The daily business briefing: November 10, 2016

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1. Markets rebound from brief panic over Trump win
2. OPEC production hits record high despite calls for output cuts
3. Trump reportedly eyeing climate 'alarmism' critic to lead EPA
4. Commodity prices jump as Trump promises infrastructure spending
5. Twitter COO Adam Bain to leave

published 10 November 2016

1. Markets rebound from brief panic over Trump win

U.S. stocks bounced back strongly on Wednesday after futures plummeted in the hours immediately following Donald Trump's win in the presidential election. Stock futures pointed to further gains early Thursday, as investor confidence continued to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 257 points, or 1.4 percent, after Dow futures fell by more than 750 points overnight. Trump appeared to have soothed markets with his conciliatory acceptance speech, in which he mentioned Keynesian-style spending and promised a business-friendly administration.

U.S. oil prices edged lower on Thursday after data showed output for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries members rising to a record high despite attempts to seal a deal to limit production. OPEC production increased by 230,000 barrels a day to 33.83 million barrels a day in October, the International Energy Agency said in its closely watched monthly report. The findings underscored the challenge OPEC will have in hammering out a plan to cut output at its meeting later in November. Last month's production was above OPEC's target ceiling range of 32.5 million to 33 million barrels a day.

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Donald Trump reportedly is strongly considering Myron Ebell, whose writings criticize what he calls climate change "alarmism," to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Ebell has been leading Trump's EPA transition team. He has called the Paris Climate Agreement on reducing carbon emissions "unconstitutional," and the Obama administration's controversial Clean Power Plan, which demands that power companies lower greenhouse gas emissions, "illegal." Other candidates include venture capitalist Robert Grady, and New Jersey environmental official Joe Aiello, among others. Trump, who once said he would get rid of the EPA, has vowed to reduce energy-industry regulation; his opponent, Hillary Clinton, had promised to continue Obama administration initiatives.

Commodity prices surged on Thursday as Goldman Sachs predicted that President-elect Donald Trump's promise to rebuild American infrastructure would increase demand for products needed for the projects. Copper jumped by 3.9 percent to $5,625 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Zinc futures hit a six-year high in Shanghai, and iron ore prices reached their highest level in nearly two years. In his victory speech, Trump said U.S. infrastructure in his presidency would become "second to none" and provide millions of jobs.

Twitter shares dropped by 4.3 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday following the company's announcement that Adam Bain, its chief operating officer, is leaving the company. Wall Street credited Bain with building up the social media service's once fast-growing advertising business, but now the company's efforts to turn audience growth into profits have stalled. Anthony Noto, Twitter's chief financial officer, will replace him, and the company will search for a new chief financial officer.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.