Mar. 30, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Get the word out: Nevada not all about LV
Conference seeks ways to lure tourists to rural areas
By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

When big-spending Chinese gamblers visit Nevada, they often seek riches at high-limit betting tables on the Strip.

Don Newman thinks the gold mines of Elko - a small mining town about 450 miles north of Las Vegas -- could strengthen Nevada's Chinese connection.

Advertisement

Newman knows China issues more visas for business than tourism and figures Elko's gold mines would make a great excuse for Chinese businessmen who would also enjoy a side trip to Las Vegas.

"The main focus of their trip is going to be Las Vegas, but Elko is going to provide the means to get the business visa," said Newman, executive director of the Elko Convention and Visitors Authority.

It was just one of many ideas bandied about Thursday in Primm during a conference aimed at getting more tourists to go beyond Las Vegas and Reno and visit rural Nevada.

The Rural Roundup, sponsored by the Nevada Commission on Tourism, is an annual event that attracts about 250 people from a lesser-known segment of the state's tourism industry. That is, it draws people who are more likely to market wagon rides, American Indian art and mountain biking than to offer five-star dining or risqué stage shows.

"There are people coming from overseas who want to visit California. We have to give them alternatives in Nevada besides Las Vegas," said Tim Maland, director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism.

The two-day conference at Primm Valley Resort includes talks on everything from maximizing the potential of the Internet to networking with American Indian tribes as means to attract visitors deep into one of America's largest, and least populous, states. It also covered ways communities can capitalize on state and national parks, scenic highway designations and adventure tourism.

With new gambling venues popping up in virtually every state and many foreign countries, small Nevada towns need more than a few rustic casinos to maintain a steady flow of tourists.

"Sitting at a slot machine doesn't really cut it," said Kerrie Supanich, administrative clerk for the West Wendover Tourism and Convention Bureau, of Nevada's most popular tourist pastime.

West Wendover, located on Interstate 80 near Utah and the Bonneville Salt Flats, is marketing itself as a destination for myriad outdoor activities, from off-road racing to bird watching and hiking.

The community recently added a rental car business that helps passengers on charters to West Wendover's five casinos enjoy more of an area that has mountains, water and 300 days of sunshine annually.

"They love the gaming but they want to see the surroundings," Supanich said of West Wendover tourists, who in the last year included 900 Germans, about 500 United Kingdom residents and about 400 people from Australia and New Zealand, according to informal polling in the town's visitor center.

But getting people into Nevada's backcountry is a challenge.

The region's mountain vistas are overshadowed by California's scenery, and Colorado and Utah are better known for river rafting, downhill skiing and mountain biking, even though Nevada offers an abundance of those activities.

Speakers at the conference focused on how rural Nevada communities could take advantage of the massive marketing behind Las Vegas to increase the profile for the rest of the Silver State.

The tourism commission, for example, is trying to raise its profile at conventions, sporting events and in the media in Las Vegas.

"I don't want to see (West) Wendover competing with Las Vegas," said Tim Maland, director of the commission, which has an annual budget of about $20 million that comes from room taxes in the state. "I want to see the state of Nevada competing with California."

The Internet is another source of equalization between rural Nevada outposts and better-known destinations, according to speakers at the conference.

"I want many of you, if you are not in the blog mood, to at least give thought to creating a blog," Andrew Wetzler, president of the Internet company MoreVisibility, told the audience at a keynote address.

"People are reading blogs. Blog results are showing up on search engines," Wetzler said.

Besides distance and isolation, culture can also be a barrier to rural tourism.

Las Vegas and Clark County residents make up a large segment of visitation to rural Nevada. But in places such as rural White Pine County, the insatiable thirst for water to fuel housing tracts and golf courses in Clark County is a source of resentment.

And the Internet, which allows rural communities to tout their attributes around the world, can also come back to bite rural tourism boosters. That's because one Web savvy guest who experiences resentment, rudeness or slow service can lodge their complaints in the same global forum.

To reduce the chances of a negative incident tarnishing the reputation of an entire community the Nevada Commission on Tourism conducts four to six seminars annually called Nevada Tourism University.

Chris Chrystal, a spokeswoman for the commission, said the university offers front-line workers such asservers and hotel desk clerks tips on the finer points of good customer service.

