3) The End of the Rainbow -Tools To Make You A Fortune

There are thousands of sites and tools for investors to research the stock market and economy, but which ones should an investor use? I have spent countless hours and heard from hundreds of analyst and investors to find the sites that are worth an investor’s time. These sites are located on my link list under Resource List – Tools of the Trade. I will get into more detail further on, but I would first like to explain my two link lists and the differences between them. The online resources I have included on my blog’s link list were chosen for their academic content, resourceful tools, and accurate and credible news sources. I have separated the link lists into two categories for a couple reasons. First, the two lists separate the content that is found on the sites. The Resource List contains news sites and stock quoting that can benefit any investor find the information they need for any particular company that is publicly traded on an exchange. These sites probably have recognizable names because they are run by large companies that provide economic information to millions of people, therefore, are reliable sources for economic news and trading information. On the other hand, the Online Blog and News Resources section contains some blogs that I have commented on or are planning on commenting on, as well as, sites that speculate on economic conditions and public companies. As time goes on, I hope to add several more blogs on this site along with any other informational sites that can assist the average investor.

I have not found any true blogs that concentrate entirely on stock market transitions and economic news. I have found stock market blogs that are more of a one way street with basic speculation and news surrounding a given public company or industry sector. The section of my blog Online Blog and News Resources contains some valuable sites for gaining information through analyst forecast and analysis. The first site is Dan Carty’s gaming stock article that links to several other sectors he has covered. This site helped me evaluate some of the speculation I have written about regarding Macau and some of the larger gambling companies. Secondly is the site Seeking Alpha. This link is more specific to the housing industry and the latest articles concentrate on the swirl of information surrounding the decline of the real estate market. Next is Zachs Research Blog, which is a news stream of major plays they are making as a stock research company. Zachs gives suggestion on what stocks to buy, as most analysts’ do, and they provide it through this blog that is updated throughout the day. Further down the list is Jim Cramer Blog, which centers around the well-known analyst Jim Cramer, which I have gone into greater detail on January 24^th, 2007. The last three blogs are all financial newsletter stocks that update daily with news surrounding the market and economic conditions. I primarily like Blogging Stocks since it is an extension of AOL Money and seems to have some great news articles everyday. Ultimately, these sites are written very similarly and have the same primary audience. They cater to the everyday investor who is looking to research a stock they own or planning on buying.

Now the most important of these sites are under Tools of the Trade. AOL Money, Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, and CBS Marketwatch all provide the same resources with certain aspects being different. Some people prefer one to the other, but it is mainly a personal preference. I use Google and CBS more often, but only cause I am use to these and have been using them for a while. In addition, these sites will help all investors look up quotes for any public company providing them with pages and pages of information to give an investor all the data they need to research a company they are interested in. Moving away from these sites the last three are primarily different from all the other sites I have suggested. First, American Bulls is a momentum trading site that shows the formation of certain characters that some people believe provides adequate information to invest from. For example, LVS is showing a HIGH WAVE today therefore there is indecision in the market. The site posts a BUY-IF $104.07 based off of the HIGH WAVE formation. Sometimes these signals help and other times they do not. I would suggest if using these formations to also use a secondary source to research the stock further. Next is thestreet.com and Mad Money Recap which are both sites related to Jim Cramer. TheStreet.com is an analyst/news site that was started by Jim Cramer. The site offers many analysts speculation that an investor must pay for. Furthermore, it may be worth the money since the research is backed by a strong reputation in Jim Cramer and the status of the site in the economic world. In addition, Jim Cramer has his own blog on this site, but a viewer must pay for access to that as well. Lastly, is Mad Money Recap which just posts the recap to Jim Cramer’s analyst show “Mad Money.” Cramer is well respected in a lot of circles, so it wise to look over this recap to see if he has mentioned anything about a stock within an investor’s portfolio. All of these sights can help an investor improve their research on any public company. It is knowledgeable to research any stock an investor may want to purchase in-depth using a variety of the tools previously mentioned along with other strategies and sites that may be out in the investing world.

Annotation - Melco PBL

Venturing away from some of the larger and well known gaming stocks, I would like to introduce a recent IPO to the mark – Melco PBL Entertainment. After all the discussion about the prominent potential and current success of the Chinese gaming island of Macau, can one gaming company actually have problems focusing their company on just this marvel. The company under question is Melco PBL. The company went public on December 19, 2006. In Abbi Adest article “This Week's IPOs: Dayton Superior Corp, Claymont Steel, Fuwei Film, Melco PBL Entertainment, Oculus Sciences - SeekingAlpha” he highlights several IPO’s that were going to hit the market during the week of Dec 18^th 2006. The following blurb underlines the company and the services it provides along with some other relevant information.

