Subject: Monday Morning Briefing
From: Talk Business <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 May 2016 11:49:41 +0000
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PRESIDENT CLINTON TELLS 2016 CLINTON SCHOOL GRADUATES TO MAKE 'US' BIGGER THAN 'THEM': Former President Bill Clinton encouraged the 41 members of the 10th graduating class of the Clinton School of Public Service to focus on what makes people alike rather than what makes them different. Members of the graduating class included citizens of Benin, China, Kenya, and Venezuela.

Speaking outside in front of the school, which offers the nation’s first Master of Public Service degree, Clinton told the graduates that the future will be one of unprecedented peace and prosperity, though it will be preceded by a struggle to define what he called “the most interdependent age in human history.”

Read more of Clinton's comments at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=1481bc4199&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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ARKANSAS TRANSPORTATION REPORT: 2016 OFF TO A SLOW START - It’s been a tough start for the transportation sector in 2016, with most closely watched reports showing declines in trucking, rail and shipment revenue. The bright spot is a rise in air travel, although enplanements are down at two of Arkansas’ three largest airports. River traffic is also showing growth in recent months. Read the latest analysis and statistics from Talk Business & Politics' Transportation Report here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=3a5c081cef&e=b5f4886f5f) .

WAL-MART EXPECTED TO REPORT LOWER EARNINGS, WAGE AND TRAINING SPENDING TO HURT MARGINS: Wall Street doesn’t expect a glowing quarter from Wal-Mart when the company reports earnings Thursday (May 19), despite a respectable overall retail sales gain in April. The consensus estimate among Wall Street analysts pegs Walmart’s fiscal first quarter net income around $2.69 billion, or 89 cents a share. Projected net income is lower than than the $3.28 billion, or $1.03 cents per share earned in the year-ago period. The foreign currency impact is expected to be 3 cents per share. Revenue is projected to be $113.17 billion, down 1.4%. Top line sales will likely be hurt by foreign exchange costs and mildly deflationary prices in fuel and some foods. Read more on the expected highs and lows for the Bentonville-based retailer here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=8b2a960d4d&e=b5f4886f5f) .

END TO LITTLE-KNOWN WORKERS’ COMP FUND COULD BE SPECIAL SESSION BILL: A proposed bill that would do away with the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Death and Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund has support from some legislators and organized labor but not the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, which supports ending the fund, but after more consideration. The fund has a $130 million liability, an amount that is rising, which is why Sen. Greg Standridge, R-Russellville, is proposing legislation that would close the fund Jan. 1, 2017 to new claims while existing claims are slowly paid down over decades. Read more on this debate at this link (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=e652284e5d&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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ARKANSAS HOUSE SPEAKER EXPECTS HIGHWAY FUNDING SPECIAL SESSION CALL MONDAY: The call for the May 19 special session is expected to come “some time after lunch on Monday” and will contain “anywhere between five and 15” items, Speaker of the House Jeremy Gillam said Friday (May 13) in a meeting in his office with reporters. The session’s focus will be on highways. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has presented a short-term plan that would raise about $50 million a year in order to make the state eligible for an annual $200 million federal match under the five-year federal Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. What else might be on the call? Read more here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=5c827a96f0&e=b5f4886f5f) .

HIGHWAY DIRECTOR: COMMISSION HAS ‘QUALIFIED CONSENSUS’ ON GOVERNOR’S PLAN - Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s proposal to raise about $50 million in order to qualify for nearly $200 million in federal funds has the support of Arkansas highway officials, but they aren’t ruling out supporting other proposals. Scott Bennett, Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department executive director, appeared on this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics and said highway commissioners support what Hutchinson is proposing.

“I will says this: it’s a ‘qualified consensus’,” Bennett said. “There is a consensus to endorse the governor’s plan with a qualification that it is just for the immediate critical needs. We need to continue to work to find a long-term sustainable source of highway revenue.” Read more or watch Bennett's full interview here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=c3a62266a8&e=b5f4886f5f) .

