Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise 05/21/2017

BUSINESS
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QUESTIONS? Nathan Thompson | 918-335-8248 | nthompson@examiner-enterprise.com

J.C. PENNEY
BRIEF CASE

CHAMBER FORUM
Local legislators
Shareholders express concerns
scheduled to By Maria Halkias below-$5 stock price during his do, he said, after listing prog- suggested that the comp
discuss session The Dallas Morning News prepared remarks Friday at the ress on operating profit, future should hire investment ba
companys shareholders meet- plans and promised an ongoing ers to shop Penney now that
The Bartlesville Regional PLANO, Texas (TNS) With ing, saying Penneys shares focus on debt reduction. still generating $1 billion a y
Chamber of Commerce will a stock price at historic lows, were already depressed before Three years ago, many in (EBITDA) earnings bef
present a legislative wrap-up J.C. Penney shareholders, the stock market sentiment for industry experts didnt think we interest, taxes and other ite
forum featuring three local some stepping up to a micro- department stores took a dive. would still be here. Were not I hope its a successful tu
lawmakers on June 1 from phone twice, kept a constant He noted that Penney has been satisfied, but were improving around, McElyea said in
11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. at but polite stream of questions in a position of stabilizing the and we feel good about where interview after the meeti
the Bartlesville Community flowing for CEO Marvin Ellison business and paying down debt were going. Hes concerned about whet
Center. including a suggestion to put while at the same time sharing Shareholder Peyton K. McE- some of Ellisons initiativ
State Sen. Julie Daniels, the company up for sale. headwinds faced by its peers. lyea of Los Angeles-based
Rep. Travis Dunlap and Ellison addressed Penneys We still have a lot of work to Dirigo Capital Group LLC SEE CONCERNS
Rep. Earl Sears will speak
about the 2017 legislative
session and provide behind-
the-scenes insight of the
BARTLESVILLE
struggles and successes SALT CONFERENCE REAL ESTATE
while serving at the State
Capitol in Oklahoma City.
The forum is available to
Finance elite unmoved April
all Chamber of Commerce
members and includes lunch
home
service. Tickets are $25 per
person or $275 for a table of
eight.
Registration is available
by D.C., market turmoil sales
online at www.bartlesville.
com, or can be made by
contacting Tressa Cruse at
tcruse@bartlesville.com or
slump
via phone at 918-336-8708.

