Updating ARKANSAS BEST CORP. and WASHINGTON FEDERAL INC.

Article Excerpt

ARKANSAS BEST CORP. $26 lost $0.62 a share in the second quarter of 2009. That includes $0.12 a share in unusual expenses for non-union health-care and pension costs. It earned $0.63 a share a year earlier. The recession has hurt trucking volumes and freight rates; this was the main reason that revenue fell 27.3%, to $362.6 million from $498.5 million. However, Arkansas Best holds cash of $191.4 million, or $7.64 a share, and it only has $1.7 million of long-term debt. Hold. WASHINGTON FEDERAL INC. $14 earned $0.07 a share in its third quarter, which ended June 30, 2009. That’s down 81.6% from $0.38 a year earlier. The latest earnings do not include a one-time charge related to the repurchase of preferred shares and warrants that Washington Federal issued to the U.S. Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program last November. The company has enough capital to keep operating during the recession, but hard-hit housing markets in California and the Pacific…