GOV. HUTCHINSON: IGNORE FEDS’ GUIDANCE ON TRANSGENDER STUDENTS AND BATHROOMS - Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday that schools should disregard a “significant guidance” by the Obama administration warning schools that they must allow transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. In a statement from his office, he said the guidance “is offensive, intrusive and totally lacking in common sense.”

“As Governor, I recommend that local school districts disregard the latest attempt at social engineering by the federal government and continue to use common sense to ensure a safe and healthy environment in Arkansas schools. While the letter implies federal money could be withheld, the letter is nothing more than guidance and is not legally binding,” Hutchinson said. Read more here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=c6dc5cb9fe&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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SEAN WILLIAMS TO CHAIR ARKANSAS BANKERS: Sean Williams was installed as the 2016-17 chairman of the Arkansas Bankers Association at the 126th Annual ABA Convention last Thursday. Williams is President and CEO of First National Bank in Wynne and is also a member of First National Bank of Wynne’s board of directors. He is a lifelong resident of Woodruff County and received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in agricultural business and economics from Arkansas State University. Williams is also a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.

Other ABA officers installed include Chairman-Elect Dave Dickson, Union Bank & Trust Company, Monticello; Vice Chairman, Cathy Owen, Eagle Bank, Little Rock; and Treasurer Judy Lawton, Heartland Bank, Little Rock.

FINRA FINES STEPHENS INC. $900,000 FOR INADEQUATE SUPERVISION OF RESEARCH DEPARTMENT EMAILS: The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority recently announced that it has censured Stephens Inc., and fined the Little Rock investment firm $900,000 for inadequately supervising firm-wide internal "flash" emails sent by its research analysts to convey information about companies and industries the firm covered. These failures created the risk that the flash emails could potentially include material nonpublic information that might be misused by sales and trading personnel.

In settling the matter, Stephens neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to entry of FINRA's findings, the industry watchdog agency said. Stephens will also cease distributing flash emails and will implement a plan to conduct a comprehensive review of its policies, procedures and training in the research area.

Stephens' firm-wide flash email program was designed as an expeditious way for research analysts to share publicly available news and insights regarding covered companies with its sales and trading personnel for discussion with firm customers interested in those companies. FINRA found instances of firm personnel forwarding flash emails marked "internal use only" to customers, or cutting and pasting the text of an internal-use email into a separate communication sent to a customer.

FED WHITE PAPER OUT ON BANK LOAN UNDERWRITING STANDARDS: The Federal Office of Financial Research (OFR) has released a white paper describing how mortgage lending standards, as measured by responses to the Federal Reserve's quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, relate to changes in the availability of mortgage loans at banks from 1990 to 2013. The research, called “The Real Consequences of Bank Mortgage Lending Standards,” suggests that the survey's reported changes in credit standards are a leading indicator of the financial industry's vulnerability to shocks.

According to the report, bank loan underwriting standards are key determinants of credit availability. Denial rate changes are larger for banks that hold most of their mortgages on portfolio (rather than securitizing them). Tighter standards are associated with about 16% fewer high interest rate loans, a proxy for riskier loans. Applications rise at banks that report strengthening demand for mortgage loans. To view the report, click here (http://talkbusiness.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4403c46412536341322b6e88c&id=5f1f5a8f03&e=b5f4886f5f) .

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"If you can keep expanding the definition of 'us' and shrinking the definition of 'them,' if you can look at people with whom you disagree and see them as opponents but not enemies, people and not demons, opportunities for conversation and empowerment, not targets to hit in a shooting gallery, every day, we’ll get a little better at seeing people who we encounter physically or virtually." - Former President Bill Clinton.

"Basically, if I know that definitely there’s two-thirds in the House by Monday, it’ll still be a go." - Sen. Greg Standridge, R-Russellville, on legislation that would close the  Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Death and Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund.

"We don’t think it’s the kind of issue that is best considered and decided in a special session with a very short amount of time involved to tend to the issues at hand. … We don’t want to solve part of the problem. We want a comprehensive solution." - State Chamber of Commerce CEO Randy Zook on the workers comp fund.
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