"They are first people you see when you come into the town," Chrystal said. "The impression you get of that town can be created by the person you see behind that desk."

Jan. 30, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

WINTER LAS VEGAS TRADE MARKET: Market keeps on growing
New building expected to assist record attendance
By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

[[[A man looks over the side of an escalator inside Building B of the World Market Center on Monday afternoon, the opening day of the Winter Las Vegas Trade Market. It is the first event for Building B, a 16-story, $345 million addition to the center.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.]]]

The builders of the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas on Monday announced two more steps toward completing the $3 billion furniture trade center.

The steel frame of the third phase of the eight-building project started rising Tuesday and construction on the fourth building will begin by the end of the year.

The announcements about the future of the project came during the first trade event for Building B of the center, a 16-story, $345 million structure.

The event, called the Winter Las Vegas Trade Market, is expected to surpass the attendance record of 60,000 people set during the World Market Center's inaugural event in July 2005.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman welcomed the construction news, saying that Southern Nevada would benefit by gaining a foothold in the growing furniture and household furniture industry.

"We learned a lesson on 9-11 that we could not just be a one-horse town," said Goodman, referring to the downturn in Las Vegas tourism following attacks by terrorists on New York City and Washington, D.C. "We need to have different businesses in our community."

Since the World Market Center opened, the owners have met or exceeded the pace they set for their plan to complete the center by the end of 2013.

If they succeed, the World Market Center could shift the nation's center of furniture trading west from High Point, N.C.

The builders are betting furniture buyers and sellers would rather do business in Las Vegas than North Carolina. They are hopeful Southern Nevada's access to markets on the West Coast and in Asia will tip the balance.

Jack Kashari, managing partner of the World Market Center, said he would do "whatever it takes to make a better and larger market."

Kashari said the Las Vegas Valley's 130,000 existing hotel rooms plus plans for tens of thousands more will help the market grow.

Attendees gave high marks to the current market, which opened Monday and runs through Friday.

They liked the sleek, modernistic buildings, the diversity of buyers and sellers and that it is located in Las Vegas.

But there were also complaints about long lines at the elevators for Building B and difficulty getting information about the event.

Raman Kapoor, a furniture buyer from New Delhi, said he had difficulty getting directions to the World Market Center at 495 S. Grand Central Parkway.

"I'm a little disappointed," Kapoor said. "It is not easy to get the information on where it is."

Kapoor said he recently visited a market in Germany, where he easily found information on that market in the airport and at his hotel.

Not so with Las Vegas.

"I had to call back to India to find out where the fair was," he said of the event. "That was quite a job."

Once he got to the market, however, Kapoor said, he was impressed by the showrooms and the organization of the event.

Frances Alanso, a buyer and seller from Tustin, Calif., said the Las Vegas market was attracting quality traffic.

"I think Las Vegas will be a very high-end market," Alanso said.

Even with the housing market losing much of the steam that helps to propel furniture buying, Alanso said savvy sellers could capitalize.

"People are just wanting to spruce up their house because they want to stay in it longer," she said.

Judith Ets-Honkin, marketing director for a furniture seller based in San Rafael, Calif., said the Las Vegas market is much easier to reach from the West Coast than North Carolina.

"To go to High Point from California takes a full day," she said, describing a trip that requires a flight to Greensboro, N.C., and a drive to High Point.

Ets-honkin also said the buying traffic at Las Vegas prompted her company to leave a market in San Francisco to concentrate on the Nevada and North Carolina shows.

Space in the Las Vegas venue rents for an average of $30 per square foot, according to the World Market Center, meaning a 6,500-square-foot showroom could cost $195,000 annually.

When Building C is complete it will add 2.1 million square feet of space with a construction cost of $540 million.

About one-third of the space is already leased, according to center officials.

Building D, with a construction cost of $450 million, will add 1.5 million square feet of space.

But the Las Vegas center still lags behind High Point, which has roots dating back to the 19th century.

That market already has 12 million square feet of space and operators have upgraded transportation and technology for the center, which has 188 buildings.

But Shawn Samson, managing partner in the World Market Center, said the existing structures already greatly exceed the 750,000-square-foot retail furniture center originally envisioned for the site.

