Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Last Call

The notion that Barack Obama is the "most anti-business President ever" is arguably the most persistent of the zombie lies the right likes to tell.  But nobody enjoys telling fibs about how "terribly awful" this administration is for business rather than the CEOs themselves, while they continue to rake in record profits.  Hotel magnate Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts is a prime example.  He used his conference call to announce the company's second quarter numbers to blast President Obama.

Well, here's our problem. There are a host of opportunities for expansion in Las Vegas, a host of opportunities to create tens of thousands of jobs in Las Vegas. I know that I could do 10,000 more myself and according to the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Convention Bureau, if we hired 10,000 employees, it would create another 20,000 additional jobs for a grand total of 30,000. I believe in Las Vegas. I think its best days are ahead of it.

But I'm afraid to do anything in the current political environment in the United States. You watch television and see what's going on, on this debt ceiling issue. And what I consider to be a total lack of leadership from the President and nothing's going to get fixed until the President himself steps up and wrangles both parties in Congress. But everybody is so political, so focused on holding their job for the next year that the discussion in Washington is nauseating. And I'm saying it bluntly, that this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime.

And I can prove it and I could spend the next 3 hours giving you examples of all of us in this market place that are frightened to death about all the new regulations, our healthcare costs escalate, regulations coming from left and right. A President that seems -- that keeps using that word redistribution. Well, my customers and the companies that provide the vitality for the hospitality and restaurant industry, in the United States of America, they are frightened of this administration. And it makes you slow down and not invest your money. Everybody complains about how much money is on the side in America. You bet. And until we change the tempo and the conversation from Washington, it's not going to change. And those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President.

And a lot of people don't want to say that. They'll say, "Oh God, don't be attacking Obama." Well, this is Obama's deal, and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America. The guy keeps making speeches about redistribution, and maybe we ought to do something to businesses that don't invest or holding too much money. We haven't heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists. Everybody's afraid of the government, and there's no need to soft peddling it, it's the truth. It is the truth. And that's true of Democratic businessman and Republican businessman, and I am a Democratic businessman and I support Harry Reid. I support Democrats and Republicans. And I'm telling you that the business community in this company is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs.

Wow, with a rant like that, Wynn Resorts must really, really have crapped the bed on those second quarter numbers, right?  Well...not exactly.

Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN.O) posted second-quarter profit and revenue that handily topped Wall Street estimates as revenue at its Wynn Macau (1128.HK) unit soared 36.7 percent and business in Las Vegas improved.

Driven by robust demand from mainland Chinese, gambling revenue in Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal, surged 52 percent in June from a year earlier, according to government statistics.

"They had stupendous results in both Macau and Vegas," said Janet Brashear, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "Vegas is the biggest surprise," she said, with earnings "a lot more solid for the balance of the year than we might have expected."

Yep, Obama has just been horrible for business in Vegas.

Wynn's revenue in Las Vegas rose 22.8 percent to $390.8 millon. Adjusted property earnings rose 103.7 percent to $132.7 million. The rise was due to higher margins "really across the board," CFO Matt Maddox said on the call, including in gambling revenue, VIP services, and non-gaming segments including nightclubs, catering, and restaurants.

The company's Macau revenue climbed 36.7 percent to $976.5 million, while property earnings rose 45.4 percent to $314.3 million in the second quarter.

Shareholders may see another special dividend at the end of the year, said Brashear.

"We are always looking for opportunities to distribute money to our shareholders," said Wynn.


Yep, people sure are afraid to invest with this guy.   Obama's made such a "terrible anti-business climate" for Steve Wynn that his revenues and profits are skyrocketing in his US operations.  His "weird political philosophy" doesn't seem to be hurting his company's bottom line.  22% revenue growth year-over-year, boy that Obama is just killing the guy.

I guess it's Obama's fault for Wynn not having 100% revenue growth.  Burn the Kenyan Socialist!

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