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Wall Street: Las Vegas May Be Cooling

LAS VEGAS – As reported by Reuters: "Las Vegas has been on a winning streak with tourists and travelers for more than a year, but the gambling city's luck may be running thin, Wall Street analysts said on Thursday.

"A number of reports suggest that casinos' hotel room rates are rising slower or even falling as summer temperatures rise in the desert city.

"The second half of 2004 will be a tougher period for hotels to chalk up year-over-year gains than the first half. Travel picked up strongly late last year, so the bar is higher now than in the first half of 2004, which compared to the depressed travel periods around the U.S. war on Iraq in early 2003.

"Investors responded on Thursday by trimming as much as 4.5 percent from casino stocks like Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:CZR), MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGG) and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:HET).

"…'The Las Vegas market is still strong, just not as strong as earlier this year,' analyst Marc Falcone wrote.

"…Shares of Caesars fell 54 cents or 3.85 percent to $13.48, MGM Mirage lost $2.03 or 4.5 percent to $42.86 and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. dropped $1.72 or 3.25 percent to $51.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.

"Boyd Gaming fell $1.21 or 4.5 percent to $25.71 and Station Casinos fell $1.65 or 3.4 percent to $46.27."

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