"We had no idea it would take the kind of dimension it has now," Samson said.

Jan. 24, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

GAMBLING BEYOND NEVADA: Macau's gaming win swells
Las Vegas casino executives rebut claim that revenue exceeds that of Strip
By HOWARD STUTZ
GAMING WIRE

Asian gaming analysts said Tuesday Macau's gambling win of $6.95 billion during 2006 means the Chinese enclave as surpassed the Strip as the world's largest gaming market.

But Las Vegas casino operators with an expanding presence in Macau don't believe the community's gaming revenue has exceeded the Strip's -- yet. Chinese gambling authorities account for a portion of the wagering business differently than it is done in Nevada, they said.

"It's not an apples to apples comparison," said Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chairman Steve Wynn, whose company opened the $1.2 billion Wynn Macau in September. "It may be the only jurisdiction where customer promotional allowances are not deducted before the revenue is counted.

"That said, there is no question by next year, Macau's real numbers will be bigger than Las Vegas. As a community, Macau is the most dramatically changing place on the planet. I haven't seen anything like this in 40 years."

Las Vegas Sands Corp. President Bill Weidner, whose company expanded its 2-year-old Sands Macau last summer and is planning to open the $2.4 billion Venetian Macau later this year, said the market in China will continue to grow. It's only a matter of time, he said, before the Chinese casino industry laps its Las Vegas counterparts.

"Macau has the potential to attract 10 times the number of people as Las Vegas," Weidner said. "The growth numbers are strong in Macau, and it's expanding so rapidly, there is no question it will surpass Las Vegas."

The 27 casinos in the Chinese city won more than $6.95 billion from gamblers in 2006, a 22 percent increase over the gaming revenue from 2005, the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported. The city also attracted 22 million visitors last year, an increase of 17 percent, the director of the Macau tourism office said.

Wynn said Macau's gaming win figure was "artificially inflated" because the region counts the revenue from a redeemable chip purchase program used by high-rolling Chinese gamblers. Those promotional costs could account for up to 25 percent of Macau's gaming revenue, he said.

"It's a very different way of calculating the gaming win, but I'm not saying it's wrong by any means," Wynn said.

The Gaming Control Board won't report the state's gaming win for December and all of 2006 until next month. However, on the Strip through November, 40 casinos had won $6.07 billion from customers. Even if Strip casinos in December match their all-time monthly gaming win, $642.4 million reported in November, the 12-month total wouldn't surpass Macau's 2006 figure. Gaming analysts have predicted Strip casinos will win between $6.5 billion and $6.6 billion in 2006.

Macau's gaming revenue may reach $8 billion this year, driven primarily by the scheduled opening of the Venetian Macau this summer, said Jonathan Galaviz, a partner at Globalysis Ltd. in Las Vegas.

"Macau's calculation of gross casino gaming revenue is generally similar to the method of calculation made by the state of Nevada, but there are some unique differences which can occasionally impact the ability to make a direct comparison between the two markets," Galaviz said. "All in all, the upward trajectory of gross gaming revenue in Macau places it as one of the world's fastest growing leisure tourism markets."

American-based gaming analysts said the Strip's gaming win doesn't take into account casinos in Henderson, North Las Vegas, downtown and unincorporated areas of Clark County. Through November, Clark County casinos as a whole reported gaming revenue of more than $9.7 billion.

The annual gaming revenue from American Indian casinos has long since surpassed casino win on the Strip and Nevada. In 2004, Indian casinos earned $19.4 billion nationwide, well above the $10.6 billion won by Nevada casinos that year. Indian casinos in California collected $5.3 billion that year, equaling the win of Strip resorts.

In another comparison, Las Vegas tourism officials expect Southern Nevada to attract 38.7 million people this year.

"Macau is growing at a much more rapid pace than the Las Vegas Strip," said Rob Hart, a Hong Kong-based gaming and property market strategist for Morgan Stanley. "They've got a lot of new casinos opening this year."

Macau, however, is growing at an accelerated rate. In total, 2.2 billion people live within five hours flying time of Macau, reports CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, compared with 410 million in the same radius of Las Vegas.

