On Monday, Fitch Ratings raised its outlook for Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) to positive from stable subsequent to the completion of the company’s Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) for its Macau unit. The ratings also include an improved operating outlook following the relaxation of travel restrictions.  Through the Hong Kong IPO, Wynn sold 1.25 billion shares or a 25% stake in its Macau business, which represented Hong Kong's second-biggest haul of the year.  Macau, a former Portuguese colony, is one of the world’s biggest gambling markets. Though the economic slowdown has negatively impacted the revenues of casino operators in the last few quarters, we note that Macau has been posting record revenues. Recently, visa restrictions had been lessened by Beijing to allow mainland tourists to visit Macau once a month rather than twice a year.  In 2008, Macau generated HK$105.6 billion ($13.5 billion) of ...

Barring some dramatic – and unforeseen – news this week, expect investors to tread water until Thursday, when the government is expected to release the results of the bank stress tests it conducted on the 19 largest U.S. banks.

The stress-test results are expected to show that the 19 banks may have to raise between $100 billion to $150 billion – or even more – in new capital. Investors will cause the shares of the strong players to zoom northward, and will likely savage the shares of the weakest players.

“I can’t think of a time since I’ve been watching banks when there’s been so much uncertainty about the true value of a key set of assets,” Douglas Elliott, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, told Reuters.

The U.S. bank stress tests have transfixed the world financial markets for weeks, exacerbating the ongoing financial crisis – worsening the U.S.

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U.S. President Barack Obama has opened the door to a broader relationship with Cuba by loosening travel and communication restrictions. But will pressure from numerous Latin American states and a promise to usher in a new era of cooperation and dialogue in the Western Hemisphere ultimately result in the revocation of the 47 year-old trade embargo? And what would it mean if the Cuban trade embargo were actually abolished? President Obama has already loosened several restrictions enacted by his predecessor George W. Bush. Prior to his arrival at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago last weekend, Obama relaxed restrictions on travel to Cuba, making it easier for Cuban Americans to visit and transfer money to relatives on the island. “There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans,” Obama said in a campaign speech last year. “It’s time to ...

Two years ago, the pundits were agog over the prospects of the former Portuguese enclave of Macau. Fueled by fast-earned money burning a whole into the collective pockets of the nouveau riche Chinese middle class, Macau surpassed the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s most lucrative casino market. But growth has stalled… not just in Macau but everywhere businesses depended on drunk sales reps blowing little Pugsley’s college fund at the blackjack table during a convention.

To stay in Vegas, you’d have to get to Vegas. And that costs money no-one is willing to spend right now. Accordingly, the supposedly recession-resistant vice stocks are taking it on the chin. Just yesterday [Thursday], we claimed our own 25% short profits share from the collapse of Las Vegas Sands (LVS) share price.

Today, I’d like to direct your attention to Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN).

When it came to the subject of Macau,

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