This Week in Five Stats — Mar 7, 2026
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Clocks spring forward tonight. Rates don't.
Mar 7, 2026
Greg Abel's First Annual Meeting Was Five Days Ago — and He Had a Lot to Explain
Berkshire's cash pile stood at $373.3 billion at year-end — second-largest in company history — and Abel's debut in Omaha was partly a reassurance tour: the cash is "dry powder," not paralysis. Operating earnings fell 29.8% in Q4, dragged down by insurance underwriting and investment income. For the record, Warren Buffett attended. He sat with the board.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway — 2025 Annual Report
Consumer Sentiment Held Its February Floor — Which Isn't Saying Much
University of Michigan's final February reading came in at 56.6 — about 21% below year-ago levels and still close to recession-era territory. Inflation expectations among consumers ticked up, with nearly half of respondents citing high prices as a persistent drag on their personal finances. Americans feel worse about the economy than the headline numbers suggest — which, historically, has had a way of becoming self-fulfilling.
Source: University of Michigan — Surveys of Consumers
Housing Affordability Is Still Nowhere Near Pre-COVID Levels
The NAR's affordability index sits roughly 35% below pre-pandemic levels, even as the 30-year mortgage rate has come down from its 7%-plus peak to around 6%. The math is still brutal: a median-priced home at $405,300 with a 20% down payment and today's rates means a monthly principal-and-interest payment north of $1,900. For a generation of first-time buyers, 2019 is starting to look like a golden age.
Source: National Association of Realtors — Housing Affordability Index
Clocks Spring Forward Tonight — and Hospitals Will Notice on Monday
Research consistently shows a roughly 24% spike in cardiac events on the Monday after the spring daylight saving time transition, linked to sleep disruption, elevated cortisol, and disrupted circadian rhythms. The effect fades within a week, but the pattern is durable across multiple studies. More than 70 countries have abandoned the practice. The United States is not among them.
Source: Open Heart / American Heart Association
The Fed Just Went Quiet — Right When Everyone Wants It to Talk
Federal Reserve officials entered their pre-meeting blackout today, ahead of the March 17–18 FOMC meeting — meaning no public remarks on monetary policy for the next 10 days. Markets are pricing near-certainty of no rate change, which has been the story all year. The more interesting question is what Jerome Powell says in his remaining press conferences before his term ends in May, and whether Kevin Warsh's confirmation drama gets resolved before the next chair needs to answer for anything.
Source: Federal Reserve — FOMC Meeting Calendar