Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

More doom and gloom from MarketWatch:

I don't know if this is a permalink.

Stock prices are up in after hours trading (WYNN, LVS, MGM were hammered during regular Thursday trading) so the Macau numbers and guidance must have pleased some in the financial sector. These stocks are down more than 50% so at some point they will look good long term. I own a little bit of each and I doubt they have hit bottom yet.

Good God, I own a ton of Wynn, MGM, MPEL, and LVS. If they didn't see the bottom today, then i'll be looking for a tall building soon.

Well, for what it's worth, in our Vegas Gang recording today we discussed this and found a few reasons why WYNN shareholders should be happy. It should be posted tomorrow.

Didn't Steve say he would love it if his stock hit $70 a share on The Strip Podcast? Something about being able to buy up more stock in his own company?

"Operating income at Wynn Las Vegas is expected to be $18-22 million, down from $63.4 million last year. Wow, big drop. Looks like they are blaming it on lower hold percentages, lower ADR, and lower occupancy."

I was at the bar in Council Oak steakhouse at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL tonight. I asked the couple next to me if they ever went to Vegas. They said they used to go to Bellagio and Wynn frequently, but they got tired of the hassle of flying, and why should they when they can stay at the Hard Rock here and enjoy the pool, casino, restaurants and shows. They then excused themselves to go to the Carole King concert at Hard Rock Live. That may become a more common opinion with gas prices, air fares and economic uncertainty.

I'm sure Vegas has been through some pretty rough economic times over the years, but every time they come out the other end bigger and more profitable. Steve Wynn knows his shit and he knows Wynn Resorts will weather this storm as well. Hopefully their stock inches down a wee bit more so those of us in it for the long haul can snag some more shares on the cheap!

The fact that Macau posted an increase in EBITDA of over 59mln compared to the same Q in PY combined with the increase in share repurchase program should make shareholders sleep a bit easier.

If you have the stomach for it, I think some of the major players that have a Macau presence are a good Long Term buy right now. They are almost all at 52 week lows. Macau should provide some defense against the decline in Las Vegas.

I dont know why but I have a feeling that Wynn should/wants to buy the fashion show mall across the street. After all, there are big ass signs at every end of the mall saying stuff about their shows.

Posted by mike_ch

Probably all the Macau companies are a good buy though I'm cautious MPEL because I don't trust Packer but perhaps the rest of the board reigns him in.

In that case, Mike, you'll probably want to check out the news coverage of Crown's pubic expression of disinterest in Ameristar. GamingFloor.com has links to three stories on the subject.

This is an interesting video from Patrick Antonius (high stakes poker player) about his experience at the Wynn Golf course.

http://www.rawvegas.tv/watch.php?vID=19f78deb62305304f43db66a624f5c

Posted by mike_ch

McKee: My concerns surrounding Crown have less to do with it's acquisitions, and more to do with Packer himself. Take a look at section 3.1 of his Wikipedia article to understand why. Very recently he has moved on, but it still speaks of poor judgement to me.

If Steve Wynn ever had a part in that same group I would also not want to part a dime to him, even though he generally makes excellent industry decisions.

Just arrived back from Vegas!
I've got some shots of Encore, Fontainebleau, Echelon, and The Mirage Volcano that I'll send tomorrow, but I need to mention a few things tonight.

I was hanging around in the Tower Suites lobby when a Wynn executive approached me (will remain anonymous), just to find out how my stay was going. Jokingly I asked if it would be possible to get a behind the scences tour of the hotel, and his response was, "10 AM tomorrow."

The most exciting part was getting past those "Wynn Resort" doors in the esplanade and going through Steve's office and drafting room. Let me tell you that the tear in Le R�ve is unnoticable, Encore is going to have more focus on butterflies than you could imagine (Elaine's favorite creature), and according to one drawing (may have changed), Wynn Cotai will have a massive lake, as well as a gold tower.

Devon, it's tomorrow already. Where are the photos? :-)
How was business at Wynn in the casino and restaurants? A friend who lives in Las Vegas is spending the weekend at Palazzo. He said the hotel is full, but at what rates?
I'm really looking forward to your photos of the new construction and any opinions you have on how Fontainebleau looks.

Sorry my computer has been acting up, but photos have been sent to Hunter.
Wynn's casino wasn't as busy as I've seen it, but it definitely was looking better than Palazzo, Venetian, Mirage, Planet Hollywood, or Bellagio. All of the restaurants were bustling, and according to management, they were running in the low 90's for occupancy percentage. ADR is down, but as long as the rooms are getting filled, they'll be fine. An interesting note was that Bette Midler, $135, had about 500-700 empty seats, while Spamalot, $65 and done today, was sold out.
Detroit, Fontainebleau looks promising from what I've seen. The shopping area reminds me a little of The Crystals, but I still am more excited about Fontainebleu that I am CityCenter.

Posted:

http://www.ratevegas.com/photo/most_recent

Thanks for the photos!

Devon, great photos. I didn't realize Fontainebleau was as far along as it is. I can't judge the walking distance, but in the photo of Encore's porte cochere, looking north, Fontainebleau looks fairly close. Once it and Echelon open, the North Strip will be considered a real destination from Wynn all the way to Sahara.

detroit:

We just spent 3 comped nights at the Venetian for a slot tournament. My wife and I both had invitations, and according to the printed rules we both had to take a comped room, so we booked two and fortunately had friends to share a room with. There were about 400 people there for the tournament, so if everyone including couples got their own room they would have almost 10% of Venetian's rooms booked just for that weekend event.

We ate at Table 10 on Saturday and Cut on Sunday, and both were pretty full. Sunday evening Venetian's casino was packed, and I swear every person in there was smoking a cigar. Just for fun I just checked the LVCVA website, and it turns out the "Retail Tobacco Dealers of America 2008" show is at the Sands Expo Center this week. Fortunately for our lungs we've moved on to Bellagio for the rest of the week.

Mike P, a local Vegas friend was also in the slot tournament. He's even worse about smoke than I am. When he got bombarded by all the cigar smoke, he wouldn't even stay there. He went home and only returned to play in the tournament. He didn't spend a dime of his own money in the casino. My friend says LVS is the most aggressive in boosting occupancy rates with locals.