US MARKET

Dow up 494 as Obama Prepares to Name Treasury Boss

Friday, Wall Street put a stop to a terrifying decline and stormed higher Friday as President-elect Barack Obama appeared ready to tap the chief of the New York Federal Reserve as the next treasury secretary and hand him the herculean task of righting the U.S. financial system. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had broken even for the day until news of the nomination leaked about an hour before the close, raced upward and finished 494 points higher, a rally of more than 6 1/2 percent. The Dow finished at 8,046, and the S&P just a hair over 80.

The turnaround came when word reached Wall Street that Obama was likely to nominate New York Fed president Timothy Geithner, 47, for treasury secretary. Geithner would assume top responsibility for tackling what threatens to be the deepest recession in a generation.

"Something needed to be done on the economy," said Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer at Tradition Capital Management. "The fact that they've got the team together, maybe that is going to shorten the period of indecision."

While a Geithner appointment could remove the cloud of uncertainty surrounding Obama's economic team has been removed, there are still plenty of unknowns facing the market.

As a result, volatility will remain a major force on Wall Street for some time to come, said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. He said worries about marquee companies from General Motors to Citigroup are unnerving investors.

"What we're seeing is these symbols of American business history really suffering and prompting investors to call into question the viability of the system," Ablin said, referring to the functioning of the broader economy.