Seven new casinos, led by Wynn Macau, opened in the Chinese city in 2006. The number of gaming tables doubled in the period to 2,762, Macau casino regulators report. Wynn said he'll have more than 500 gaming tables and 1,300 slot machines at his property by July.

Meanwhile, Sands Macau, the city's first American-owned casino, expanded its gaming floor to 229,000 square feet, growing to accommodate 740 gaming tables and 1,254 slot machines.

The Venetian Macau on the Cotai Strip is expected to open with 850 table games and 4,100 slot machines. It is designed to have a final capacity of approximately 1,150 table games and 7,000 slot machines.

On the Cotai Strip, the company's seven casinos are expected to house approximately 2,900 table games and 16,000 slot machines.

MGM Mirage is also building the $1 billion MGM Grand Macau, which could open by the end of the year.

Weidner said Macau will also experience another phenomenon over the years similar to Las Vegas; nongaming revenue is expected to increase dramatically as restaurant offerings and increased retail options open and convention business finds its way to the Asian market.

In Nevada over the last fiscal year, $12 billion, more the 50 percent of the state's total revenue from casinos, came from nongaming sources such as hotel rooms, entertainment, retail, food and beverage.

"That's going to be one of the huge areas of growth in Macau, especially when you look at the fundamentals and the demographics of the market," Weidner said. "Gaming analysts are expecting gaming revenues to be $12 billion or $13 billion by 2010. But certainly, noncasino revenues are going to experience double digit growth as well."

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.

Dec. 19, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gibbons names tourism chief

REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
CARSON CITY -- Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons on Monday named hotel and gaming executive Tim Maland to be the new tourism director for the state of Nevada.

He also announced that outgoing Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, who now serves as the chairwoman of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, will continue to serve as a member of the panel.

Advertisement

Maland is a 30-year veteran of the tourism industry, most recently serving as president of the Reno Hilton. He began his career as an accountant in 1977, auditing the late Howard Hughes' casino properties. His career also includes executive positions at Playboy Enterprises and Harrah's Entertainment.

"Tourism is the lifeblood of Nevada's economy," Gibbons said in a statement accompanying the announcement. "Nevada is at the forefront of the industry and Tim Maland is eminently qualified to ensure that our state maintains its leadership role."

Gibbons appointed Hunt to fill the open seat on the tourism panel vacated by MGM Mirage executive Punam Mathur.

Nov. 27, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

THE OFFICE: MAKE MERRY, BE WARY
At holiday parties, observers encourage revelry and thinking before drinking
By JENNIFER ROBISON
REVIEW-JOURNAL

When the employees of Domingo Cambeiro Corp. get together for their Christmas dinner party, camaraderie will be at the top of the menu.

The sit-down dinner, scheduled for Dec. 15 at the Four Seasons, is designed to foster deeper ties between workers at the Las Vegas architecture firm.

"The employees enjoy it very much," said Domingo Cambeiro, the firm's president. "We get to meet their family members, and new employees and their families have the opportunity to mingle with the bigger (Domingo Cambeiro Corp.) family. I like to take time at the event to thank our employees for all their hard work throughout the year."

Professional photographers will snap commemorative photos of attendees, and a gift exchange will round out the fun. The event's price: about $10,000.

To Cambeiro, the expense is worthwhile.

"Happy employees who are in good spirits will care about the company and its future," he said.

Studies show most American businesses are, like Domingo Cambeiro, planning formal Christmastime celebrations, though national surveys differ on whether formal holiday parties are increasing.

A study by New York-based executive-search firm Battalia Winston International found that 94 percent of businesses will hold some sort of holiday fete in 2006. That's a 7 percent increase over 2005.

Chicago placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found a slight decline in the number of companies planning holiday parties. The 79 percent of businesses preparing for seasonal celebrations in 2006 is down from the 80 percent who had such affairs in 2005.

Executives of both firms agreed that a healthy national economy is affecting Corporate America's party plans.

Dale Winston, chief executive officer of Battalia Winston, said a strong stock market, stable interest rates and falling energy costs have given employers the confidence to celebrate again. Hence the 7 percent jump in planned parties.

