Arkansas stocks wilt under heat of poor job numbers (Corrected)

Arkansas stocks ended the first half of 2010 with investors scrambling for bear-proof U.S. bonds gold and international currencies.

Like Wall Street, Arkansas equities were hammered by the global debt crisis, sagging consumer confidence, slow job growth and talk of a double-dip recession.

Even after reporting getting a bounce from better-than-expected -first quarter earnings, most of Arkansas’ publicly traded concerns ended the month of June with heavy losses and sagging stock prices. Nine of the 16 stocks monitored by The City Wire and Talkbusiness.net lost ground to their closing stock prices  on Jan. 4.

The companies that did see stock gains for the first half of 2010 saw impressive results.

Tontitown-based P.A.M. Transport was up 42.5% to close June 30 at $15.03; Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. closed up 33.9%; Van Buren-based USA Truck was up 25.7%; shares of Fort Smith-based Baldor Electric Co. were up 24.9%; Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks was up 19.9%; Little Rock-based Dillard’s closed June 30 at $21.50, up 15% for the year; and Little Rock-based Acxiom Corp., which started the year at $13.83, rose 6.2% to end the year at $14.69.

However, Arkansas’ bellwether stocks, such as Wal-Mart, J.B.Hunt, Murphy Oil, and Arkansas Best Corp. were caught in the mid-summer market swoon.

Overall, U.S. stocks ended the second quarter at their worst quarterly performance since the financial crisis began. The Dow Jones industrial Average fell 7.6% between January and June, closing June 30 at 9,774.02.

As recently as June 21 the Dow was trading with new strength, opening on that day at 10,452.46. But in the previous eight days of trading, dismal news about job gains, consumer confidence and trouble with European economies brought out the bears and the Dow tumbled 678 points.

Prospects for the third quarter, which starts today (July 1), don’t look much brighter than the previous six months. On Tuesday, the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence took a sharp dive because of job worries after three consecutive months of positive momentum.

“Consumer confidence, which had posted three consecutive monthly gains and appeared to be gaining some traction, retreated sharply in June. Increasing uncertainty and apprehension about the future state of the economy and labor market, no doubt a result of the recent slowdown in job growth, are the primary reasons for the sharp reversal in confidence,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center.

Unemployment rates were higher in May than a year earlier in 222 of the 372 metro areas, lower in 141 areas, and unchanged in 9 areas, according to a June 30 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thirteen areas had jobless rates of at least 15%, while 9 areas posted rates below 5%.

In May, 124 metro areas reported jobless rates of at least 10%, up from 107 areas a year earlier, while 70 areas posted rates below 7%, down from 91 areas in May 2009.

Of Arkansas’ eight metro areas, May unemployment was higher in four, unchanged in one and lower in three.

Franco also gave this stern warning: “Until the pace of job growth picks up, consumer confidence is not likely to pick up.”

The Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 52.9, down from 62.7 in May.

Arkansas stocks will kick-off the first quarter earnings period in mid-July. USA Truck will report on July 12, followed by J.B. Hunt Transport Services.