This month, the S&P 500 skidded more than 25 percent in the 12 trading days after the election ...

before todays surge of 500 points.

The Friday afternoon news that Obama is likely to choose Timothy Geithner, the president of the New York Federal Reserve, to be the next Treasury secretary helped spark a rally that sent the Dow Jones industrial average surging almost 500 points.

Geithner has worked closely with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke this year as the government seized control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and insurer American International Group Inc.

I hope Wall Street's excitement carries over to 2009 and trickles down to Wall Street and then to main street.