Gaming stocks responded indifferently to yesterday’s Wall Street rally. Wynn Resorts was up and down but ultimately flat, MGM Resorts International ticked up 2%, Las Vegas Sands was flat and Melco Resorts & Entertainment slipped a percentage point. So much for the Macao–
exposed stocks. Caesars Entertainment slipped 2.5%, Boyd Gaming was down almost as much, ditto Station Casinos and Eldorado Resorts took a 9.5% tumble. JP Morgan‘s intervention on behalf of Churchill Downs seems to have had some effect, as the stock regained lost ground, up 2%. But let’s face it, The Street is skittish about tourism-centric stocks. For those of the glass-half-empty persuasion, gaming stocks stabilized (except for ERI) because they had nowhere else to go: Sands had fallen 12%, MGM toppled 21.5% since Jan. 30, Station spiraled 17.5% earthward, Wynn plunged 15%, Caesars slipped 8% and Boyd skidded 13.5%.
Wynn is one of the few companies offering any transparency, advising investors, “A significant portion of our U.S. business relies on the willingness and ability of premium international customers to travel to the U.S., including from mainland China … Our Las Vegas Operations and operations at Encore Boston Harbor may also be adversely impacted.”
Meanwhile, as face masks begin to be seen on the Strip, the question arises who’s afraid of Las Vegas? The Trump administration, that’s who. It postponed the March 14 Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, slated 
for Sin City. “As the international community works together to defeat the novel coronavirus, the United States, in consultation with ASEAN partners, has made the difficult decision to postpone the ASEAN leaders meeting previously scheduled for mid-March,” said an administration spokesman. So much for planned face time between Donald Trump and Chinese supremo Xi Jinping. “Those guys will meet, and I’m sure you’ll be thrilled, but we’re all going to Las Vegas for the ASEAN,” White House advisor Lawrence Kudlow had promised. (Remember, this is the guy who said U.S. containment of coronavirus was “airtight.”)
Google also bugged out of “an internal event that would have brought thousands of employees together from across two continents.” Like the White House, Google explicitly cited coronavirus as the inciting incident. At least one Google employee has already been infected, and the company has shut down travel to South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, although Las Vegas Strip hotel rates are softening for March they remain firm for April. “Strip operators haven’t noted any impact from the coronavirus outbreak on their Las Vegas properties yet, but we know the situation is fairly fluid,” said SunTrust Robinson Humphrey gaming analyst Barry Jonas, noting that matters could change on very short notice. As for instance, the sudden cancellation of the Las Vegas Adobe Summit. The event will now be held online, a poor substitute for a Vegas junket.
Things are less sanguine at Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Oregon, which closed after one of its employees tested “presumptive positive” for coronavirus. If the unimaginable—casino closings—could happen in Macao, why not here? Speaking of Macao, early word is February gaming revenue plummeted 88%. Casino concessionaires are going to be imbibing gallons of red ink.
* Has wannabe Democratic Party kingmaker Harry Reid lost his touch? He finally climbed down from his carefully cultivated fence and endorsed Joe Biden but failed to do so before the Nevada caucuses, when it might actually have made a difference. If Biden should prevail, it will look good for Jim Murren, less so for Reid. Speaking of Murren, shareholder-advocacy nonprofit As You Sow has named him to its list of overpaid CEOs. Not for much longer, of course.
* St. Patrick’s Day is the furthest thing from anyone’s mind right now but Las Vegas ranks in the top 15 places to spend it, according to WalletHub. That’s despite being only 87% in Irish-American population. Sin City is 14th in Irish-themed pubs and restaurants (Ri Ra gets our high recommendation), and first in access to bars. After all, what’s Saint Paddy’s Day about if not to get puking drunk? We also lead the nation in St. Patrick’s Day parties and festivals per capita, and rank 11th in the lowest price for a three-star hotel. Las Vegas is 13th in average beer price, 17th in weather but only 39th in average price of a St. Patrick’s Day party ticket. Can’t we do better?
