Home loans top $1B
at Arvest Mortgage
Arvest Mortgage Co., a division of Fayetteville-based Arvest Bank, originated more than $1 billion in mortgage loans through Sept. 30, Arvest said.
Including refinance loans and mortgages to buy homes, Arvest closed a total of 6,853 loans with a value of $1.012 billion through the first nine months of the year.
This is the 12th-straight year Arvest has originated $1 billion or more in mortgage loans.
Through nine months in 2012, two of every three loans were refinanced. This year, two of every three loans have been mortgages for home purchases.
"While the entire industry knew that refinances would continue to decline, we have been very pleased that our [mortgages for home purchases] have remained strong and outpaced national projections," Steven Plaisance, president and chief operating officer of Arvest Mortgage, said Wednesday. "This indicates that consumers in our area are continuing to buy new homes and looking for local lenders to help them."
Arvest Bank has more than 270 branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas.
-- David Smith
Tyson Foods unveils
company-news app
Tyson Foods introduced an investor relations application Wednesday for iPhone and Android smartphone users.
The free app features the company's latest news releases, SEC filings, earnings calls, presentations and transcripts.
"Our investors increasingly use mobile technology to stay up-to-date on the latest company news and events," Jon Kathol, Tyson's vice president of investor relations, said in a statement. "With the IR app, we're offering a direct path to the information they use most often."
Smartphone users can download the app from Apple's App Store or Google Play.
-- Brian Fanney
Arkansas Index up;
14 stocks see gains
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, jumped 5.10 to 348.75 Thursday.
"U.S. stocks continued to climb on Thursday after better-than-expected earnings reports from Caterpillar and 3M Co. and strong economic data out of Europe," said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock. "The Arkansas Index moved higher as 14 stocks advanced and three declined."
P.A.M. Transportation Services rose 5 percent on low volume.
USA Truck finished up 4.2 percent in light trading.
Acxiom gained 2.8 percent on about half its average volume.
Murphy USA added 2.7 percent in heavy trading.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 10/24/2014