A burst of seismic activity shook northwest Louisiana early Monday when four earthquakes struck within a 10-minute window near the small village of Edgefield, intensifying concerns in a region that has seen unusual tremors in recent weeks.

The United States Geological Survey confirmed the sequence occurred between 4:33 a.m. and 4:41 a.m. CT on March 9, with magnitudes ranging from 3.1 to 4.0 (initially reported as up to 4.4 for the strongest after review). All quakes were shallow, at depths around 3 miles, and clustered tightly within a few miles of each other northwest and northeast of Edgefield in Red River Parish.

The events follow a magnitude 4.9 earthquake on March 5 near Coushatta — about 10 miles southeast — that ranks as the strongest inland quake in Louisiana’s recorded history and the second-largest overall in the state behind a 5.3 offshore event in 2006. That March 5 tremor was felt across the ArkLaTex region, including Shreveport, parts of Texas and Arkansas, waking residents and rattling homes for up to 10 seconds.

USGS geophysicists classify the March 9 cluster as aftershocks linked to the larger March 5 mainshock. William Barnhart, a USGS seismologist, told local media that additional aftershocks remain possible as the fault system adjusts. Monitoring teams have deployed extra seismic instruments in Red River Parish to better track the sequence and gather data on subsurface structures.

Residents in Edgefield, Coushatta and surrounding rural areas reported feeling the shaking vividly. “It was like a big truck drove by, but then it kept going and another one hit,” said one Edgefield homeowner interviewed by KSLA News. No immediate reports of major damage or injuries emerged from the March 9 quakes, though minor items fell from shelves and some residents described brief power flickers. The area, largely agricultural with scattered homes, experienced light to moderate intensity shaking according to USGS “Did You Feel It?” citizen reports.

The four confirmed events unfolded as follows, per USGS data:

– Magnitude 3.1 at 4:33 a.m., about 2.5 miles northwest of Edgefield, depth 3.1 miles.
– Magnitude 3.1 at 4:34 a.m., less than 2 miles north-northeast of Edgefield, similar depth.
– Magnitude 3.9 at 4:40 a.m., roughly 3 miles northeast of Edgefield.
– Magnitude 4.0 (upgraded from initial 4.4 estimate in some reports) at 4:41 a.m., 4.9 miles northwest of Edgefield, depth approximately 3.1 miles.

This swarm marks part of a broader uptick in seismic activity in northwest Louisiana. Since December 2024, the region has recorded at least 16 events of magnitude 1.5 or greater, with the March sequence pushing totals higher. Seismologists note the area sits near the northern edge of the Gulf Coast sedimentary basin, where faults are typically inactive compared to California or the New Madrid zone. The recent activity has surprised experts, prompting discussions about potential triggers.

Possible causes under investigation include natural tectonic stress release along minor faults or induced seismicity linked to industrial activity. Louisiana has seen increased oil and gas operations, including wastewater injection in nearby states like Oklahoma and Texas, which have triggered swarms in the past. While no direct link has been confirmed here, researchers say the shallow depths and tight clustering warrant closer scrutiny. A USGS team continues fieldwork, with preliminary findings expected by early summer.

The March 5 magnitude 4.9 event — centered at 32.038°N, 93.415°W, depth 11.1 km — was widely felt, with reports from as far as central Louisiana and southern Arkansas. It prompted the highest number of “Did You Feel It?” submissions in state history. Probabilities posted by USGS indicate a 72% chance of magnitude 3+ aftershocks following that mainshock, 16% for magnitude 4+, and low odds for stronger events.

Local emergency officials urged calm while advising residents to prepare basic earthquake safety measures: drop, cover and hold on during shaking; secure heavy furniture; and keep an emergency kit ready. No tsunami risk exists given the inland location, and no structural collapses were reported from any recent quakes.

The string of tremors has heightened awareness in a state rarely associated with earthquakes. Historical records show Louisiana experiences infrequent, low-magnitude events, mostly offshore or near the Mississippi River delta due to sediment loading. The current inland swarm near Red River Parish stands out as anomalous.

