Barack Obama is sitting behind a desk in the Oval Office this morning, charged with carrying out the most important job in the country. How is former presidential contender Rudy Giuliani passing the time these days? He's eating ice cream and violating traffic laws, apparently. A tipster tells Page2Live that the ex-mayor "abandoned his dark blue set of wheels in the middle of a turn lane" in Palm Beach yesterday, so he could pick up some sugar-free cappuccino ice cream at Sprinkles Café. Guess it's a good thing Palm Beach doesn't have an overly aggressive mayor who insists on punishing traffic offenders to the fullest extent of the law. [Page2Live]

Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive turns 42 today. Artist Jeff Koons is 54. Placido Domingo is turning 68. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is turning 56. Geena Davis is 53. Singer Cat Marshall is 37. Legendary (and now retired) Post reporter Steve Dunleavy is celebrating his 71st birthday. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus is 69. Federal judge Kimba Wood is 65. Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy is turning 68. Political consultant/powerbroker Josh Isay is 39. And former Spice Girl Emma Bunton turns 33 today.

• Expect to see Tim Geithner grilled on Capitol Hill today over his failure to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. Thanks to the financial crisis, you can also expect to see him confirmed very quickly. [Reuters, WSJ]
• Merrill Lynch clients withdrew $10 billion from accounts during in the fourth quarter, just as Bank of America completed its takeover of the firm. [BN]
• BofA is getting ready to cut another 4,000 jobs beginning this week. [FT]
• BlackRock, the biggest publicly traded U.S. asset manager, posted a 84 percent drop in profits in the fourth-quarter. [DB]
• The good news for Chrysler? The struggling automaker has found a savior in Fiat. The bad news? The deal is reportedly contingent on Chrysler getting $3 billion in additional government loans. [WSJ, NYT]

A clip of Barack Obama's first trip aboard Air Force One is online. (He took the flight before he was inaugurated yesterday, though, which is why you'll hear him described as "president-elect.") What will you learn about the most powerful man in the world if you spend two minutes watching the video? That he likes his burgers cooked medium-well, topped with cheddar cheese, Dijon mustard, lettuce, and tomato, and accompanied by French fries. When Obama puts on 30 pounds during the first few months of his presidency, now you'll know why. [AHT]

Michelle Obama's hairstylist, Johnny Wright, has landed a deal to star in a reality show. The more interesting news? How his previous experience working with the First Lady is described. Wright handled Michelle's hair for the Democratic National Convention, but he was also responsible for styling her coif "for her upcoming appearance on the cover of Vogue magazine." Guess that confirms that! [Reuters]

• Two people very happy this evening: Jason Wu, who designed Michelle Obama's one-shoulder white chiffon gown; and Isabel Toledo, of course, who was responsible for the lemongrass-yellow coat and matching dress that Michelle wore to the inauguration. [NYT, AP, WWD]
• As for Malia and Sasha's outfits—and Michelle's olive gloves—don't go searching for them at J. Crew just yet. The pieces won't be available to the general public until fall. [Reuters]
• Trousergate, fashion's latest catfight: Giorgio Armani has accused Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of copying his quited trousers; bitchy comments on both sides have followed. [Guardian]
• A first look at Alexander McQueen's new line for Target. [Nylon]
• News flash: There aren't that many blacks on the catwalks these days. [NYT]
• Profits are up at Burberry, but the company is still cutting staff. [WSJ]
• Aretha Franklin's inaugural hat can be yours for $179. [WWD]

Who stands to make a fortune from the Bernie Madoff mess? The lawyers, of course. Just a few of the firms currently involved in one way or another: Proskauer Rose, which is advising dozens of former Madoff clients; Paul, Weiss which was retained by Madoff's sons, Mark and Andrew; Dechert, the firm defending Madoff pal Ezra Merkin; and Simpson Thacher, which is now advising Walter Noel's Fairfield Greenwich Group. [Bloomberg, previously]

The inauguration is still underway, but don't let that stop you from trying to cash in on the action. Copies of today's New York Times—which went to press before the festivities started and doesn't even feature a very dramatic image on the front page—are now up for auction on Ebay for as much as $15.00. [Ebay]

• Still looking for a place to celebrate the inauguration? You're in luck. A long list of restaurants and bars have special events planned. [GS, Eater, Metromix]
• Newly opened restaurants have been hit the hardest by the recession. [NYT]
• A few more gloomy indicators: High-end eateries are allowing diners to bring their own wine and Daniel will host a beer-tasting next month. [NYP, CNY]
• The dining crime wave may be over: Cops have nabbed two suspects. [NYP]
• Sad news for hot dog fans: The original Nathan's may be forced to close as part of the plan to "revitalize" Coney Island. [NYP]
• Emeril Lagasse will guest-judge the final two episodes of Top Chef. [Eater]

