News Analyst
President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Cantor Fitzgerald Chief Executive Officer Howard Lutnick to be his commerce secretary, according to multiple published reports.
The decision “signals to markets that the Trump economic team will be more a ‘team of rivals,’” and it could be negative at least for a while “as elbows initially are thrown, turf is marked, and policy battles are joined,” said Terry Haines, founder of Pangaea Policy, in a note.
“But it could turn out to be an overall plus for markets. In his first term, Trump showed restraint and deftness in making [Gary] Cohn point person to massage details of Congress’ 2017 tax law, and let [Steve] Mnuchin have his head at Treasury on trade and beyond. All that was to markets’ benefit, and could be again,” Haines added.
Lutnick had been making hiring-related decisions as co-chair of Trump’s 2024 transition team, then he became a candidate for Treasury secretary before getting tapped to run the Commerce Department. Trump has yet to announce a Treasury pick but Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, and hedge-fund manager Scott Bessent remain among those in the running.
