LVS conference call

Gabelli was on CNBC talking about Sheldon Adleson, and not saying what Sheldon said:

When Janet Brasher of Sanford Bernstein asked this question:

Can I ask about the Sands and the Peninsula? All the revenue components are down. Your EBITDAR margin is up an impressive 6 points in your EBITDAR is up 13%. How do you do that?

LVS' response:

"Cooking the books. Just kidding, just kidding. Mike, you want to answer that."

As an aside, only SNDK gives a conference call as bad as LVS does, but that comes with the territory. I like it under 10 this morning.

As another aside, MGM reports August 4--Bloomberg had a nice piece on MGM:

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- MGM Mirage, with the smallest casino market share in Macau, said it’s overhauling operations and marketing at its venture in the city to boost the company’s revenue after an “underwhelming” start.

“Our Macau market share is half what it should be,” Jim Murren, chief executive officer and chairman, said in an interview yesterday in Las Vegas, where the company is based. “The other U.S.-based and other newer casinos have been more aggressive in marketing, more aggressive” in recruiting and junket relationships, he said.