Las Vegas Now | Gaming Stocks Taking a Beating

Gaming Stocks Taking a Beating

Stocks have plunged for a second straight day to levels not seen in more than five years.

Huge declines in the financial and energy sectors led stocks lower today. The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen about 445 points, or 5.6-percent.

The S&P 500 index closed at its lowest point since Oct. 2002.

The huge decline on Wall Street is having a major impact on gaming stocks. Three of the four major publically traded players on the Las Vegas Strip have taken a big hit in the price of their stocks, closing at the lowest price in one year.

MGM-Mirage closed Thursday at $8.79, down from its 52-week low of $8.91.

The Nevada Gaming Commission has agreed to allow Dubai World to acquire up to a 20-percent stake in MGM-Mirage, that is up from the 9-percent they currently own. Dubai World is already an equal partner with them on the CityCenter project.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns the Venetian and the Pallazo fended off bankruptcy in recent weeks to close Thursday at $3.90. At one point that stock was selling near $150 per share.

Boyd Gaming Corporation, the parent company of Coast Casinos and the Fremont downtown is trading at $3.02, down slightly from its 52-week low.

The opening of the Echelon Project on the Strip has been delayed by Boyd for up to a year.

Meantime, Wynn Resorts is still trading in double digits. It is the only one of the four companies that did not hit a 52-week low.

UNLV gaming analyst Dave Schwartz says he doesn't see the drop in stocks as a weakness of the gaming companies themselves, but more of a sign of the investment community's discomfort with the risks of gaming right now.