For: November 12, 2025
>>Watching Wall Street
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after stocks closed higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching a new record high yesterday. At the closing bell, the Dow added 559 points to 47-928. The S&P 500 rose 14 points to 68-46. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 59 points to 23-468 as AI trade remains under pressure amid concerns over growing valuation.
>>Government Funding Bill Headed For House Vote
(Washington, DC) -- A bill that would end the record-breaking shutdown and reopen the federal government is one step closer to passage. Overnight, the House Rules Committee voted along party lines to advance a government funding deal that's already passed in the Senate. The majority-GOP committee did not adopt any amendments to the bill that would extend federal healthcare subsidies. The funding package now makes its way to the House, where a final vote is expected before the end of the day.
>>Hemp THC Market At Risk
(Undated) -- The deal on the table aimed at reopening the federal government comes with what some are warning could be an industry-killing change. The industry in question is the Hemp-Derived THC market. The bill that passed the U.S. Senate on Monday includes a federal ban on hemp products containing more than point-four milligrams of THC. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon said the move would effectively "wipe out an industry that we have spent more than a decade creating."
>>Trump Defends H1-B Visa Program, Says U.S. Doesn't Have Enough Talent
(Washington, DC) -- President Trump says the U.S. doesn't have enough talented people to fill jobs requiring certain skills. In an interview on Fox News Tuesday night, Trump said the HB-1 skilled worker visa program is needed in the U.S. "to bring in talent." When Fox News host Laura Ingraham [[ Een-grum ]]said we have "plenty of talented people" here in the U.S., Trump replied, "No, you don't," and said you can't take people off an unemployment line and put them in a factory making missiles. Trump noted last year's raid of a battery factory in Georgia where authorities deported hundreds of South Koreans, and said, "you're going to need" those workers.
>>SpaceX Breaks Launch Record On Florida's Space Coast
(Cape Canaveral, FL) -- SpaceX is being credited with helping Florida's Space Coast break its annual launch record with a late-night liftoff Monday from Cape Canaveral. The Falcon 9 rocket carried 29 Starlink satellites into orbit, marking the 94th orbital launch of the year from the state -- one more than all of 2024. The launch was delayed until after 10 p.m. due to FAA restrictions tied to the government shutdown. While SpaceX led most of the mission, other providers like United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin also contributed to the record-breaking pace.
>>Apple Showcases iPhone Pocket
(Cupertino, CA) -- Apple is showing off a new way to carry iPhones. The tech giant teamed with fashion brand Issey Miyake [[ Is-ee Me-ah-kay ]] to showcase the iPhone Pocket. The sock-like cross-body strap comes in two versions. A short pocket has a price tag of around 150 dollars, while the long version will cost around 230 bucks. They're set to be available this Friday online, and at select Apple stores.
>>Paramount+ To Raise Prices In 2026
(Los Angeles, CA) -- Paramount-Plus will raise subscription prices in the new year. The company revealed the plan for the price hike when reporting its third quarter earnings. The price for the ad-supported Paramount-Plus Essential tier will go up a dollar to eight-99 per month while the ad-free Paramount-Plus will also see a dollar increase to 13-99 per month. The new prices will go into effect January 15th. This comes following Paramount's merger with Skydance and the streaming service signing a rights deal with the UFC for seven-point-seven-billion dollars.