And John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said 32 percent of businesses will increase their party budgets in 2006, up from the 23 percent planning spending boosts in 2005. The average increase in 2006's celebration budget: 16 percent. Just 6 percent of businesses will pare dollars from the party budget.

"Companies are definitely in a party mood," Challenger said.

Challenger pointed to research from the Congressional Budget Office predicting that before-tax corporate profits should grow 30 percent in 2006.

In the third quarter, he said, average annual profit growth among companies in the S&P 500 stock-market index should come in at 14 percent, the 13th consecutive quarter of double-digit profit gains.

"Holiday parties are not just about celebrating good fortune," Challenger said. "They are also a way for companies to show employees how much their hard work is appreciated."

At Landry & Associates, a Las Vegas property-management firm, owner Marge Landry is holding her company's first-ever employee holiday luncheon.

Previous December parties involved dinners for shareholders. But this year, Landry said, the focus is on staff members.

"The people who are here every day making this company a success are the people we wanted to reward," Landry said. "My shareholders are nice people, but they don't come to work every day. I just want my staff to know that each and every one of them is important to the success of the company."

So the six employees of Landry & Associates will meet at Cili on Dec. 15 for a Friday-afternoon lunch. They'll have the afternoon off following the festivities.

A desire to celebrate a full year's fiscal results is also leading to a new holiday tradition at Sun West Bank in Las Vegas.

Rather than holding festivities during the peak of the pre-Christmas party circuit, Sun West is moving its seasonal bash to January.

Mariana Johnson, an executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Sun West, said the bank wants to both lighten the social load that its employees must bear in December and turn its annual gala into a recognition of staff members' efforts in 2006.

"People are pretty busy during this time, and by waiting until after the end of the year, we also have results we can celebrate," Johnson said.

Aside from its postholiday date, Sun West's party will be conventional, Johnson said. It'll likely take place inside a banquet room at a local hotel-casino on a Friday or Saturday evening so employees have time to prepare for a night out on the town. Nearly 95 percent of the bank's 70 local workers typically attend the yearly revelry.

To accommodate employees who enjoy "that warm holiday atmosphere" during the actual holidays, Johnson said, Sun West's five Las Vegas-area branches will hold individual events, such as gift exchanges and decorating parties complete with potlucks featuring employees' favorite dishes.

Sun West's holiday parties are part of a larger network of regular celebrations focused on happenings including the Super Bowl, Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby.

"They're fun times for individuals, and it's important to have fun," Johnson said. "If you work hard, you want to play hard, and these events also create bonding among employees."

For workers at many companies, such bonding will happen over drinks.

Battalia Winston's survey found that 74 percent of parties will be evening events, up 14 percent from 2005's level, and 86 percent of all companies will serve alcohol at the office party, a jump of 11 percent over drink service in 2005.

Where there's booze, though, there's potential for trouble.

"Every year, there's at least one unfortunate incident that we have to provide counsel on," said Mark Ricciardi, a partner in the Las Vegas office of labor-law firm Fisher & Phillips.

Most of those cases involve employees drinking too much alcohol and saying or doing inappropriate things to co-workers.

And being drunk isn't a defense against bad behavior "unless people are tied down and have alcohol poured down their throats," Ricciardi said.

Ricciardi said employers can stave off trouble by reminding staff members that office rules are in effect during off-site, after-hours company functions. Employers have the same level of liability for policy infractions at an outside corporate event that they'd face for violations in the lunchroom during office hours.

Managers also need to consider how they'll help workers who have had a little too much to drink get home safely following the event.

Ricciardi said some companies are taking their parties in-house, serving an alcohol-free luncheon during work hours. He's also noticed increasing numbers of bigger businesses holding holiday galas at hotel-casinos and arranging for cost-free or discounted rooms so tipsy employees aren't tempted to drive home after the party ends.

He suggested businesses take advantage of a typically slow hospitality season to strike a few bargains.

"As we have more high-end restaurants and casinos, there's a lot of competition for holiday parties," said Ricciardi, whose 11-employee firm will take over a private room inside the Capital Grille at Fashion Show for its holiday party.

"Because this town is dead for part of December, you could probably make a good deal on rooms and even extra food so people don't have to drink on empty stomachs," Riccuardi said.

