Las Vegas Recovery
Quote:“Things don’t seem to be getting worse, but they haven’t really been getting better, either,” said Joe Fath, a T. Rowe Price portfolio manager who specializes in gaming, travel and tourism. “There’s a difference between (a few positive indicators) that are pushing stocks up and real recovery,” he said. “If I had to bet on it, I’d say things will slowly get better, but at a very moderate pace.”
Please explain what it means to "slowly get better, but at a very moderate pace."
Full article is HERE.
I think my head is going to explode. I would be so embarrassed to be quoted saying something as dumb as that.
--Dorothy
Quote: DorothyGale
Please explain what it means to "slowly get better, but at a very moderate pace."
--Dorothy
To be fair I was called by a reporter while driving down a street. I said my quote while pulling into a parking lot trying not to get hit. When I read it in the paper it sounded pretty inarticulate.
Quote: Las Vegas Review Journal, 23 July 2009
Downtown Las Vegas analyst Frank Martin said he is surprised Landry's hasn't delayed completion of the tower, considering the surplus of luxury rooms that continues to drive down rates in Las Vegas and will be exacerbated when CityCenter opens on the Strip in the fourth quarter.
I just can't believe they're going to open that, Martin said. The company is in serious trouble.
...
They dumped so much money into that thing to have it essentially be doing worse, Martin said.
I think it is a little bit better than "slowly get better, but at a very slow pace."
On the Vegas recovery...who thinks Singapore's 2 casinos will be taking more than the whole Strip in 2011?
They're not far off it now only 6 months after opening their doors.
Quote: shortowdon't know if i'd want joe looking after my portfolio. I can throw my own darts at a dart board.
That's what I thought when I read that, too ...
I don't really know what to think about the Vegas "recovery" ... does that mean the halcyon days of, say, 2003-2007, or maybe not as sucky as 2009, or something in between? Not to diminish any improvement in Vegas's economy, every step in the right direction is a good step. But is it really true to think something is "recovered" because it doesn't suck as bad as one of its worst times ever?
A "recovery" is a process, of course, and Vegas will be in "recovery" if it's on its way back to Halcyon. But I don't think it is, and I don't think it's right to say that Vegas is "recovered," and I don't think it's honest to say that "doesn't suck as bad" = "lookie here, we're under recovery!"
With unemployment hovering at 9.5% nationwide and Nevada at 14.5% or so and EQ2 upward-pressuring prices and inflation, I just don't see a huge increase in Vegas-able discretionary income.
Quote: DorothyGalePlease explain what it means to "slowly get better, but at a very moderate pace."
--Dorothy
It's a pretty crappy sentence, but it could be fixed by leaving out the word "slowly". You could also say something like, "get better, albeit slowly and moderately". I think the person quoted wanted to say that the recovery would be both slow and of moderate MAGNITUDE.
Of course, I've seen far worse sentence construction in newspaper articles, particulary the LV Sun, which gives the unmistakable impression that its editorial staff is comprised of all the people who couldn't get jobs at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Quote: shortow
On the Vegas recovery...who thinks Singapore's 2 casinos will be taking more than the whole Strip in 2011?
They're not far off it now only 6 months after opening their doors.
The September numbers will be released in a few days, but the Jun/Jul/Aug gaming revenue of $1.389 billion is a good estimate for the 3rd quarter of 2010. The Sands corporation made $414.5 million in the 3rd quarter in gaming revenue alone from Singapore. That is an impressive 30% of the Strip for the first full quarter of operations in Singapore.
I am not sure what the other casino made or where to find the data. But assuming that it did just as well as Marina Bay (a dubious assumption since they are more family oriented), I think that Singapore is unlikely to catch the Vegas strip by next year. I am not saying it is impossible, but I doubt it.
Macau has over 30 casinos, and Singapore does not intend to build more than the two casinos. One possibility that I have repeatedly discussed is that Singapore will suck out the profitable baccarat business from Vegas. About $250 million of the revenue in Vegas was from this game in those three months.
Of course, there is no easy way to know non gaming revenue since most of the rest of hotels and restaurants in Singapore will benefit from the increase in tourism. But the Asian operations have far fewer hotel rooms and restaurants than Vegas.
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In comparison, the single movie, Avatar took over $1/2 billion from East and Southeast Asia. I would say we are doing pretty well at selling them cultural products. I mean China,Hong Kong,Indonesia,Japan,Malaysia,Philippines,Singapore,South Korea,Taiwan,Thailand,Vietnam.
