Is it just a spigot you turn on, the people are waiting and just turn up? It's difficult to say. |
It's a lucrative acquisition opportunity. |
It's clear Wynn Las Vegas is growing the market across every segment, slots, table games and baccarat. |
It's difficult to find a lot of negativity toward the group. Clearly, the fundamentals are very strong, and I expect that to continue. |
Las Vegas is one of the top destination getaways in North America and a great value compared with the alternatives such as Disney World, New York City and San Francisco. |
Much of the surrounding area and feeder markets suffered considerable damage, which could certainly depress business in the near term. Pinnacle has the largest exposure to the market, which is a concern considering the recent impact to the company from Katrina. |
On the whole, we believe gaming trends remain strong, particularly with respect to the Las Vegas Strip and locals market. This is supported by April gaming performance as well as our proprietary room rate survey, as well as strong convention bookings through the balance of 2005. Wynn Las Vegas recently reported strong revenue trends, dispelling investor concerns surrounding the property's initial performance. |
Our contacts in Las Vegas had previously indicated that (credit play) for Chinese New Year was up 20 percent. We believe Chinese New Year also had a calendar benefit relative to the Super Bowl this year which allowed for greater high-end suite availability. |
Overall, it was a pretty good quarter given the concerns that existed at the beginning of the summer. Overall, the summer turned out to be stronger than Wall Street investors had been anticipating. |
Overall, we remain impressed with results from the high-end business and expect that the addition of Wynn Las Vegas will help maintain the strong momentum. |
People are still taking the temperature on the strength of the fundamentals in Las Vegas. The stocks had a strong run in the first quarter and expectations are high. |
Pinnacle is our top small-cap pick. |
Plus, Las Vegas will be the beneficiary of displaced convention business (from New Orleans), which will help stimulate demand. |
Regardless, we view these results as a sign of continued strong demand and the overall healthiness of (Las Vegas). |
Some fear the machines will serve as a distraction to the fans and deter them from placing pari-mutuel bets, ... And the results of such machines have been mixed. |