Biden taps Yellen — Banks pause return-to-office plans — Investors pour money into magic mushrooms

A trader works on the trading floor after the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City

Reuters

The pick is in.

President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Janet Yellen, the former Federal Reserve Chairwoman, to be the next Treasury secretary, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Yellen has a laundry list of achievements in the public sector, having previously served as the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, in addition to her time as the leader of the Fed.

She would be the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary, if confirmed. 

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Some Wall Street firms' return-to-office plans have hit a speed bump

Banks large and small, both national and regional, are seeing increased interest in digital and contactless services, as the coronavirus pandemic has forced consumers to rethink the kind of banking interactions they're comfortable having.

Noam Galai/Getty Images

The coronavirus has proved to be a moving target for Wall Street, as it looks to establish plans to get employees back in the office.

Back in September, banks seemed keen to bring back at least some of their staff, rolling out a variety of procedures to get them back in the office. 

However, a spike in cases in recent weeks has put a pause on many firms' plans. Reed Alexander has a rundown of how firms have adapted on the fly. 

Click here to read the entire story.

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A major psychedelics company just landed a record sum of cash from VCs

Psilocybin mushrooms

Anitram/Shutterstock

This is a real trip. A psychedelics company just closed a $125 million Series C funding round. Jeremy Berke and Yeji Jesse Lee spoke to ATAI's CEO about how it raised the round and what's next for the psychedelics space. Read more here. 

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Odd lots:

Scoop: Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman says Trump lost (Axios)

Hershey Is Behind Big Cocoa Trade That Upended N.Y. Markets (Bloomberg)

The 27 most expensive ZIP codes in America in 2020 (Insider)

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