[lowem]

Las Vegas Sands plunged in New York trading after saying it may be in default of some loans if it can't raise capital, threatening its ability to keep operating "as a going concern," the casino company said in a regulatory filing today [6 Nov 2008]. Las Vegas Sands dropped below $8 on the NYSE, down over 94% from a high of $145.57 in Oct 2007. The filing sparked new concerns that casino cash flow is dwindling just as Las Vegas Sands undertakes its biggest expansion. The owner of the Venetian and Palazzo casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, where gambling revenue has fallen for 8 straight months, is building almost $17 billion worth of resorts in Singapore, China's Macau and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania ... continued

My comments :

- Now, weren't the casinos, euphemistically named IR's (integrated resorts), going to save the Singapore economy, together with the Formula 1 races? The 2 casinos were supposed to create 10,000 jobs each. And require over 50MW of electrical power apiece to boot. It would have been a worthwhile effort, even including the fossil fuel yet to be burnt, and it might just have been a helpful thing for a faltering economy heading deeper in recession, if execution were to go through flawlessly. But now it seems that the execution of all these plans seems to be in some doubt, as the value of the Las Vegas Sands shares has dropped over 94% from its Oct 2007 highs, and down over 30% in today's [6 Nov 2008] trading session alone ...