DEWEY BUSINESS
AFTER HOURS
Heritage Theatre to
host event June 5
Heritage Theatre Cafe and
Pub will host Dewey Business
After Hours on June 5, begin-
ning at 6 p.m. The theatre is
located at 306 E. Don Tyler in
downtown Dewey.
Business owners are
invited to come out and
mingle, share business cards
and talk about future plans
for local businesses.
Hors doeuvres will be
available and the bar will be
open for purchasing adult
beverages. Attendees are
encouraged to bring a door
prize to give away.
For more information, call
Heritage Theatre Cafe and
Pub at 918-440-2393.
AT&T STRIKE
21,000 employees
walk off the job
(TNS) If you are an AT&T
customer, you might have
woken up Friday and thought
to yourself, Why, this week-
end would provide a perfect
opportunity for me to nally
get down to my corner AT&T
store, see about upgrading to
a new cellphone and, maybe,
look into subscribing to
DirecTV!
But you might want to put
those thoughts aside and
make other plans.
Thats because as many as
21,000 AT&T wireless, DirecTV
and wireline workers walked
off the job Friday afternoon to
start a three-day strike. The
AT&T employees are part of
the Communications Work-
ers of America (CWA) union,
and they began the strike
after failing to reach a new
contract with the nations No.
2 wireless carrier.
The strike involves AT&T
employees in 36 states and
the District of Columbia.
Many AT&T employees in
California and Nevada also
joined the strike, which,
Anthony Scaramucci, fund management executive-turned-Trump booster, speaks during the Skybridge Alterna-
tives (SALT) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 17. DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG
Zell: I think the president has the competence
By Max Abelson, Katia
Porzecanski and Nabila Ahmed
Bloomberg
As Donald Trumps bal-
looning scandals sent stocks
tumbling Wednesday, hedge
fund managers gathered at
the Bellagio in Las Vegas for
one of the industrys most
popular conferences. First
on the days agenda: pedal-
ing exercise bikes, visiting a
spa and trying a beauty ser-
vice called GlamSquad. The
mood was relaxed.
The SALT conference was
founded by Anthony Scar-
amucci, a fund management
executive-turned-Trump
booster, and was the first
big fundraising stop last year
for campaign finance chief
Steven Mnuchin, whos now
Treasury secretary. Many
attendees this year stand to
profit if Trump fulfills his
promise to slash taxes and
Wall Street regulation.
So why werent they
freaking out over chatter of
potential impeachment?
THE OKLAHOMA TRAVELER
Tourism conference focused on area successe
We all feel comfortable
with Mike Pence leading,
said Anna Stone, a market-
ing and investor relations
consultant whose clients
include family offices and
hedge funds. Some people
would be happier.
The general indifference
to Trumps travails here says
much about the financial
industrys view of the young
administration. For many
on Wall Street, deregulation
and tax reform matter more
than a border wall or travel
ban. Even if Trump suc-
cumbs to crisis, the thinking
goes, Republicans and Pence
can press on. The vice presi-
dent has taken steps to begin
building his own political war
chest.
The scene at the confer-
ence, where a white McLaren
was parked indoors for guests
to ogle, contrasted with the
uproar in markets, where the
S&P 500 Index fell the most
since September and Gold-
man Sachs Group Inc. shares
slid the most in almost a year.
than $100,000; 27 s
Ignoring News
On a quiet, shaded patio at
the hotel, attendees sipped
coffee and networked. Down
below, Bank of America Corp.
and competing prime broker-
ages lured clients to poolside
bungalows. David Rubenstein
huddled at a corner table at
the Palio Cafe, where a cold-
pressed juice costs $12.50.
Fellow billionaire Marc Lasry
took calls.
Some attendees confessed
they hadnt tuned in yet to
the scandals latest devel-
opments, with a few saying
they were more interested
in finding that nights par-
ties. Others simply brushed
off allegations that Trump
asked the head of the FBI to
drop an investigation into
former national security
adviser Michael Flynn, and
reports that the president dis-
closed sensitive intelligence
to Russian officials. Trump
has denied wrongdoing.
SEE ELITE, D2
continue
By Nathan Thompson
nthompson@examiner-enterprise
Total home sales in A
were down compared to
year, but the average sel
price was much highe
residential closing stat
tics report provided by
Bartlesville Association
Realtors shows.
According to the Ap
report released last wee
total of 66 homes were s
in the month for an aver
price of $163,344. In A
2016, 77 homes were so
but at a lower average p
of $146,166.
Of those homes s
in April, 21 sold for l
for between $100,0
and $200,000; 13 s
for between $200,0
and $300,000; and f
homes sold for more th
$300,00, the report sho
The least expensive ho
sold for $14,000, while
most expensive sold
$890,000.
Total monthly closings
April were down by alm
$475,000 from the previ
year. April saw total mont
closings of $10,780,5
while closings for April 2
totaled $111,254,802.
January is the beginn
of the tracking year for
Bartlesville Association
Realtors. So far, a tota
212 homes have been sol
2017 compared to 254 in
first three months of 20
an overall sales decreas
42 homes for the year.
Homes sold in April w
on the market an averag
33 days, the report sho
with a median listing pr
of $128,400.
There are currently
active listings in Bartlesv
compared to 270 active l
ings in April 2016.

because of its reach across
AT&Ts businesses, could
result in company retail
stores being closed through
the weekend.
The AT&T employees
are striking over some of
the usual things that union
workers are seeking to retain
with their jobs: affordable
benets, fair wages and job
security, as well as AT&T con-
tinuing to outsource jobs to
locations outside of the U.S.
This weekends strike fol-
lows on the heels of a similar
brief walkout by 17,000 AT&T
wireline workers in California
and Nevada.
The Mercury News
T
ourism profes- The event kicked off Work for You by using that site helps provid
sionals from on May 15, with an OTIA OTRDs resources to even more informa-
across the state Board of Directors and calibrate messaging and tion to visitors lookin
gathered on Tuesday for Annual Meeting, wel- maximize audiences. to learn more about
the Oklahoma Confer- coming OTIAs newest OTRDs tourism Oklahoma. Bartlesvil
ence on Tourism, an officers. Gus, who has website TravelOK.com and Dewey attraction
annual event that helps served on the OTIA is a fantastic resource events, and restauran
Oklahomas tourism MARIA GUS Board for eight years, that area museums, can be found on the s
industry work together was elected treasurer to attractions, events and in addition to links to
to grow our attractions the Oklahoma tourism restaurants can use, steer travelers to the
and communities. the Bartlesville Con- advocacy group. said Gus, I would Visit Bartlesville site
Between OTIAs vention and Visitors Completing the day of strongly encourage area While the CVB fre-
Annual Meeting, eleven Bureau, Joni Nash from educational workshops tourism partners to visit quently sends update
educational sessions, a the Pawhuska Cham- was a keynote presenta- the website to make information to Trav-
trade show, networking ber of Commerce, and tion featuring Jennifer sure their listing is up to elOK.com, businesse
opportunities, and the Shiloh Thurman and Mullins with the Okla- date. can also update their
RedBud Awards gala, Kaci Fouts, employ- homa Tourism and TravelOK.com has own listing by visitin
attendees had a great ees from RedBud Recreation Department, ranked in the top 10 of the website and creat
time! Merit Award winner, who presented how to travel websites for the a unique user
Area attendees Woolaroc Museum and Harness the Power last several years and
included Maria Gus of Wildlife Preserve. of OTRD and Put it to the new rebranding of SEE TOURISM

May 23, 2017 6:19 pm /