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Wall street greets Biden with a rally to record highs — As President Joe Biden took the oath of office, Wall Street hit new highs with major indices rising around 1-2 percent. Some of the reasons are obvious. Hope for fresh stimulus. A different and more aggressive approach to Covid-19 (see below on today’s executive actions). Fewer trade wars. Less general chaos flowing out of the Oval Office.

But it's not just that. And it may not last. We asked some of our favorite traders and market strategists for their takes on Wall Street’s reaction to Biden. But first some context on just how well markets fared since Election Day…

Via Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist for LPL Financial: “This [was] the best inauguration day return since Reagan’s second-term. Also, ended up being the best election to inauguration return ever!

“Of course, no one knows where we go from here, but with record monetary and fiscal stimulus, coupled with a huge re-opening later this year, a continuation of this bull market could be in the cards.” The number two best Election Day to Inauguration? Donald Trump.

Leuthold’s Jim Paulsen: “I would think it would be due to more stimulus and hope for faster vaccinations under Biden. But [Wednesday’s] leadership doesn't really jive with that? S&P 500 Communications sector is the big winner -- that is the Nexflix earnings report and what it implies for others in this group.

“Tech also a big winner which may be similarly riding the coattails of the Netflix EPS report. … Overall … [it] might have less to do with the inauguration than it does with a market which had marked time for the last several weeks, which finally broke to new highs again”

RBAdvisors Rich Bernstein: “The combination of monetary and fiscal stimulus in the pipeline is already the biggest incremental charge to the economy ever … The new Biden administration has made it quite clear they want even more fiscal stimulus. So, the continuing rally reflects the basic empirical fact that stimulus is good in the short-term. …

“The path to solving the pandemic still seems very opaque to me. It’s certainly positive Biden wants to take responsibility, but the pandemic is revealing our country’s poor health care infrastructure and I’m not sure we can solve that problem quickly.”

Wedbush’s Steve Massocca: “I think the entire rally over the last several weeks has a partial political component. When Yellen and Garland were proposed for Treasury and DOJ it demonstrated that moderates would take the major jobs. Also it seems (maybe wishful thinking) that the most significant tax proposals will be tabled until Covid is in the rear view.”

Cumberland’s David Kotok: “Markets applaud order, good behavior and patriotic action including Pence and McConnell, not just Democrats. Chaos and dysfunctional disruption seems to be in retreat.”

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING — Congrats to Jason Goldberg, managing director in equities at Barclays, who was first to identify “Trump” as the missing word in Wednesday’s Morning Money. High five! Thanks to all for playing! Email me on [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben. Email Aubree Eliza Weaver on [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @AubreeEWeaver.

Biden has a bunch more executive actions planned on Covid-19 and other issues … Initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. expected to slide down a bit to 830K from 965K …

BIDEN PLANS COVID ACTIONS — Per release off embargo this A.M.: “Biden will release the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness -- a comprehensive roadmap to guide America out of this pandemic.

“To jumpstart this strategy, he will immediately sign 10 Executive Orders and other directives and take additional actions to move quickly to contain the COVID-19 crisis by expanding testing, administering vaccines, advancing racial equity, and safely reopening schools and businesses.”

BIDEN RISES TO THE OCASSION — Our John F. Harris: “No one expects soaring oratorical peaks from … Biden. That’s not his natural style. Yet his inaugural address was a powerful statement because it showed him grappling forthrightly — in the plainspoken language that reflects his authentic voice — with one of the most vexing questions of human relations: How does one restore respect when there are very good reasons to feel contempt?

“Nearly everyone faces that challenge, at moments, in daily private life. Now it is the central question in the nation’s public life. Biden’s words will not echo for long unless the achievements that follow actually answer the question”

TREASURY NAMES — The new Biden Treasury department released a bunch more names of senior staff including Marti Adams for Executive Secretary; Ryan Jacobs, Chief Speechwriter and Senior Advisor; Alfred I. Johnson, Deputy Chief of Staff; Calvin Mitchell, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and several others. More here on all of them via our Zach Warmbrodt.

ON YELLEN… Senate Finance is now expecting a committee vote on Friday for the Treasury Secretary nominee. Full vote will come soon after and won’t be close.

