White House considering Mohamed El Erian for Federal Reserve Vice Chair: The White House is considering Allianz’ chief economic adviser and Egypt’s favourite economic whiz Mohamed El Erian for vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, sources confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday. El Erian replace Stanley Fischer, who vacated his seat in October, and would, if nominated and confirmed, serve alongside Fed Chair-designate Jerome Powell. “The search process has just begun and the vice chair announcement is not likely this year,” said CNBC’s source, who is familiar with the discussions. "El Erian would bring to the Fed Board deep understanding of financial markets and the interaction of policy with markets, as well as a global perspective often missing from Fed policy debates," Krisha Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy at Evercore ISI, said in a note. Guha described El-Erian as likely to be "slightly hawkish" on monetary policy, meaning he may favor higher rates and a faster runoff of the Fed’s balance sheet. The Wall Street Journal also has the story.

Libya is on the agenda for Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry today as he meets with his Tunisian and Algerian counterparts in Cairo.

No fluffy stuff for you this morning — other than to note that the idea of toymakers Hasbro and Mattel merging has to both delight and terrify the ‘80s kid inside many of us — as there’s just too much news. Onward.