MELCO PBL ENTERTAINMENT (MPEL)
Business Overview (from prospectus)

We are a developer, owner and operator of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities focused exclusively on the rapidly expanding Macau market. Our subsidiary Melco PBL Gaming (Macau) Limited, or MPBL Gaming, is one of six companies authorized by the Macau government to operate casinos in Macau. We have two current casino gaming and entertainment projects under development: the Crown Macau Hotel Casino targeted to open in the second quarter of 2007 and the City of Dreams integrated casino complex, phase one of which is targeted to open in late 2008. MPBL Gaming currently operates six Mocha Clubs featuring a total of approximately 1,000 gaming machines, or slot machines. We have also entered into a conditional agreement to acquire a third development site that is located on the shoreline of the Macau peninsula. We are a 50/50 joint venture between Melco International Development Limited, or Melco, and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, or PBL. We are the exclusive vehicle of Melco and PBL to carry on casino, gaming machine and casino hotel operations in Macau.

Many investors are looking at this stock as a great investment due to the huge potential gaming outlook for the Chinese island of Macau, which I have discussed in earlier blog posts. Though there is huge potential for success in this area, one gaming analysts advises people to be careful with this gaming company for several reasons. Jeff Chen, a writer for SeekingAlpha.com, mentions there is a huge risk/reward option for this stock. In his article “Will Melco Hit the Jackpot in Macau,” he lists out his reasons for investors to be skeptical when purchasing shares of these stocks. In brief, he mentions that the company is very leveraged so if revenue does not come quickly and soon then there will be a decrease in earnings or possibly huge amounts of debt to pay off. Secondly, Melco does not have the lease for their land in Macau in their grasp, but are in negotiations for a plot. Thirdly, the transportation from areas in China to Macau is expensive and inaccessible to the mass market, compared to Vegas where people can drive. So, Chen feels that the market may get over saturated and Melco might be the loser to bigger gaming companies. Lastly, he mentions that Macau’s weather and location could be the potential for a natural disaster, which would ruin Melco. Since Melco PBL is fully dedicated in Macau, Chen states that a hurricane or disaster would be devastating for this company, therefore, crashing the stock and wiping out out all current shareholders.

For more information about Melco PBL see - An In-Depth Look at Melco PBL Entertainment's IPO

2) "Booyaa" Jim Cramer Blog

One of the most influential blogs concerning the option and stock market is focused on the infamous retired hedge fund manager - Jim Cramer. Jim Cramer is loved by many for his crazy antics on TV and his success with speculating on big stock gains. Jim Cramer Blog focuses on relaying Cramer’s ideas on current stock market conditions and describes itself as discussing mad money, the stock and option markets, and the economy. Jim Cramer is an analyst and the host of “Mad Money,” where he tells the viewers about the stocks he would be looking at right now and talks to callers about their current portfolio positions. He is a very popular analyst and has a proven track record. He used to run his own hedge fund after working for Goldman Sachs. He has made large claims to the hefty returns he made, while managing his fund, which brought him prestige and respect within the analyst community. He has since retired from the business to open thestreet.com which analyzes and speculates about stocks and options. Jim Cramer Blog is well laid out with archives of all of his postings along with links to various other sites that can help the average investor or any viewer searching for market news.

Jim Cramer blog is posted by someone else known as “stock administrator.” There are several postings each day and usually they review any large news stories that occurred in the economy or market, along with the stocks to watch for the day. The postings usually refer to or summarize information that is seen on thestreet.com or on Jim Cramer’s show “Mad Money.” In addition, the blog has all the information that an investor can handle showing viewers what stocks have done for the day and if there are any key speculations to play off of.

Furthermore, the content of the blog is relatively brief. Most of the posts mention several stocks in short and provide a little bit of information. There are some posts that focus on a certain topic about the economy and these posts are very insightful. I feel that the stock administrator does not put any of his own speculation on the blog he just summarizes the days account putting forth Cramer’s information for investors to easily find. The site is well organized, so any viewer could easily search the blog and find the information they were seeking. Though if a viewer of “Mad Money” wanted to see a recap of Cramer's show, I would suggest a different blog as it relays the information better. This site is located here. I feel it is easier to find the exact show a viewer may be looking for, and the show is written almost word for word on the Mad Money Recap site. So, an avid fan never has to miss a thing.