At Domingo Cambeiro's Four Seasons dinner, the bar will be open for only an hour, though employees can order wine with their meals.

Cambeiro said the firm would arrange for a hotel room or a taxi cab for employees who enjoyed a little too much alcohol, but the need has never arisen.

"Our employees are professionals and they're with their families," he said. "They don't want to make fools of themselves."

Johnson said Sun West averts trouble by reiterating the bank's code of conduct in party invitations and capping the number of drink tickets employees receive at holiday parties. Johnson said Sun West managers would also provide alternative transportation home for revelers who seem the slightest bit impaired.

The vigilance is worth it, however.

"I think celebrations like this have value, whether it's a holiday or celebrating your success for the year," Johnson said.

"It's certainly worth the effort to provide these types of celebrations. We do believe they're beneficial for our employees, and it does make for a better work environment when people get to know each other in a social way," Johnson added.

Sep. 28, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

STOCK MARKET: Dow near all-time high
News not all good for local investors as gauge of gaming companies dips slightly
By JOHN G. EDWARDS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Day trader Clint Miller monitors markets Wednesday at Bright Trading of Las Vegas. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 11,689.24, its second-highest finish ever.
Photo by Isaac Brekken/Review-Journal

Joseph Demartino watches a quote screen at the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average is near an all-time high.
Photo by The Associated Press.

Encouraged by stabilizing gasoline prices and interest rates, investors sent the Dow Jones industrial average close to an all-time high Wednesday, although local companies and investors may not have benefited much, traders said.

Early in the day, the Dowwas points from its old record of 11,722.98 set on Jan. 14, 2000. It later retreated and closed up 19.85, or 0.17 percent, at 11,689.24, its second-best close ever. The Dow has gained 181.14 over the past three sessions.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.25, or 0.02 percent, to 1,336.59, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 2.05, or 0.09 percent, to 2,263.89.

The Bloomberg Las Vegas Index, which includes mostly gaming stocks, was down, however, dipping 1.12 to 329.05 on Wednesday.

The local index of 14 companies is well below its 52-week high of 436.22 on May 11. The index was around 100 as 2000 started.

That's not good news for local investors.

Harvey Cohen, an individual investor and former public company chief executive officer, said the typical Las Vegan probably is more concerned about slipping home prices and falling prices on gaming stocks than the Dow Jones index.

"Do any of us really know how hard the housing market landing is going to be ... and how long it's going to take to work out through the inventory of (unsold homes)?" Cohen wondered. "Maybe the (casino) market has an absorption problem. We added a lot of capacity just at the time the housing market started to tank here."

While single-family home owners probably will weather the slump, investors who bought high-rise condos in hopes of selling them for quick profits may not, he said.

"These flippers might become jumpers right off the 13th floor," Cohen said.

Beyond housing, local investors may be interested in casino stocks. Don Bright, a trader and education director at Bright Trading of Las Vegas, said: "We're getting to the slow time of the year for gaming."

At Bright Trading, traders were finding opportunities to profit as oil "tried to break below $60 (a barrel) and didn't and then went up to $63 again," he said.

Trading on the New York Stock Exchange was heavy at 1.7 billion shares, compared to 1.4 billion on a typical day, Bright said.

"The economic downturn just hasn't been that bad," Bright said, "but, from a trader's perspective, it hasn't been that good."

He sees many institutional investors, such as mutual fund managers, positioning their portfolios for a stock slump.

"The outlook is one of temporary enthusiasm," because October often has been bad for stock investors in the past, said Don Parker, president of the Chartered Financial Analysts Society of Nevada.

Parker noted that mutual funds are dumping poorly performing stocks and buying those with good recent performance to make their holdings look good to investors who see their holdings at the end of the quarter.

Parker also attributed the upward move to moderating oil prices and to the Federal Reserve Board's decision to stop the steady increase in short-term interest rates.

"(Previously) the market has had the lid on because of oil prices and interest rates," Parker said.

David Ehlers, chairman of Las Vegas Investment Advisors, singled out interest rates as the most important quantifiable factor in driving stock prices higher.

Short-term Treasury rates and 30-year rates were almost 2 percentage points higher the last time the Dow hit a high in 2000, he said.