AND ACTING NAMES — Our Megan Cassella: “Biden and his team have begun to name acting Cabinet secretaries and agency heads to lead his administration until the Senate confirms his slate of nominees. …

“White House officials, in announcing the acting leadership, said ‘nearly all’ are career civil servants, and many have spent years at the agencies they will now be temporarily leading.”
Among the actings: Andy Baukol at Treasury.

AND NEW AT THE CFPB — Our Katy O'Donnell: “Former CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger formally submitted her resignation Wednesday within an hour of … Biden’s swearing-in, allowing Biden to appoint a career staffer as acting director while nominee Rohit Chopra goes through the confirmation process. Dave Uejio, a nine-year veteran of the agency who has held the role of chief strategy officer since mid-2015, will be the acting director …

“Kraninger’s resignation came after Biden tapped Chopra, a former assistant director at the bureau and an ally of progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), to replace her earlier this week.”

JOBLESS CLAIMS TO DROP? — Pantheon’s Ian Shepherdson: “The spike in initial jobless claims last week was merely a correction after a run of below-trend readings, and we expect it to reverse over the next couple weeks. … [E]vidence is consistent with the idea that the weakening in service sector employment since last fall, when the Covid third wave struck, has slowed”

WALL STREET SETS RECORD — AP’s Stan Choe, Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga: “Stocks rallied to record highs on Wall Street as traders hoped that new leadership in Washington will mean more support for the economy, which is still reeling from joblessness and business closures because of the pandemic.

“The S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent Wednesday. Joe Biden took the oath of office to become the 46th U.S. president, and has already pitched a $1.9 trillion plan to help American families and businesses. The hope is that the additional stimulus will help carry the economy until vaccinations get daily life closer to normal later this year. Treasury yields rose. Netflix soared after passing 200 million subscribers.”

WALL STREET TRADERS PROPELLED BUMPER QUARTER FOR BIGGEST BANKS — Bloomberg’s Shahien Nasiripour: “Record trading revenue helped make 2020 a far better year for the biggest U.S. banks than for most other industries, with the coronavirus pandemic ripping through the country’s economy.

"While optimism seems to have taken hold across much of Wall Street, the question now is what 2021 will look like, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley executives saying it’s unlikely that last year’s trading surge will be repeated.”

LIBOR OVERHAUL GETS BOOST IN CUOMO BID TO AVERT TRANSITION CHAOS — Bloomberg’s Keshia Clukey and William Shaw: “New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed legislation that would help prevent hundreds of billions of dollars of financial contracts from descending into chaos when the London interbank offered rate expires.

“Provisions to help troublesome Libor-linked contracts switch to replacement rates are contained in Cuomo’s state budget plan, which was published on Tuesday. Bankers, investors and regulators see such proposals as crucial to ensuring that a large swath of the global financial system isn’t disrupted.”

BIDEN WILL LEAD AN OLDER, POLARIZED, FINANCIALLY INSECURE NATION — WSJ’s Paul Overberg and Janet Adamy: “President Joe Biden will lead a country with an aging population that is on shakier economic footing and is more politically polarized than at most points in recent years.

“Key metrics of financial and social well-being show the challenges Mr. Biden faces as he moves into the White House on Wednesday. The coronavirus pandemic halted the 11-year economic expansion and drove up unemployment just as the typical American household was starting to enjoy sustained income growth.”

PPP AID REOPENS WITH 60,000 LOANS — WSJ’s Amara Omeokwe and Ruth Simon: “Roughly 60,000 borrowers were approved for more than $5 billion in forgivable loans during the first week of the reopened Paycheck Protection Program, the Small Business Administration said Tuesday.

“The small-business coronavirus relief effort relaunched Jan. 11 after closing last August. The first wave of applications was largely handled by community and small lenders after the SBA set aside time for them to process the loans exclusively.”

CITIGROUP TO CUT BONUSES FOR TOP EXECS — Bloomberg’s Jennifer Surane: “Citigroup Inc. will reduce bonuses for dozens of its top executives after the bank was reprimanded by regulators last year. The reductions may vary widely, depending on the size and structure of each executive’s pay package, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

“Executives who report directly to the management committee are being told this month of the decisions. Citigroup’s board is still weighing final compensation decisions for the 15-member executive management team, including Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat.”

Transitions: Rachel Millard has joined Edelman’s Financial Communications team as a VP. Most recently she was the Deputy Director for Public Affairs at the CFTC. She is also an alum of Sen. John Thune’s press shop.