Thus, Jim Cramer Blog can benefit my blog in several ways due to the large scope of content about the economy and stock market. The blog will show the current hot stocks and cold stocks through its daily posts of hot stocks and big decliners. These stocks usually have an analyst speculating about them and that is why they are moving. So, my blog can use this information to see the validity of the speculation after a certain amount of time, and to see how much pure speculation can truly affect a stocks price. On a closing note, Jim Cramer – just by speculating and covering a stock on his show – will cause a stock to move at least a percent the following day or even in after hours. So, the power of an analyst is quite large and I will venture further into his and others analyst power at a later time.

The Market: Macau...the next gaming Mecca

The Market: Macau...the next gaming Mecca
http://www.thestreet.com/p/_tscs/rmoney/jimcramerblog/10333785.html

Macau...the next gaming Mecca

I would like to continue discussing these gaming stocks and focus this blog upon the past year of speculation surrounding the Asian gaming peninsula Macau, China. The geographic location of Macau is in a prime location 43 miles southwest of Hong Kong and 90 miles from Guangzhou. Therefore, there are hundreds of millions of people within a short distance of this developing gaming mecca. The close proximity of this peninsula to all of Asia can foreseeable draw more tourism to it than Las Vegas. This is likely due to the fact that Macau is the only place in China that allows gambling and is the home to over a billion people. In addition, these people seem to gamble much more aggressively and this is a large part of the success that Macau has to offer. One staggering report is that the casinos in Macau have tabling earnings almost 10x the per-table amount in Las Vegas. So, if the casinos have a large market to attract and large winning totals then revenue and profits should increase accordingly.

Las Vegas Sands has already built the largest casino in the world in Macau with regard to the number of tables within one building. There market share of the gaming tables will only increase over the next couple of years with several sites under development and the Venetian Macau set to open later this year. Wynn Resorts has also entered the market and is continuing to develop additional plots they own in this area. A couple other companies have select areas within this region, but Las Vegas Sands and Wynn own the majority of land with LVS having the original master planned Vegas-style gaming development in Macau.

Furthermore, many analysts have gradually increased their price targets and commented on the prospects of this gaming paradise deemed as the Las Vegas of Asia. One recent article through the Associated Press mentions “Analyst Hikes Target for Sands, Wynn.” One such analyst, Celeste Mellet Brown, “boosted her price target for Las Vegas Sands to $100 from $68, saying in a client note that opportunities in Macau, Singapore and China could “drive potential value.” SO, these two companies Wynn and LVS have strong growth outlooks in Macau and potentially there is a lot of money to come out of this region. On the 3^rd of January 2007, both stocks reflected the recent strength of the Macau market when both stocks climbed on recent revenue results from their establishments in Macau. The AP report on these mentions that the “Macau Statistics and Census Service said that November gaming revenue increased 32 percent over the year-ago period to $598 million. Unofficial numbers for December suggest that revenue will be up 57 percent over the year-ago period.” These numbers are very high and are only going to increase with the additional gaming developments under way. J. Cogan, an analyst with Banc of America Securities feels that Macau gaming revenue could grow to $13 billion to $16 billion by 2010. That is quite a leap from the approximately $6 billion ($500 million a month) that it currently draws and only shows the potential value of the developments that these gaming giants are producing.

Earlier today, Jim Cramer wrote an article written upon the last year of speculation about Macau specifically Las Vegas Sands. He mentions that the CEO, Sheldon Adelson, sold 44 million shares of the stock 10 months ago at $49. Cramer kept a slight buy on the stock despite this, but as he mentions this was a skeptical move. He felt that if the CEO is selling such a mass amount of stock then he is getting out and so should everyone else. Though, looking back on it now everyone in their right mind should have bought since today the stock is valued at $100+, which is a substantially gain. Nobody truly knows the reason for him dumping so much of the stock at that point except that he still has millions of shares if not billions of shares left in his account and trust. The main point to notice is that there were some obvious people that speculated about Macau maybe even ventured over their and saw the current money being earned and their eyes glowed at the potential value of this place in years. These bankers bought those 44 million shares and are now sitting nicely on a 100% gain in 10 months, not to shabby in this era of the stock market.

Gaming Stocks

In response to Dan Carty’s article “A Closer Look at Casino Stocks,” I would like to comment that many gambling and leisure stocks have done quite well so far this past year. His pick of MGM in October was a good play with the development of Project CityCenter in Las Vegas along with strong earning outlooks for the future quarters. The MGM Mirage stock has moved from $35 in August 2006 to the upper $60s - low $70s this past week. MGM ended up having increased third-quarter profits which some analysts had predicted and very well paid off for many investors.

