Simmons bank to release 2014 earnings
Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter and 2014 earnings report today.
Executives with the firm will discuss the results with analysts in a conference call at 3 p.m. Interested persons may listen to the call by dialing (866) 298-7926 and asking for the Simmons First National conference call.
The conference ID number is 61558218.
-- David Smith
Canada's central bank cuts interest rate
TORONTO -- Canada's central bank is cutting its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point because of the sharp drop in oil prices.
The Bank of Canada unexpectedly cut its trend-setting rate Wednesday to three quarters of a percentage point from 1 percent. The bank says the price collapse poses considerable uncertainty for economic growth in the oil-producing nation.
It is the first time the bank has moved its overnight rate in either direction in nearly four-and-a-half years
Most economists had been predicting the bank to stand pat on the interest rate and raise it late this year or in early 2016.
The Canadian province of Alberta has the world's third-largest oil reserves, with 170 billion barrels of proven reserves.
-- The Associated Press
OPEC official rejects talk of $25 barrels
Oil prices won't extend their decline as low as $20 or $25 a barrel because the slump that already occurred since June isn't merited by global supply and demand, OPEC's secretary-general said Wednesday.
Prices are likely to remain around $45 to $50 a barrel, Abdalla El-Badri said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Balancing the world market is the responsibility of both the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and producers elsewhere, some of whom require oil prices of $100 to a barrel to sustain output, he said.
Brent crude for March settlement, the international benchmark, rose $1.04, or 2.2 percent, to $49.03 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.
West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery gained $1.31, or 2.8 percent, to close at $47.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
-- Bloomberg News
EBT readiness aim of farmers market aid
Farmers market managers and farmers who sell directly to consumers can apply for a grant to help pay for point-of-sale equipment that will allow them to accept electronic benefit transfer cards, known as EBTs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will hold a sign-up day Feb. 11 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service office auditorium at 2301 S. University Ave. in Little Rock.
Vendors interested in applying for a grant must be approved to accept EBT payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the food stamp program. The grants are available to only those not currently participating in the nutrition assistance program.
Those interested in applying for a grant should bring the following to the sign-up event: a working email address; a driver's license or other valid government identification; a copy or original Social Security card for those who will be listed on the SNAP-Authorized-Retailer application; a business license, if required; a bank account number where electronic payments will be sent; and a canceled check from the same account from which checks are used.
More information is available at http://www.fns.usda.gov or by contacting Michele Rodgers with the Arkansas Department of Human Services at (501) 682-8288.
-- Glen Chase
Mississippi casino revenue ends '14 flat
JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi casino revenue was flat in December, as casinos along the Mississippi River made a rare gain while casinos along the Gulf Coast fell slightly.
State Department of Revenue figures show casinos statewide took $168 million from gamblers in December, down 0.2 percent from $168.3 million in December 2013.
The take for 12 coastal casinos was $84.6 million, down 1 percent from December 2013. The 17 river casinos took $83.4 million, up 1 percent from December 2013.
Revenue statewide fell 3 percent to $2.08 billion for all of 2014, down from $2.14 billion in 2013.
Coast casinos took 1.4 percent more in 2014, with revenue rising to $1.08 billion. The take for river casinos fell 7.6 percent to $990 million.
The numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which don't report earnings to the state.
-- The Associated Press
Louisiana gambling take up across state
BATON ROUGE -- Visitors left more than $234.8 million at Louisiana's 20 major casinos in December, a combined year-over-year increase of 14.4 percent.
Much of that gain came from the addition of a third riverboat in Lake Charles, which draws many of its customers from Texas.
State police reported Tuesday that the Baton Rouge riverboat casinos took nearly $22.85 million in December.
Lake Charles' three riverboat casinos reported the most revenue last month. Those receipts totaled $72 million, which was 59 percent more than was collected in December 2013 when Lake Charles had only two riverboat casinos.
Louisiana's 15 riverboats took $172.7 million in December, which was 20.7 percent higher than combined collections for December 2013.
The Advocate reported that the state's four horse tracks pulled in another $31.77 million in December, an increase of 3.9 percent over the same month in 2013.
In New Orleans last month, Harrah's New Orleans Casino -- the state's only land-based casino -- took in 6.5 percent more receipts than December 2013. Harrah's had revenue of nearly $30.35 million last month.
The New Orleans area's three riverboat casinos took a combined $21.65 million in December, an increase of 5 percent over the same month a year earlier.
The combined take at the six casinos in Shreveport-Bossier City increased 2.8 percent over receipts for December 2013 and totaled nearly $56.19 million.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 01/22/2015