NEWS IN BRIEF

LITTLE ROCK — Stephens CEO: Frugal fi rms 'well-positioned'

Warren Stephens, chief executive of Little Rock-based investment bank Stephens Inc., was interviewed Friday on CNBC about his thoughts on a variety of economic fronts.

"Our view is that the consumer ... [is] not in the mood to spend very much. And with unemployment the way it is, and ... with people having furloughs, I think the consumer is in a pretty tough spot."

Stephens said companies have cut costs and are "wellpositioned for when the market returns." However, with a down employment picture, it's "going to be awhile I think before we see some [revenue] growth in a lot of our clients' businesses and in the businesses that we're investors in."

While not an immediate concern, Stephens said that in the "intermediate to long run, with our stimulus and federaldeficits, there's very strong likelihood, it seems to us, that inflation picks up ..."

Stephens said he's "surprised in a way" that the market has recovered as well as it has this year.

"I think the market is going to face some headwinds for the rest of the year," Stephens said. "You can only cut costs so much, and businesses have made their numbers by cutting costs, but at some point you're just not able to do it.

And a lot of businesses are there." State gets grant to fi x 7 homes in rural areas

Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corp. will receive a $86,546 grant to help low- and very-low-income rural residents repair their homes. The funds will be provided under the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Housing Preservation Grant program.

The grant will be used to provide home repairs for up to seven houses in Lee, Monroe, St. Francis and Cross counties. It will primarily focus on providing home repairs for the elderly.

Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corp. is one of eight organizations selected to receive a grant. The funds are being awarded to intermediaries, which in turn provide grants to low- and very-low income homeowners or owners of multi-family rental properties or cooperative dwellings.

Each grant will be combined with funds provided by the recipient organization.

All but 5 stocks slide

on Arkansas Index

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 0.72 to 159.01 Friday.

All but five stocks lost ground.

Simmons First National fell 3.6 percent on below-average volume.

First Federal Bancshares was up 8 percent on light trading.

For the week, 10 stocks declined and eight advanced.

P.A.M. Transportation Services rose 13.3 percent for the week.

Acxiom lost 7.7 percent in the past five days.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.