Steve Ruggiero Quotations

For the slot machine manufacturers, Pennsylvania is a no-brainer.

Certainly, the beginning of Chinese New Year helped the January 2006 numbers as it helped February's numbers last year. Every crevice of Las Vegas had strong numbers and this can only point to strong demand for product from Las Vegas locals to Hawaiians visiting downtown alike.

Let me put it this way: I don't think Pinnacle will take the market to the point where it can't grow anymore.

I think there's no question that Pinnacle will beat the earnings expectations for the fourth quarter. The company is really the big winner during this time.

With the high tax rates, this seems like the wisest choice. They are a strong company in their markets so that seems to be the right course to take.

You can look at the whole facility ? the movement of everything.

Dan was part of the Mirage development team, so he has the experience, the back ground, the credibility and the vision to take this company further along.

A competing offer is always possible in this heated environment to acquire Las Vegas real estate parcels, but we believe $17 per common share is the appropriate price.

For a company like Pinnacle, this is a huge transaction. It provides Pinnacle with a national footprint and expands their scope into the two most important gaming markets, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, which is critical and necessary for the long term.

It really depends on who the buyer is. Colony has the flexibility of being a private firm and they're not worried about answering Wall Street analyst questions on a conference call. That gives them an advantage. Certainly, Pinnacle has an edge because it already has a signed agreement, but the question is who can put together best financing package and who wants it the most.

It looks like the South Coast had a very strong opening. The local casino market is certainly robust and I think South Coast's results had a ripple effect throughout the local casino market.

This is the highest it's going to go, but it wouldn't surprise me if somebody matched it. Institutional shareholders look at the whole package and certainly that's what the board of directors is going to do. With money being so available now, oftentimes the highest price per share does equate to the best offer -- but not always.