Is it something he said? Despite Barack Obama's upbeat message and the enthusiasm of millions of shivering onlookers, the Dow tumbled 332 points today to close at 7,949. Financial stocks were the hardest hit: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup all suffered double-digit declines, with shares of Citi dipping below the $3 mark. History buffs, get your pens out: This should go down as Wall Street's worst Inauguration Day since 1900. [MW, NYT, WSJ]

Warner Bros. plans to eliminate 800 positions, or 10 percent of its work force, cuts the company says will take place across "all divisions and all levels." [WSJ]

Saying that it was "truly sorry," US Airways mailed out $5,000 checks over the weekend to each of the 150 passengers who were aboard Flight 1549 when it crashed into the Hudson last week. The checks are intended to compensate passengers for their luggage, which the airline now says may be "unrecoverable," but US Airways was also kind enough to reimbursed passengers for their ticket costs, too. Alas, no word yet on whether the airline plans to give passengers frequent flyer credit for the six-minute trip. [NYT]

Today should be a busy day for thieves who earn a living robbing the homes of the rich and famous: Hundreds of celebs and corporate titans have been in Washington today for the inauguration and are expected to put in appearances at one of the many official and unofficial balls scheduled for this evening. Barack and Michelle will make their first stop this evening at the Neighborhood Ball, where the lineup includes Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, will.i.am, Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, Shakira, and Mary J. Blige. The Equality Ball at the Mayflower Hotel will feature entertainment by Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge and Rufus Wainwright. Lou Gossett Jr. will serve as host at the Purple Ball, where performances by Il Divo and Peter Cincotti will entertain the likes of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, John Cusack, Ed Harris, Ashley Judd, Patricia Arquette, Brendan Fraser, and Josh Lucas.

With the recession taking a heavy toll on the magazine industry, it's nice to see that we aren't the only ones looking for a silver lining: "During the luxury boom, I grew accustomed to those hernia-busting periodicals that clogged my mail slot every month," writes Simon Doonan in his weekly Observer column. "Now, as I look for stuff to be glad about, I'm loving the fact that you can once again swat a fly or a cockroach with a folded fashion magazine." We can't picture too many cockroaches scurrying around the immaculate apartment Doonan shares with Jonathan Adler, but we get the point. And we couldn't agree more. [NYO]

One more member of the Madoff family who probably won't be attending the next family reunion: Bernie Madoff's nephew, Charles Wiener, who is now selling his ranch-style home in Centerport for $1.4 million. Wiener, whose mother Sondra is Bernie's sister, purchased the home with his wife Carolyn in 2002 for $800,000. Now that Charles is unemployed—he worked for his uncle's investment firm as director of administration—and he's experienced a "devastating financial loss," he's been forced to sell the home. He didn't indicate where the couple is planning to move next. Given Wiener's mother was a victim, too, and he described his uncle to the Post as "rotten," we'll assume crashing at 133 East 64th Street isn't an option. Photos of the home after the jump.

• Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helù has pumped $250 million into the beleaguered New York Times Co. [NYT]
• Newsday's editor-in-chief and managing editor have been absent from the office the past few days and it's still unclear what exactly happened. [NYP]
• Matt Cooper has joined Talking Points Memo as editor-at-large. [Politico]
• For the first time, movie ads will appear during this year's Oscars. [AdAge]
• NBC says 90 percent of its Super Bowl ads have been sold. [AP]
• Jennifer Aniston on the cover of Vogue in December and GQ in January provided a nice boost to both titles. [WWD]

Even if women didn't have to deal with inferior pay and career advancement, the burden of childbirth, an obligation to rip out body hair with hot wax, and Greg Behrendt telling us what to do all the time, men would still have it easier: Their brains are better wired to resist eating, according to a new study, which makes dieting less agonizing. So, yes, some people have no excuse. [Time]

Celebrities Arrive for Obama Inauguration [Us]
Andre Leon Talley- Fashion Week 2007 [Wireimage]

You didn't think Steven Spielberg and and Oprah took the Acela to get to Washington, did you? Bloomberg reports that the inauguration should set a private jet record: As many as 600 private planes have touched down in D.C. in recent days, and the runway at Dulles had to be closed temporarily over the weekend to allow 100 of them to park. [Bloomberg, WSJ]

On this historic day as Barack Obama is sworn in as President, so many important issues will be on people's minds, not least of which is: Will our leader be tempted to reach for the Just For Men during his tenure in the White House, as many suspected he had during the campaign? Or will he let nature take its course and further turn his hair grey? While stress is known to hasten grey hair—as in the possibly apocryphal stories of hair turning white from shock overnight—you'll be reassured to hear that the light sprinkling of grey currently sported by the 47-year-old President appears to be genetic, at least according to dermatologist Dr. Antony Gaspari. And it hasn't prevented Obama's cut from being the first politician's in recent history to spur an actual hair trend credited to his uni-named barber, Zariff, who says he's doing a roaring trade in "the Obama."