As of March 11, no additional significant quakes have followed the March 9 cluster, though minor aftershocks below magnitude 2.5 continue to register on sensitive instruments. USGS continues to update its interactive map and encourages public reporting to refine models.

For many in the ArkLaTex, the back-to-back sequences serve as a reminder of the Earth’s unpredictability even in stable regions. While experts stress the events remain minor on a global scale, the frequency has residents watching closely for any escalation.

US startup Anchr has secured $5.8 million in seed funding to develop what it describes as the first end-to-end AI-native operating system for food distributors, targeting one of the most operationally complex yet technologically underserved sectors of the global supply chain.

The funding round was backed by a16z Speedrun, Anterra Capital, Offline Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, alongside several industry leaders connected to OpenAI. The investment will support the company’s development of an integrated artificial intelligence platform designed to automate operational workflows across sales, purchasing, inventory management, finance and logistics.

The company argues that despite the enormous scale of the food distribution industry, which moves hundreds of billions of dollars in perishable goods annually, much of its operational infrastructure remains heavily reliant on outdated technology and manual processes.

Food distributors act as a critical backbone between producers and the hospitality sector, ensuring that restaurants, supermarkets and catering businesses receive fresh goods daily. Yet many companies still rely on text messages, spreadsheets and legacy enterprise systems developed decades ago.

Traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems typically record historical transactions but lack the capability to analyse real-time conditions or automate operational decisions.

This means that key activities such as purchasing decisions, stock management and financial reconciliation often require extensive manual work. For businesses operating on low single-digit profit margins, inefficiencies in these processes can significantly impact profitability.

Anchr’s founders believe artificial intelligence can fundamentally change how these operations function.

“The biggest opportunity to leverage AI isn’t in industries with modern infrastructure,” said Tzar Taraporvala, co-founder and co-chief executive of Anchr.

“It’s buried deep in the operational backbone of the economy. Food distributors manage millions of dollars of inventory with systems that were never designed to handle today’s complexity.”

Rather than replacing existing ERP platforms, Anchr’s system operates as a layer on top of them, embedding AI-powered digital assistants, or “AI teammates”, across multiple operational departments.

By integrating data across departments, the system enables information to flow continuously through the organisation, eliminating the fragmented workflows that often plague supply chain businesses.

Work that previously required hours of manual intervention, such as inputting orders received via email or text messages, can be executed automatically by the platform, with contextual information shared across the entire business.

Early adopters of Anchr’s platform are already reporting measurable efficiency gains.

One customer reclaimed roughly 40 per cent of daily working time across a team of eight sales representatives by automating order intake from emails and text messages.

Another distributor was able to reduce aged inventory write-offs by $30,000 in a single month, after using AI-generated purchasing insights based on live demand signals.

In a further example, a distributor used the system’s menu-analysis capabilities to identify upselling opportunities. By scraping restaurant menus and product catalogues, the AI recommended additional items to include in orders, increasing the average basket size by around $65 per order across 4,000 annual orders.

For companies operating in low-margin industries such as food distribution, even relatively small operational improvements can translate into substantial financial gains.

The idea for Anchr emerged directly from the founders’ exposure to operational inefficiencies within the supply chain.

Co-founders Tzar Taraporvala and Smayan Mehra, who have worked together for more than two decades, began investigating supply chain technology gaps after observing how disconnected many enterprise systems remained.

Their research intensified when they partnered with a Boston-based seafood distributor, spending several months observing daily workflows inside the business.

They discovered that many operational processes were still handled manually. Orders were frequently entered into ERP systems in the early hours of the morning, purchasing decisions relied on disconnected spreadsheets and finance teams often had to reconcile invoices across multiple software platforms.

The founders concluded that the problem was not simply technological, it was structural.

“The pain was structural, daily and expensive,” the company said.

