MGM Mirage laying off 400 managers

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080414/mgm_mirage_layoffs.html

Well, I hate to say it but this was inevitable and could have been seen a mile away. I've been predicting this for a solid 1-2 months now re: an economic slowdown and it impacting Vegas and the Casinos.

What I am wondering is, how will this impact WSOP 2008 turnout? This is the first economic downturn that the poker boom has seen since MoneyMaker won the WSOP back in 2003.

Dan Ross
http://BetterBizBooks.com/

Interesting site to take a look at folks
http://www.pokerati.com/

Inflation Causes Riots WorldWide...Food costs..

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89583839

I commented re: how inflation will hurt retail spending and the economy in a previous post.

Imagine if you could barely afford to feed your family. Egypt and Haiti are highlighted in the above article but, in China & Vietnam, as an example, there are HUGE problems going on with the rice prices going up by nearly 100% in a few years (the main food staple).

Forget a declining economy, we are talking about widespread panic/survival of the fittest in some 3rd world economies now....

Dan Ross
http://www.BetterBizBooks.com

Consumer Spending to Decline according to TNS Retail Forward's March ShopperScape survey.

http://www.ddimagazine.com/displayanddesignideas/content_display/industry-news/e3i2bdcb48919b5e424893ef49222b61d26

Three times as many shoppers (40 percent) now plan to spend "much less" or "somewhat less" compared with shoppers (13 percent) that plan to spend "much more” or "somewhat more" than last year. In February, the ratio was two-to-one. The planned spending cutbacks are most pronounced among down-market and middle-market shoppers. The share of each segment planning to spend "much less" increased by a double-digit amount.

Dan Ross
http://www.BetterBizBooks.com

Linens N Things to Declare BK?

Anything related to housing (ie. disposable income spending in the home) is being impacted negatively MORE than other types of spending, including clothing (my 2 cents).

Rumors are now floating around that Apollo group, that bought Linens N Things for $1.6 billion back in 2005, will possibly declare bankruptcy in the near future......

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN1136290720080411

Dan Ross
http://www.BetterBizBooks.com

4th Airline in as many weeks to Declare BK? Another sign of economic weakness

Gas prices going through the roof and consumers only willing to spend so much = airlines declaring Bankruptcy left and right. This economy is only getting worse.......more pain is coming (sad to say & I hate to say it).

Aloha, ATA, Skybus & now Frontier. Frontier will still operate in BK while others will face liquidation but it says something about the fragility of their finances when a credit card policy shift by their bank drives a company into bankruptcy....

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2008-04-11-frontier-files-for-bankruptcy_N.htm?csp=34?se=yahoorefer

Dan Ross
http://www.BetterBizBooks.com

Middle Class Feels Worse today then ever....

FYI, this is why the Republicans will lose the election, even if Clinton gets nominated...... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_bi_ge/middle_class_poll;_ylt=AmU8V7_UY7vMdyt3B3UrKv9v24cA

Interesting Tidbits from the Pew Research Report...

• Nearly eight in 10 of all people, or 79 percent, said they believe it has become more difficult compared with five years ago for the middle class to maintain their standard of living, up from 65 percent in 1986.


• Politically, 58 percent of middle-class Americans said they believed the GOP favors the rich, while nearly two-thirds say the Democratic Party favors the middle class (39 percent) or the poor (26 percent).


• Middle-class prosperity overall also lagged compared with richer Americans. From 1983 to 2004, the median net worth of upper-income families — defined as households with annual incomes above 150 percent of the median — grew by 123 percent, while the median net worth of middle-income families rose by just 29 percent.

Dan Ross

http://www.BetterBizBooks.com/

FYI, another link with a gif file :)

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Chart-highlights-data-poll-status-middle-class-2c-x-3/photo//080409/480/eae9d18d3ff146c8afc36224f41ffd88//s:/ap/20080409/ap_on_bi_ge/middle_class_poll;_ylt=Ate2l.YtVGKH25LkywU2NnVv24cA

Additional Datapoints re: Vegas and their economy...

The worst hit real estate market Y-Y, tying Miami at down 19% (case shiller index).

Then we look at traffic stats ßinteresting which carriers bring tourists to Vegas. I’d be amazed if traffic held up over the long-term with this economy doing as poorly as it is….

http://cms.mccarran.com/dsweb/Get/Document-219570

Trump not breaking ground on second tower…
http://www.lvrj.com/business/17334999.html

Financing is hurting development of new towers – DUH! – One deal was 80% sold with 20% non-refundable deposits and still couldn’t get going…..
http://www.lvrj.com/business/16776061.html

Dan Ross
http://www.BetterBizBooks.com