and seeing how things go makes much more sense.”
Mahoney said easing tariffs could help the Biden administration's foreign policy, which is “a mess in every way” by encouraging fair trade practices while increasing its influence over other countries.
Another of Bessent's popular proposals is what he calls the “3-3-3 rule,” inspired by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who revitalized Japan's economy with three policies. It's something. Bessent's three goals are to reduce the budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2028, boost gross domestic product growth by 3% through deregulation, and increase The aim is to produce an additional million barrels of crude oil.
“We also want to hear the president's policies on reducing and containing the deficit, because we know there is a huge debt and spending problem within the government,” Mahoney said. “He also wants to increase oil production…so lower energy costs could offset the inflationary impact of tariffs.”
