The official transition to a new administration and early Cabinet selections helped drive Wall Street to new highs on Tuesday, with the Dow topping 30,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 up 1.6% to another new high, too - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and Marketplace

Indeed, after 4 years of new record closes followed by massive corrections (and even a brief bear market), many on the Street are welcoming the anticipated steady-state approach from D.C. - NYTimes

Meanwhile, the recent boom in amateur trading means that a usually slow Thanksgiving week is yielding to a “very, very busy” stretch - Bloomberg

Purdue Pharma has pleaded guilty in federal court to “criminal charges that it misled the federal government about sales of its blockbuster painkiller OxyContin, the prescription opioid that helped fuel a national addiction crisis.” The plea ended an “extensive federal investigation” that featured a multibillion-dollar settlement between Purdue and the DOJ - NYTimes and WSJ and Law360

The OCC has imposed a $250 million fine against JPMorgan Chace over “deficiencies in the bank’s internal controls and audit program for its massive fiduciary business.” The bank agreed to pay the sum “without admitting or denying the agency’s findings” – Law360

Still in streamlining mode (and smarting from the coronavirus’s effect on the airline industry), General Electric announced on Tuesday that it’s cutting more jobs in its jet-engine business. Two rounds of layoffs earlier this year saw a full 25% of the unit’s 52,000 global employees dismissed - WSJ and MarketWatch

The FCC has “affirmed its decision to designate ZTE Corp. as a national security threat over concerns telecommunications gear made by the Chinese company could be used for spying.” The affirmation suggests the Commission “remains determined” to drive both ZTE and Huawei “from the U.S. market, where small rural carriers rely on their cheap network equipment” - Bloomberg

A deeper dive into the “vast policy portfolio” that a Treasury Secretary Yellen would be taking on should she be confirmed to lead the Department - NYTimes

And a look at what current Secretary Mnuchin’s recent moves to put $455 billion of unspent Cares Act cash into a General Fund account means for his replacement’s ability to access the money without Congressional approval - Bloomberg

J.Crew on Tuesday named Libby Wadle, longtime company executive, as its third CEO in less than a year. Wadle replaces Jan Singer, who took the job just last February and helped guide the company through bankruptcy protection - WSJ

CFTC Chair Heath Tarbert is warning that asset managers “risk being locked out of the interest-rate swaps market early next year unless they sign on to a new protocol designed to smooth the transition away from Libor,” the lame-duck benchmark rate that’ll be phased out by the end of next year - Bloomberg

Sending you into a few days away from the grind with this piece on a New York carpenter who specializes in turning the architecturally impossible into reality - NewYorker

Stay safe, be smart, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We’ll see you back here next week.

MDR