The name game: President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly eyeing former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal as a possible candidate for secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Wall Street Journal reports. Jindal’s name isn’t the only one to be floated for the job, a member of Trump’s transition team tells the newspaper. Former Republican rival Ben Carson has also been suggested. Trump’s transition team, which has been meeting for months, is assembling a list of people to fill key jobs in the Trump administration. Read the full story.
In the running: Five finalists have been identified to interview to be Baton Rouge Community College’s next chancellor, The Associated Press reports. The Louisiana Community and Technical College System says the finalists are: Dr. Vladimir Appeaning, assistant vice president for policy at the LCTCS; Dr. Helen Benjamin, chancellor of Contra Costa Community College District in California; Julie Foster, president of Elkhart County Campus of Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana; Dr. Michael Heindl, executive vice president of administration and finance for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College; and Dr. Larissa Littleton-Steib, vice chancellor of workforce development and technical education at Delgado Community College in New Orleans. Each finalist will interview early next week and participate in a series of public forums Monday and Tuesday. Dennis Michaelis is serving as interim chancellor after Dr. Andrea Miller resigned to become president of LeMoyne-Owen College.
Stocks rally: Donald Trump’s unlikely rise to power is providing a shot in the arm for global financial markets, with stocks and commodities rallying on optimism that his fiscal-stimulus plans will boost the global economy, Bloomberg reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a record high and emerging-market shares advanced. Copper was set for its biggest back-to-back jump in five years, gaining alongside lead, zinc, aluminum and the companies that produce them. The dollar also rose against most major peers, while government bonds extended their selloff as Trump’s win bolstered bets on faster inflation. Read the full story.
