Author: Pritam Barman

Howard County firefighters medical cannabis rules are changing in a way that could reshape day-to-day life for the people who respond to emergencies across the county. County Executive Calvin Ball announced Friday that Howard County firefighters will be allowed to use medical cannabis while off-duty, following an update to the county’s Fire and Rescue Services Substance Abuse Policy. The change comes through an agreement between the county government and the Howard County International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local 2000, and it represents the first update to the policy since 1991. The revised policy is set to take effect Jan. 31, 2026, and it is being…

Trump Media merger news lit up Wall Street on Thursday, sending Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (NASDAQ: DJT) sharply higher as investors reacted to a newly signed deal that would combine the company with TAE Technologies in a transaction valued at $6 billion. Shares of Trump Media climbed 41.93% to close at $14.86 apiece, a move that stood out as traders and investors repositioned portfolios following the announcement. The rally marked Trump Media as one of the market’s notable performers during the session. Trump Media merger agreement: What was announced and who’s involved The Trump Media merger is structured as an all-stock transaction under a definitive merger agreement signed…

Trump-Fueled Crypto Boom hopes carried crypto traders into 2025 expecting the kind of multi-year run that believers had been talking about for months. Bitcoin even delivered the headline moment: a record high of $126,000, the kind of milestone that seemed to confirm the bullish narrative after President Donald Trump’s reelection and an administration seen as friendlier to digital assets. Then the market changed its mind. As 2025 closes, the Trump-Fueled Crypto Boom has given way to a harsher reality for everyday traders: Bitcoin is down about 10% from last December, and roughly $1 trillion has been knocked off the combined market value of all…

Defense tech stocks are rewriting what investors expect from the military-industrial corner of the market. For decades, defense contractors were the definition of “steady”: predictable revenue, solid margins, and dividends investors could count on. That appeal hasn’t disappeared for giants like Lockheed Martin Corp. and RTX Corp., but 2025 has introduced a new storyline—one that looks a lot more like high-growth technology investing than traditional defense. This year’s biggest share-price winners aren’t always the biggest names. They’re faster-moving companies tied to drones, satellite intelligence, and data analytics. The result is a market shift that’s turning a historically staid sector into…

Chevron Venezuela is suddenly at the center of one of the most consequential oil stories in the world, after nearly two decades of sticking with a country where politics and petroleum have rarely mixed safely. For years, Chevron’s persistence in Venezuela looked like a costly gamble, with billion-dollar investments repeatedly exposed to the tug-of-war between Caracas and Washington. Now that same strategy has put the world’s biggest petroleum prize within reach: access to Venezuela’s immense crude reserves, described as the largest known. But the payoff comes with real risk. As US-Venezuela tensions rise, Chevron is also the global oil major…

Crypto hedge funds entered 2025 with renewed confidence and high expectations. After years on the margins of global finance, many managers believed the market was finally turning a corner. Clearer regulations, supportive signals from Washington, and billions of dollars in institutional inflows were supposed to mark a new chapter for digital assets. Instead, the year delivered a painful reminder of crypto’s unforgiving nature. By late 2025, crypto hedge funds were on track for their worst performance since the industry’s historic collapse in 2022, battered by an October crash that exposed lingering weaknesses in liquidity, infrastructure, and risk management. A breakout…

Bitcoin cycle outlook is back in sharp focus as one of Wall Street’s most closely watched macro voices delivers a sobering message for crypto investors. Fidelity Investments’ director of global macro research, Jurrien Timmer, says Bitcoin may have already peaked in its current bull run and could face a prolonged cooling phase that stretches into 2026 — with prices potentially bottoming near $65,000. The comments arrive at a tense moment for the crypto market, where optimism around ETFs and regulation is colliding with renewed volatility and weakening sentiment. While Timmer remains bullish on Bitcoin’s long-term future, his analysis suggests the…

Michael Saylor Bitcoin mistake is back in the spotlight—this time not as a warning, but as a lesson in how far the world’s largest cryptocurrency has come. When Strategy revealed it had spent nearly $2 billion buying more Bitcoin in December, many investors expected fireworks in the market. Instead, prices barely moved and soon drifted lower. For some, that raised questions. For Michael Saylor, it confirmed something far more important: Bitcoin has grown up. Speaking candidly on the Galaxy Brains podcast, the Strategy founder acknowledged both a personal misjudgment from more than a decade ago and a surprising truth about…

The Trump holiday speech delivered from the White House this week offered a sharp snapshot of a presidency balancing bold claims with mounting political pressure. Speaking during a rare evening address surrounded by holiday decorations, President Donald Trump highlighted what he called major victories in his first year back in office, while dismissing criticism over high prices and low approval ratings. The address came at a delicate moment. With midterm elections less than a year away and fresh polling showing weak public confidence in his economic leadership, the Trump holiday speech was clearly designed to reset the narrative and rally…

Inflation falls to 2.7% in November, delivering a cautiously optimistic signal for U.S. consumers and policymakers after months of stubborn price pressures. The latest Consumer Price Index data, released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that slower increases in housing and food costs helped push inflation lower, even as electricity and broader energy prices surged. The report marks the first official inflation reading published since the end of the historically long federal government shutdown, adding both significance and uncertainty to the data. While the headline number points to easing price pressures, economists and Federal Reserve officials alike are…