A pro-casino group in Pope County, Arkansas, may have committed an electoral no-no. Pope County Majority is accused of making in-kind contributions to two candidates and of making political endorsements, in 
effect becoming a PAC. PCM, which is trying to raise money—perhaps disingenuously—through GoFundMe, describes itself as a “group dedicated to community awareness. We are in favor of a casino/resort and other progressive establishments for the growth and development of Pope County.” Complainant Teresa Russell says she’s against a casino, at least one that’s a grind joint.
PCM “does not donate to candidates, nor was it formed for a particular local election,” said leader Kelly Jett. “We’re glad that neighborhood associations and community groups like ours are not political action committees in Arkansas and can engage in issue speech, because we don’t want Washington D.C.-style politics of personal attacks in our areas.” Jett’s attorney adds that the in-kind donation came from Jett’s own pocket and that no casino applicants donated to her group. All of this may be ultimately be beside the point, since Pope County is anti-casino country and all gaming projects are hopelessly snarled in litigation at present.
* Immured behind a paywall, a story in the Washington Post asserts that “economic desperation” is driving casino legalization in Virginia. Of course it is! It always is. Gambling is the “break glass in case of emergency” of American politics. A good thing, too. Lawmakers won’t touch it—unless hard times (or popular demand) force their hand. Lucky for us there have been a lot of desperate states—and the few holdouts are weakening—because anything that defeats political prudishness is welcome.
* Macao is exposed to coronavirus and gaming stocks—some of them, anyway–are exposed to Macao. Consequently, Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International are all trading down. Ironically, 
the decline was greatest (-5.5%) for MGM, which has the least Macanese presence of the three. The South China Morning Post reports that February gross gaming revenues could be as low as -89%, while 1Q20 could be down 56%. Despite what certain talk-radio buffoons bloviate, coronavirus is a real problem, with 2,592 deaths in China and 30 more worldwide. The markets are certainly taking it seriously and are probably the real audience for recent White House bromides.
The message was mixed, as the Center for Disease Control & Prevention‘s Dr. Nancy Messonier told reporters, ‘‘It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of 
exactly when this will happen—and how many people in this country will have severe illness.’’ Imagine coronavirus hitting Las Vegas. We’d rather not, wouldn’t we? Said Independent Advisor Alliance Chief Investment Officer Chris Zaccarelli, “Unfortunately, FDR had it right when he said the ‘only thing we have to fear is fear itself,’ and fear is going to be with us for weeks, if not months. So the stock market is going to move lower in the short run before bottoming and going back to all-time highs again.” Is that a silver lining for the gaming group?
* Finally, for a bit of good news, Caesars Entertainment reported revenue numbers for 4Q19. Las Vegas cash flow was up 3.5%, grossing $363 million, while regional operations did even better, hopping 7.5% to $247 million. Managed and international properties did not do so well, with negative cash flow of $27 million. The company shelled out $26 million in stock-based compensation and $50 million in litigation settlements. Enjoy the good times before Tom “Chainsaw” Reeg arrives.