Anchr’s early momentum has been notable. During its 12-week participation in the Speedrun accelerator programme, the startup reported booking seven-figure revenue.

Its customer base already includes both regional distributors and a publicly traded food distribution company generating approximately $5 billion in annual revenue.

This rapid adoption reflects growing demand for automation in a sector where operational complexity continues to increase.

From ERP to ERA: the next evolution in enterprise software

The company believes its technology represents the next phase in enterprise software development.

The founders describe the transition as moving from traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems toward what they call Enterprise Resource Automation (ERA).

“If the first era of enterprise software digitised record-keeping, we believe the next era will automate it,” said Smayan Mehra, co-founder and co-CEO.

Under this model, enterprise software does not simply track data but actively executes workflows and decision-making processes in real time.

Looking ahead, Anchr plans to expand automation capabilities across all aspects of distributor operations, eventually becoming a central coordination system for decisions involving inventory, capital and logistics.

The founders believe the technology has applications beyond food distribution, particularly in industries where physical goods move through fragmented supply chains.

By integrating operational data across departments, the platform aims to create a new type of AI-native system of record built around the actual work performed by organisations.

Investors backing the company say the potential lies in the compounding effect of connecting operational functions.

“When sales, purchasing, inventory and finance share context, the entire business runs differently,” said Troy Kirwin of a16z Speedrun.

“Anchr is building an AI-native operating layer that turns fragmented processes into integrated workflows.”

Despite the scale of global logistics and distribution networks, many supply chain sectors remain technologically underdeveloped compared with consumer technology and finance.

Food distribution in particular presents a unique challenge because it involves high volumes of perishable inventory, tight margins and fast-moving operational decisions.

As artificial intelligence continues to move beyond productivity tools into full operational automation, startups like Anchr are betting that some of the largest gains will come not from digital-first industries but from the overlooked systems that keep the physical economy running.

For Anchr, the goal is clear: build the AI operating system that powers the next generation of supply chain operations.

Amy Ingham

Amy is a newly qualified journalist specialising in business journalism at Business Matters with responsibility for news content for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of current business news.

Investors are increasingly focused on not just how they invest their money but also how they can optimize their after-tax investment outcomes. Allspring Global Investments is dedicated to helping investors navigate the evolving tax and estate planning landscapes.

Concentrated stock positions can create unwanted risk in investors’ portfolios. Despite the risk, a combination of factors—including emotional biases and fear of built-in capital gains consequences—can make investors unwilling to diversify. By understanding the many tax-efficient diversification options available to them, investors may be more willing to take some of that concentration risk off the table.

Holly Swan, Allspring’s expert on taxes, recently wrote about 10 techniques for diversifying a concentrated position in a tax-efficient manner. She thinks about tax-management diversification strategies as being in one of these three buckets: avoid, defer, or offset.

Holly Swan, Head of Wealth Solutions, Global Client Strategy, Allspring Global Investments

Avoid:

Tax strategies may focus on reducing or eliminating capital gains exposure altogether. The first example of this is when investors may choose to hold certain highly appreciated assets so they can pass through a taxable estate and receive a step-up in basis.

Common lifetime strategies include borrowing against their portfolios to generate liquidity without selling and triggering taxes, gifting appreciated assets to lower‑income family members who are unlikely to owe capital gains tax, and using options strategies to manage risk or monetize positions without selling. Less common strategies available to founders and early-stage investors may allow eligible shareholders to exclude substantial capital gains on investments in qualified small businesses.

Defer:

Certain tax strategies may help investors defer when taxes are recognized, often smoothing the impact over time. One example is systematic diversification, where investors, such as public company executives, sell portions of a concentrated position gradually.

Investors may also use tax loss harvesting to capture losses that offset current or future gains. Other deferral tools include exchange funds, which allow investors to contribute concentrated stock in exchange for a diversified portfolio without triggering immediate taxes, and opportunity zones, which—beginning again in 2027—will allow taxpayers to reinvest capital gains in designated areas in exchange for up to five years of capital gains deferral and, in some cases, partial basis step-up (opportunity zone investments made today are only eligible for gain deferral until December 31, 2026).

