The housing bubble and subsequent "Great Recession" have tarnished the stars of a good many of the world's financial wizards, such as the former heads at Lehman Bros. and Merrill Lynch. But one respected image remains -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- on top: Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A).

That's according to a recent quarterly poll of investors, traders, and analysts who subscribe to Bloomberg terminals, those somewhat cryptic news and data computers that are ubiquitous on Wall Street. Buffett, who received favorable nods from 25% of those participating in the poll, walked away with a plurality of the vote, Bloomberg News reported.

White House Economic Adviser Lawrence Summers is taking issue with those who are convinced the U.S. economy in the intervention era will achieve decidedly lower rates of GDP growth -- the so-called 'new normal' economy.

"I would be very reluctant to accept the idea that the American economy no longer has the potential to grow rapidly," Summers told Bloomberg News. "The American people have not become less capable of entrepreneurship. They have not become less dedicated to hard work, and the productive potential of this economy has not declined."

There is no way to know why stocks go up or down every day. That's why I always find it somewhat silly when I see simple explanations for the movement in prices. The explanation offered for today's 494 point rise is that investors are celebrating the rumor that Timothy Geithner will be the next Treasury Secretary. How does the media know that investors are only celebrating Geithner's appointment and not that of Bill Richardson as Commerce Secretary?

Make no mistake. I agree with the choice of Geithner and made a case for him over former Harvard president, Lawrence Summers, and former Fed Chair Paul Volcker. My reasoning for Geithner was that he had excellent interpersonal skills and high energy coupled with an intimate familiarity with the current financial crisis. Unlike Summers, Geithner is highly unlikely to alienate people, and having picked Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, President-elect Obama will have enough drama on his hands with both Clintons.

Geithner shares something with current Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson -- he graduated from Dartmouth. I hope that he makes far better use of that Ivy League education in the Treasury Secretary's role than his predecessor. While Geithner will be left with a huge mess that was not helped by his fellow Dartmouth alum, it will be difficult for him to do a worse job than Paulson. The world will be depending on him.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

In normal times, market analysts, pundits and economists would not be mulling over names and scuttlebutt regarding the new U.S. President's likely nominee for U.S. Treasury Secretary, months before the inauguration.

But as investors and traders know, these are not normal times, and with United States officials making their best effort to avoid a reappearance of the barter system, names are surfacing regarding who the likely Treasury nominee, should poll leader U.S. Sen. Barack Obama be elected.

The top two contenders, according to TheDeal: Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey, and Lawrence Summers, Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton Administration (1999-2001).

A second tier candidate, in economist David H. Wang's opinion, is Citigroup (NYSE: C) executive Robert Rubin, who served as Treasury Secretary during the Clinton Administration, 1995-1999.

"All three are qualified, in my view. And there are no perfect or unblemished candidates, given what the nation has gone through in the financial crisis," Wang said. "Each has an appropriate temperament and is in tune with Obama's economic philosophy, which is a mix of center-left here, center-right there, and be willing to try creative and innovative solutions when needed."