HAGEL STEPPING DOWN: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure, the first cabinet-level casualty of the collapse of President Obama’s Democratic majority in the Senate and a beleaguered national security team that has struggled to stay ahead of an onslaught of global crises. Read more
DEMS PRESSURE FED: Several Democratic senators on Friday criticized the New York Federal Reserve Bank as too close to the mammoth financial institutions it regulates, taking particular aim at the hiring of Fed alumni at firms like Goldman Sachs—and vice versa. Read more
WHAT ABOUT THE SKILLED IMMIGRANTS?: Since Obama’s immigration announcement on Friday, the focus has been on whether it’s right to freeze deportations of illegal immigrants in general. But investors and entrepreneurs are concerned about whether highly skilled workers—engineers, coders, PhDs and others—will be overlooked in the process. Read more
NASDAQ RALLIES; DOW, S&P 500 CLOSE AT RECORD HIGHS: Read more