Offset:

Offset strategies reduce tax liability by pairing gains with deductions or other tax‑favored actions. A primary example of this is charitable giving, where donating appreciated securities held for more than a year can allow investors to avoid capital gains recognition while receiving a deduction for the asset’s fair market value, subject to income limits.

Investors have many options for tax-efficient diversification, each of which can be a powerful step in moving away from a concentrated position that may be adding unnecessary risk to portfolios. Allspring Global Investments can offer insights into this and more as investors prepare for their financial future.

ALL-01282026-ixng4s4a

Allspring Global Investments does not provide accounting, legal, or tax advice or investment recommendations. Any tax or legal information in this brochure is merely a summary of our understanding and interpretations of some of the current income tax regulations and is not exhaustive. Investors should consult their tax advisor or legal counsel for advice and information concerning their particular situation.

Allspring does not offer options. Options involve significant risks and are not suitable for all investors.

Diversification does not ensure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses.

This material is provided for informational purposes only. This content and the information within do not constitute an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where or to any person to whom it would be unauthorized or unlawful to do so and should not be considered investment advice, an investment recommendation, or investment research in any jurisdiction.

INVESTMENT RISKS: All investments contain risk. Your capital may be at risk. The value, price, or income of investments or financial instruments can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed.

You may not get back the amount originally invested. Past performance is not a guarantee or reliable indicator of future results.

Allspring Global Investments™ (Allspring) is the trade name for the asset management firms of Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC, a holding company indirectly owned by certain private funds of GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners, L.P. These firms include but are not limited to Allspring Funds Management, LLC, and Allspring Global Investments, LLC. Unless otherwise stated, Allspring is the source of all data (which is current or as of the date stated). Content is provided for informational purposes only. Views, opinions, assumptions, or estimates are not necessarily those of Allspring or their affiliates and there is no representation regarding their adequacy, accuracy, or completeness. They should not be relied upon and may be subject to change without notice.

© 2026 Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved.

The New York Times’ Wordle puzzle for March 10, 2026, presented players with a nautical-themed brain-teaser that rewarded careful vowel placement and strategic guessing. Puzzle #1725, released at midnight Eastern time, challenged solvers with the five-letter word **SHOAL**, a term familiar to mariners and geography buffs but less common in everyday conversation.

As of early March 11, more than 800,000 players had completed the daily grid, according to unofficial tracking aggregates from community sites. The average solve rate hovered around 4 guesses out of 6, classifying it as moderately challenging — a step up from the previous day’s easier offering but far from the month’s toughest entries.

**SHOAL** serves as both a noun and verb in English. As a noun, it denotes a shallow area in a body of water, such as a sandbank or submerged ridge that can pose hazards to boats. It also refers to a large group of fish swimming together. The verb form means to become shallow or to cause something to run aground. Derived from Old English “sceald,” meaning shallow, the word has nautical roots dating back centuries and remains a staple in boating and oceanographic contexts.

The puzzle’s difficulty stemmed from its uncommon starting consonant cluster “SH” combined with the less frequent “OA” vowel pairing. Many players reported starting with popular openers like SLATE, CRANE or ADIEU, which often left a pool of 200-300 possibilities after the first guess. Those who tested common consonants early — particularly S, H and L — found quicker paths to victory.

Hints that circulated on social media and gaming forums proved especially useful:

– The word contains no repeated letters.
– It starts with S.
– It ends with L.
– It features two consecutive vowels (O and A).
– A subtle clue: “A group of fish” or “A shallow place in water.”
– Another nudge: “Synonyms include sandbank or shallow reef.”

These pointers helped narrow options without spoiling the solve. The absence of rare letters (J, Q, X, Z) kept it accessible, but the word’s relative obscurity tripped up casual players who leaned on more everyday vocabulary.