On the other hand his speculation on Las Vegas Sands Corp. is a little off, though he is correct that it is trading at 59x price to earnings (which is now probably higher), which is quite high compared to other gaming and leisure stocks. I question why he and other analysts want to keep backing off LVS. This stock has only gone higher over the past year though it is priced high and has only two open casinos, but people need to focus on the development of this companies holdings in Macau, which is a stronger gambling area than Vegas with less casinos. LVS is now at $108 and Dan Carty mentions that a pullback is possible if the stock hits $105. The recent news about LVS receiving its proposal to develop another plot in China is supposed to add $34 a share to this stock when adequately valued. So, if I was going to speculate I would say this stock should level out around the $120s, but as far as I know with this stock, an investor can never be certain.

These gambling stocks keep rising and many people would say that a pullback is upon us, but with the amount of money the Chinese tend to gamble, all the speculation in Macau, China has and may continue to pay off for investors who buy into the major players in China (LVS and WYNN).

Technorati and Diigo

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Diigo

1) Introduction - Gambling on Gambling

Ever wondered how Warren Buffet made 44 billion dollars? Well, he invested his money in the stock market targeting undervalued companies and now is the second richest man in the US. The market has changed a little since he first started in the 1960s, but there are still many undervalued companies and a whole heap of wealth to made. The purpose of my blog is to research stock news and speculation and to see how it affects the price of a given stock and the trading volume. I will venture out from this topic and also inquire into several other blogs that discuss hot stocks for 2007 and see how this has affected their prices over the first couple of weeks into the New Year. I would also like to research economic news and other blogs to see how they affect the stock market in general, not just on a stock by stock basis. The majority of the investing public knows that when a stock has positive news the stock price will go higher and the number of shares traded will increase because people want to own a stock that has a higher earnings outlook, therefore, a higher current price. This can be seen everyday in the market and usually if a person visits the website CBS MarketWatch they will have a list of the biggest winners and losers of the day. The winners have good news while the losers have bad news, or either of these have at least good/bad speculation. Since we know how news affects stocks I do not need to go into any further details regarding this, but what I do want to cover is speculation and analyst recommendations.

I would like to focus this post on the speculation surrounding gaming stocks and the recent success that has followed. The stocks that I will spotlight are Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), Station Casinos, Inc. (STN) and Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (HET). These three stocks have all increased dramatically in recent weeks due to speculation by gaming analysts. Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. had news of a possible buyout offer that substantially increased the current price of the stock. The news came in October that there was a buyout offer that took the stock from $65 to $76. The price increased due to the confirmed positive news that the company was valued higher than the current stock price indicated. Though, the most interesting speculation around this news was that the offer still undervalued the price of the company. So, over the next couple of months Oct. – Dec. 2006 many analysts tried to pinpoint the value of the stock, thus finding the true value of the company. The speculation was correct and more buyout offers were made at higher prices and the stock climbed to $83. Thus, over the period from Aug. to Dec. the stock jumped from $60 to $83 a 38% increase in stock value. The people who listened to the speculation or had even speculated themselves before the company announced anything happened to make a pretty good investment.

The next stock that had buyout speculation and is still in the mist of the entire news surrounding it is Station Casinos Inc. The buyout news was a little different than Harrah’s because it was led by the management team, where as Harrah’s was offered by an outside company. The news took Station Casino’s stockholders by surprise, but it led to a jump from $68 to $83. The news brought speculation that this buyout could be similar to Harrah’s and that it would bring in more offers from other companies that might send the stock even higher. In this case, the speculation has not paid off as the stock has cooled down over the past few weeks, idling just around $80. Though, we can not entirely tell if the speculation will or will not pay off because with Harrah’s the offers came in over a several month period and for Station Casinos it has only been a month. If an investor visits this site they will notice that after the news of the buyout many brokers suggested to just hold the stock due to the new higher valuation of the stock.

Lastly, I would like to discuss the news surrounding Las Vegas Sands. LVS happens to be the richest casino company in the world, primarily due to their major plays in China and other highly sought after development sites in Asia. If an investor looks at a yearly chart of this stock they will notice a constant increase over the course of this period. The increases are mainly due to positive news about their holdings in China and the speculation by analyst that the casinos in China will be a lot more profitable then Las Vegas Casinos, which makes LVS a lot more valuable. The recent news I would like to discuss is the speculation surrounding the development of a proposal to build a resort on a small island close to Macau, China, where their other projects have been under development for some time. The recent news can be read here.
In this article, it confirms that the news was speculated before the company released it’s announce. It states that an analyst’s report caused the stock to surge and the company’s official announcement, a day later, confirmed the news. Therefore, paying off 10% for those investors who had access to the report. The news was issued on January 11^th, 2007 and I am sure there will be more news to come surrounding this new development.