Barack Obama is now President and the burden of fixing all the problems in the world has landed squarely on his shoulders. A little welcome from Wall Street is case in point: the Dow Industrial had its worst Inauguration Day performance in 113-year history. The Dow fell 332.13 points, or 4%, as the President was delivering his Inaugural address to the nation, with financial stocks losing in the double digits. The stocks rebounded today, as the announcement that President Obama will lay out a comprehensive plan to shore up the banking sector and directly address the constraints on the flow of credit was made by Treasury Secretary post nominee Timothy Geithner. Mr. Geithner was testifying and answering questions at his Senate confirmation hearing today. He discussed how he would administer the government’s massive bailout for financial institutions. In his testimony, Geithner said that changes in the bailout fund, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, are needed immediately, because the plan has disproportionately favored big financial institutions over small business owners and struggling homeowners; and has not encouraged the flow of credit through the system. Meanwhile, all the way across the globe, economic experts are waiting for Chinese economic indicators for the fourth quarter of 2008 to be announced by the government tomorrow. The expectation is that Chinese economic growth numbers are going to be low, between 6 and 7.5 percent. Chinese investors already reacted to the yet-to-be-released economic data, and China’s major stock exchanges all closed down at the end of trading today. Even as the economic news for China is not promising to be good, the Chinese government is getting more aggressive in its role as a global economic player. The World Trade Organization agreed to rule on the first dispute that China had launched against the U.S on its own initiative since joining the WTO in 2001. The case brought by China involves four sets of parallel anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed by the US on two types of steel pipe, pneumatic off-road tyres and laminated woven sacks. Beijing argues that imposing parallel duties on its exports is a “double remedy” that is illegal and unfair. Under WTO rules, the panel should issue its decision towards the end of this year, barring procedural delays and appeals.