Community reaction poured in across platforms. On Reddit’s r/wordle subreddit, threads filled with green-square screenshots and stories of near-misses. One user described guessing “SHOAL” on the fifth attempt after ruling out “SHAWL” and “SHOOT.” Another praised the puzzle for its educational value: “Learned a new word today — shoal as in fish school. Cool!”

Wordle Bot, the NYT’s analytical tool, averaged 3.8 guesses on this puzzle using its optimal strategy starting with SLATE. Human players often outperformed the bot when intuition kicked in, with many reporting three- or four-guess solves after landing an early yellow S or green O.

The March 10 edition coincided with MAR10 Day — a fan-celebrated nod to Super Mario Bros. — prompting lighthearted crossovers. Some players joked about wishing the word had been “MARIO” or “JUMP,” while others shared Mario-themed grids or memes tying “shoal” to underwater levels in games like Super Mario Sunshine.

Wordle, created by software engineer Josh Wardle and acquired by The New York Times in 2022, continues its streak as one of the internet’s most enduring daily games. With no ads and a simple black-yellow-green feedback system, it attracts millions worldwide each day. Puzzle #1725 maintained the game’s tradition of balanced difficulty: not too obscure to frustrate newcomers, yet clever enough to reward dedicated solvers.

For those who missed it or want to compare notes, the official archive remains available to NYT subscribers. Yesterday’s puzzle (#1724) featured HASTY, a more straightforward adjective that many cleared in three guesses or fewer.

As March progresses, Wordle enthusiasts anticipate continued variety. Recent weeks have included a mix of common words, nature terms and occasional curveballs. The game’s algorithm ensures fresh challenges while avoiding overly technical jargon.

Tips for future solves remain consistent: Start with vowel-heavy words to map the landscape quickly, prioritize consonants like R, S, T, L and N, and use elimination ruthlessly. Avoid guessing plurals early unless plural forms are confirmed, and remember that the puzzle draws from a curated list of about 2,300 five-letter words.

Whether you nailed SHOAL in two tries or needed all six, the daily ritual fosters a shared sense of accomplishment. In an era of endless digital distractions, Wordle’s quiet persistence — one word, one grid, one day at a time — endures as a small but satisfying victory.

For the record, today’s answer is **SHOAL**. If you’re reading this after solving, congratulations on preserving your streak. If not, tomorrow brings a clean slate and a new five-letter mystery waiting at midnight.

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Silvan Turkin

All right. Welcome back to the Citizens Life Science Conference. My name is Silvan Turkin, and I cover precision sciences at Citizens. It’s my pleasure to host Jacqueline Shea, President and CEO of Inovio. Thank you so much.

Jacqueline Shea
CEO, President & Director

Thank you so much, Silvan. It’s a pleasure to be here today, and thanks for having us.

So I’m going to kick off by just giving you a quick overview of Inovio. Those of you who are not familiar with the story. Just a quick normal looking forward-looking statements disclaimer slide that I’ll be making some forward-looking statements during this presentation. So to provide you a quick overview of the company, we’re a clinical stage biotech company. We’re focused on developing and commercializing our DNA medicines to treat and protect people from HPV-related diseases, cancer and infectious diseases.

We submitted our BLA for our lead program, INO-3107, and it’s been accepted for review by FDA under the accelerated approval program. It’s a potential treatment for a rare disease recurrent respiratory papillomatosis or RRP, which is caused by HPV types 6 and 11. We have a PDUFA target date, October 30 this year, and we have orphan drug and breakthrough therapy designations and orphan drug designation in the EU.

We’ve requested a meeting with FDA to discuss some preliminary comments we received in the file acceptance letter related to eligibility for accelerated approval pathway, and we’re not currently planning to seek approval under the traditional pathway. We continue to believe that the accelerated approval program is the best and fastest path to approval for

Shares of AXT Inc. (NASDAQ: AXTI) soared more than 17% in recent trading, reaching levels near $45 as investor enthusiasm builds around the company’s role in supplying critical materials for artificial intelligence infrastructure and high-speed optical connectivity.

