Winds Down

• The Federal Reserve voted to leave the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75% on Wednesday, citing concerns about inflation rising amid the war in Iran. • This marks the continuation of the Fed's pause in rate adjustments following three successive 25-basis-point cuts in September, October, and December 2025. • Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss the decision, marking what could be his final interest-rate announcement as Federal Reserve chair.

• OpenAI announced on March 25, 2026, it is discontinuing support for its Sora video generation model and ending its collaboration with Disney. • The move follows challenges in scaling the technology amid competition and resource constraints in AI media tools. • This reflects broader pressures on AI firms to prioritize core models over experimental features, impacting Hollywood's generative AI adoption.

The 2025-2026 flu season is concluding with one of the lowest vaccine effectiveness rates in more than a decade, with the CDC reporting effectiveness of approximately 25-30% in preventing adults from needing medical care, according to data released Friday. A viral mismatch between the vaccine strain and dominant H3N2 variant that emerged early winter caused the poor performance, with vaccination proving more protective in children at around 40% effectiveness against medical visits. Despite low effectiveness, the CDC estimates 27 million illnesses, 350,000 hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths from flu this season—substantially lower than the prior year's 40 million illnesses and 520,000 hospitalizations at the same point.