All Arkansas stock prices fall in market sell off

It was largely anticipated that the financial markets would take a beating after the first downgrade of U.S. debt in more than 70 years.

That’s exactly what happened.

The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ all tumbled more than 5% as Wall Street  reacted to Standard and Poor’s downgrade of U.S. credit and to other warning signs in a sputtering world economy. The Dow Jones Transportation Index, considered by many to be an economic bellwether, fell more than 7% in Monday’s trading.

Treasuries and gold prices both reached record levels as investors looked for safe havens from equity positions.

“If you’re an investor and you say ‘I’m worried about what’s going on in the world, I’m worried about liquidity and safety,’ you basically have no place to go other than the Treasury market,” Nick Sargen, chief investment officer at Cincinnati-based Fort Washington Investment Advisors told Bloomberg. "You don’t want to catch a falling knife. But if we see value, we might be using this as an opportunity to add to specific positions.”

Tomorrow and future days could be worse. Standard & Poor’s is expected to release additional reports this week on asset classes affected by the U.S. credit downgrade, such as municipal bonds, setting up opportunities for more stock market volatility.

Standard & Poor’s lowered the U.S. credit rating late Friday (Aug. 5) saying the recent budget-debt ceiling deal passed by Congress doesn’t do enough to stabilize the federal government’s financial position. The S&P lowered the U.S. sovereign credit rating to AA+ from AAA. The U.S. has held the top AAA rating for more than 70 years.

Not only did the S&P issue a downgrade, but the report included a warning of future downgrades.

POLITICAL SOLUTION
While the credit downgrade was certainly reaction to the looming economic albatross of U.S. government debt, it was also a statement to political leaders to find a fix.

Last week’s budget-debt deal did little to sway Standard and Poor’s, which had called for nearly $4 trillion in debt reduction during the next decade to shore up government finances.

Today, Obama administration officials continued to push back on the credit rating downgrade. Calling the nation’s fiscal problems "imminently solvable," President Obama said Washington must gain "a renewed sense of urgency" to tackle deficit and debt reduction.

He advocated previous positions of spending cuts in defense and domestic spending combined with tax reform. Obama also pressed Congress to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance in the short-run.

ARKANSAS STOCKS
The share price of all publicly-traded companies based in Arkansas fell Monday as part of a major sell-off on Wall Street.

Of the Arkansas stocks, Little Rock-based Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS) took the biggest hit, falling from a Friday close of $52.39 to a Monday close of $46.22, down 11.78%. The smallest decline was with the thinly traded shares of Tontitown-based P.A.M. Transportation. Shares of the trucking company fell just 2 cents from a Friday close of $9.33 to a Monday close of $9.31.

Wal-Mart shares — Arkansas’ heavyweight and one of the nation’s most closely watched stocks — fell from a Friday close of $50.85 to a Monday close of $48.92.

Acxiom Corp.
Close: $11.22
down 7.88%

America’s Car Mart
Close: $29.41
down 9.03%

Arkansas Best Corp.
Close: $19.72
down 9.95%

Bank of the Ozarks
Close: $47.86
down 6.08%

Deltic Timber
Close: $48.66
down 3.93%

Dillard’s
Close: $46.22
down 11.78%

Home Bancshares
Close: $22.33
down 4.82%

J.B. Hunt Transport
Close: $39.16
down 7.73%

Murphy Oil
Close: $50.48
down 8.55%

P.A.M. Transportation
Close: $9.31
down 0.21%

Simmons First National
Close: $22.04
down 6.09%

Tyson Foods
Close: $15.68
down 3.86%

USA Truck
Close: $10.87
down 1.54%

Wal-Mart Stores
Close: $48.92
down 3.8%

Windstream
Close: $10.81
down 6.81%