The Fremont-based semiconductor substrate manufacturer closed at approximately $45.37 on heavy volume, marking a significant rally from earlier levels in the $30 range. The stock has shown extreme volatility in recent months, trading within a 52-week range from $1.13 to $47.03, reflecting both challenges and growing optimism tied to AI data center expansion.

AXT specializes in compound semiconductor substrates, including indium phosphide (InP) wafers, which are essential for high-performance lasers and detectors used in data communications, particularly for AI-driven optical networks. Demand for these materials has intensified as hyperscale data centers require faster, more efficient interconnects to handle massive AI workloads.

In its latest earnings report released Feb. 19, 2026, AXT reported fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of $23.0 million, down from prior expectations and reflecting headwinds from export permit delays out of China. For the full fiscal year 2025, revenue totaled $88.3 million, a decline from $99 million in 2024. The company posted a GAAP net loss of $21.3 million, or $0.49 per share, widening from the previous year’s loss.

Despite the miss, management highlighted improving conditions in early 2026. “We are pleased to report that we have received some permits to date in 2026 and believe we are in a strong position to achieve sequential revenue growth in Q1, driven primarily by growth in indium phosphide for the AI infrastructure build-out,” AXT executives stated in the earnings release.

The company cited delays in export permits from China’s Ministry of Commerce as a key factor limiting fourth-quarter shipments of indium phosphide products. In January 2026, AXT had updated guidance to $22.5 million to $23.5 million for the quarter, lower than an earlier $27 million to $30 million outlook, due to fewer permits issued in December.

However, the backlog for indium phosphide has grown substantially, reaching record levels amid surging customer demand from the AI sector. AXT plans to use proceeds from a December 2025 public offering to expand capacity significantly. The offering raised funds through the sale of common stock, with underwriters exercising their full option to purchase additional shares.

Executives indicated that capacity for indium phosphide production is targeted to more than double in the second half of 2026, positioning the company to capitalize on expected growth in optical connectivity for AI data centers.

Options trading activity has reflected bullish sentiment. On recent sessions, call option volume surged significantly above average, with traders positioning for further upside. Analysts and market observers have noted the stock’s rally as tied to broader enthusiasm for AI-related supply chain plays, even as the company navigates geopolitical and regulatory hurdles.

Insider activity has been mixed. Recent filings show directors selling shares, including notable transactions by Director David C. Chang and others, amid the stock’s run-up. In one instance, a director sold shares at prices around $38 to $45, reducing positions modestly. Insiders own about 8.8% of the company.

The stock’s performance comes against a backdrop of challenges in the semiconductor materials sector, including supply chain constraints and export controls affecting sales to certain markets. AXT’s products also include gallium arsenide and germanium substrates used in 5G, industrial sensing and other applications, but indium phosphide has emerged as the primary growth driver.

Market watchers point to AXT’s strategic focus on AI as a catalyst. High-speed optical transceivers reliant on InP substrates are critical for data center interconnects supporting large language models and generative AI applications. As major tech companies ramp up infrastructure investments, suppliers like AXT stand to benefit if permit issues resolve and capacity comes online as planned.

Volatility remains a factor. The stock experienced sharp swings following the earnings release, with some profit-taking after an initial post-earnings pop. Earlier in the year, shares languished at low levels before the AI narrative gained traction.

Looking ahead, AXT anticipates sequential improvement in the current quarter, assuming continued progress on permits. The company has emphasized strong underlying demand despite short-term obstacles.

Investors continue monitoring developments in U.S.-China trade relations, as export controls on advanced materials could impact future shipments. AXT’s ability to scale production and secure orders will be key to sustaining momentum.

With a market capitalization approaching $2.5 billion at recent prices, AXT has transformed from a niche player into a name drawing attention in the AI supply chain conversation. Whether the rally holds depends on execution amid ongoing challenges and the pace of AI infrastructure deployment worldwide.