"That's probably conducive to higher stock prices," Ehlers said. "If our rates were substantially higher, that would be a negative."

Recent history and basic factors seem to suggest that the stock market may move higher, Ehlers said, noting that his firm picks individual stocks, rather than trying to bet on stock market moves.

A surge in the stock market is good for Las Vegas, Ehlers said, because it may encourage people to spend more.

Jag Mehta, adjunct finance professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, cited several factors driving stock prices higher. Corporate profits are climbing. Investors are taking gains in real estate and foreign stocks so they can move to investments in domestic stocks. Others are pulling money out of bonds and buying stocks, as well, Mehta said.

"The market has upside momentum. It's going up slowly and steadily. It's not going crazy," he said, calling slow gains a good thing.

Hal Ross, a retired aerospace engineer who invests for a hobby, is unsure what the stock market will do, given the real estate decline and some weak economic indicators. But he focuses on stocks, not the stock markets, and has made gains investing in high-yielding shipping companies in recent months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sep. 07, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

STATE ECONOMY: Sales in Nevada set record
Statewide transactions total $48.4 billion for fiscal year
By SEAN WHALEY
REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU

Automobiles are seen for sale at the Bill Heard Chevrolet dealership at Decatur Boulevard and Alta Drive. Auto and parts sales held steady at $6.7 billion in fiscal 2006, a new report shows.
Photo by Jane Kalinowsky.

Click image for enlargement.

CARSON CITY -- Statewide merchants ended the fiscal year with record taxable sales of $48.4 billion -- up a robust 9 percent, the state Department of Taxation reported on Wednesday.

Statewide taxable sales for June totaled $4.5 billion, up 7 percent.

In Clark County, taxable sales rose by 8 percent in June to nearly $3.3 billion. For the year, Clark County was up 8 percent with $35.6 billion in taxable sales.

Washoe County, which includes Reno, had $691.9 million in June sales, up 5 percent. For the year, Washoe sales totaled $7.25 billion, up 8 percent.

A breakdown of the June sales showed six Nevada counties -- Carson City, Douglas, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon and Pershing -- had decreases, and the other 11 counties had increases.

All 17 counties except Esmeralda County had year-over-year increases.

Statewide, the biggest sales category, sales by bars and restaurants, totaled $8.5 billion for the year, up 7 percent. A breakdown shows that in the Las Vegas area, such sales -- indicators of tourist traffic -- were up 8 percent. The Reno area had an increase of 4 percent year over year.

Auto and parts sales held steady at $6.7 billion from one year to the next; miscellaneous retail stores were up 3 percent at $4.83 billion; general merchandise stores were up 6 percent, at $4.03 billion; and building material-garden equipment sales totaled $3.47 billion, up 9 percent.

Merchant wholesalers-durable goods sales totaled $3.45 billion for the year, up 18 percent; and furniture store sales totaled $2.63 billion, up 2 percent.

The state's 2 percent share of the sales tax totaled $985 million, up just under 10 percent for the year compared to fiscal year 2004-05. The growth exceeded projections, Gov. Kenny Guinn said.

The total collections for the year are $53.1 million above the state Economic Forum's forecast, made a year ago.

Taxation Department Director Dino DiCianno said the 7 percent showing in June over June 2005 is strong growth. Taxable sales had grown by double digits for a number of months this past 2005-06 fiscal year.

"To maintain double digits is really difficult to do," he said. "Given the state of the economy right now, I'm very much surprised to be doing as well as we are."

The monthly report also included quarterly results for the Modified Business Tax. The agency said the tax, a 0.63 rate for most businesses, generated $64.9 million for the months of April, May and June for a 12.5 percent increase over the same quarter in the prior year.

Businesses reported $9.3 billion in gross wages and took $667 million in allowable health care deductions for the June quarter, which represents 7.2 percent of the gross wages. For the year the tax generated $255 million, a 12.5 percent increase over the prior year.

Excise taxes that are separate from the sales and business levies totaled $856.5 million for the year, up 5.3 percent compared with the previous fiscal year.

A breakdown of the excise taxes shows that cigarette levies were barely above projections, liquor taxes were 10.7 percent above projections and live entertainment taxes were 36 percent below projections from the state's Economic Forum.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.