All that glitters is Nate Silver

President Obama this morning named blogger and statistician Nate Silver to lead the Federal Reserve after Ben Bernanke’s term expires in January.

Introducing Silver to reporters in the White House briefing room, Obama noted that the data guru had called the winner in 49 states in the 2008 presidential election, and in all 50 states last year. “Nate’s our country’s best and brightest prognosticator,” the president said. “When Nate predicts something, you can take it to the bank. It’s time all America profits from this prophet. “

The Dow Jones rallied after Obama’s announcement. Gold was down, but Silver futures soared.

Silver’s blog, FiveThirtyEight (the number of electors in the electoral college), has been published in partnership with the New York Times since 2010. But a week ago, ESPN announced that Silver would leave the Times next month for the network, where he will blog about sports, politics, economics, culture, science, and technology, while also appearing regularly as a political analyst on ABC News.