Marc Falcone Business Quotations

Plus, Las Vegas will be the beneficiary of displaced convention business (from New Orleans), which will help stimulate demand.

Much of the surrounding area and feeder markets suffered considerable damage, which could certainly depress business in the near term. Pinnacle has the largest exposure to the market, which is a concern considering the recent impact to the company from Katrina.

Overall, we remain impressed with results from the high-end business and expect that the addition of Wynn Las Vegas will help maintain the strong momentum.

We continue to like Shuffle Master's longer-term outlook and remain comfortable with the company's business model and revenue mix.

Conversations with Strip operators indicate that business volumes over New Year's Eve in Las Vegas were up significantly year over year. Additionally, we believe expectations for the fourth quarter on the whole are low and operators could exceed them.

Broadly speaking, there is limited tourism in the French Quarter, as opposed to the population in the suburbs. It's encouraging for the local economy and I think they'll do a good business with construction workers.

In all likelihood, operators will start getting business interruption insurance in the fourth quarter, which would add upside to our forecasts.

If Lake Charles avoids a direct hit, devastation to the primary feeder market could have a negative impact as coverage from business interruption insurance is not certain.