Money Talk: Black Monday? U.S. Stock Market Pensive After Dow Plunges

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BLACK MONDAY? U.S. STOCK MARKET PENSIVE AFTER DOW PLUNGES INTO BEAR TERRITORY LAST WEEK: U.S. stock markets opened nervously Monday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,000 points in the prior week’s session.

In Friday’s session, the U.S. blue chip stock index closed at 16,450, down 1,018 points for the week. Together with Thursday’s sell-off, the Dow saw its first two-day, 300-plus decliners since November 2008. On Monday, the bleeding continued as the Dow dropped another 800 points in early trading.

In a Bloomberg News article ahead of Monday’s opening session on Wall Street, Asian and Australian markets were already reeling from one of the worst market slumps since the global financial crisis.

“It’s going to be another week of gnashing of teeth and extreme anxiety,” David Mann, Standard Chartered chief Asia economist, told Bloomberg TV in Singapore. “It’s hard to see what exact thing could turn things around.”

FIRST SECURITY BANK HONORED AS ‘TOP 50’ SOCIAL MEDIA TRAILBLAZER: The Independent Community Bankers of America recently named First Security Bank of Searcy as one of its Top 50 Community Bank Leaders in Social Media. This is the third year the association has held this contest, which highlights social media trailblazers among the community bank industry. First Security has used a number of social media channels to promote the bank through its Only In Arkansas campaign.

“Congratulations to First Security Bank for being featured on ICBA’s Top 50 Community Bank Leaders in Social Media list,” ICBA Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Chris Lorence said. “These top community banks understand that building a reputable financial brand goes beyond just a physical presence on Main Street. They consistently introduce fresh content and interact with their customers both in-person and online.”

More than 6,000 community banks throughout the nation were eligible to be part of ICBA’s list. ICBA sought nominations from the nation’s community banks from May to June and received nearly 300 nominations. Community banks were scored based on their engagement with fans and followers, the content distributed on their social media platforms, the number of followers they have and the frequency of posting new content.

SIMMONS DONATES FORMER BANK LOCATION TO CITY OF WILMOT: Simmons First National Corp. has donated a former branch bank on U.S. Highway 165 South in Wilmot to the city of Wilmot to be used as a municipal building for the city. Simmons acquired the Wilmot facility in 2014 as part of the acquisition of Delta Trust & Bank Corp. of Little Rock. Delta, in turn, had acquired the Wilmot State Bank in September 1996.

“The roots of our company are in southeast Arkansas, and we feel very strongly about this part of the state,” said George Makris, the Simmons chairman and CEO. “This is a unique opportunity to help the people of Wilmot. Our community banking philosophy includes giving back to the areas we serve.”

Carolyn Harris, the mayor of Wilmot, said the facility will provide much-needed office space for Wilmot’s city personnel, including the water department, police department, city treasurer and mayor. The area adjacent to the bank will serve as storage space, while the vacant concrete slab would be ideal for a farmers’ market that the city will complete by the summer of 2016, Harris said.

LR FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS FIRM ANNOUNCES ORGANIZATION CHANGES, NEW NAME: Little Rock-based Enterprise Financial Solutions Inc. has changed its name to Enterprise Financial Group (EFG) and announced an organization realignment that will expand the equipment leasing and management firm’s core operations and base of knowledge, company officials said.

The local company, which has offices in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, said it has broadened its core capabilities and expanded its base by aligning the following specialists in their respective disciplines. Blake Miller, formerly chief lending officer, will now serve as executive vice president and co-owner. Vince Robinson, who has 10 years of industry experience in finance and commercial lending, was named vice president, credit manager.

The company also unveiled a new logo and website, which can be found at www.myefgroup.com. In addition, EFG has expanded and recently opened an office in Northwest Arkansas, headed by financial veteran Joe Chumbler.