Canyon Gate Relationship With New York-New York Will Include On-Site Medical Care With Full-Time Bilingual Nurse and Waived Co-Pay Fees for Employees' Off-Site Medical Appointments

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- MGM Mirage said Wednesday it has canceled construction of 200 condominiums at its CityCenter development in Las Vegas, saving $600 million.

MGM Mirage is scaling back plans for its massive CityCenter joint-venture project on the Las Vegas Strip as the gambling giant says it will postpone the opening of one hotel while canceling a condominium component to save about $200 million.

MGM Mirage Cancels Las Vegas Condos, Postpones Hotel Opening

Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=4283039 for the full story.

MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) opened at $15.90. So far today, the stock has hit a low of $14.58 and a high of $15.90. MGM is now trading at $14.75, down $1.21 (-7.58%). Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $8...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

If you are a risk-adverse investor, turn away now because the company I am about to tell you about is the epitome of a high-risk, high-return investment.  SpongeTech Delivery System Inc. ((SPNG.OB)) is a start-up company specializing in an innovative sponge technology that is poised to revolutionize home and personal cleaning.   The company’s mission is to provide a cost-effective, environmentally friendly alternative to the out-of-date cleaning technology by combining the washing and cleaning agents with the sponge, thus providing a significant cost savings for the consumer and adding a new convenience. These pre-loaded ingredients use specially formulated ingredients that allow multiple uses of[More...]

Filed under: Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Entrepreneurs

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Our series of Money Losers for 2008 has its share of millionaires and billionaires on it. Personally, I think that is just wrong. While these people may have lost billions of dollars this past year, it doesn't seem fair to call them money losers. They will certainly survive this troubled time and still have their house, their cars, and (at least some of) their fortune. However, on the flip side, no one would read an article about Frank the farmer from Iowa who lost 50% of his life savings.

Kirk Kerkorian made his fortune by developing real estate and hotels in Las Vegas and by buying and selling movie studio MGM three times over. According to the Forbes 2008 list, he is the world's 41st-richest person with a net worth of $16.0 billion.

This year has seen some bumps in the road for Mr. Kerkorian. His private investment corporation Tracinda owns about 55% of MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) and made a very prominent bad call on Ford (NYSE: F) earlier this year.

MGM peaked around October of last year with a stock price upwards of $95. At that time, Tracinda's 55% state would have been worth about $14.5 billion. However, with today's share price of just $13.50, that chunk of MGM is "only" $1.5 billion. Of course these are only paper gains and paper losses at this point, but it still stings a little bit to look at the bottom line.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Kirk Kerkorian takes hits from MGM and Ford

Money losers of 2008: Kirk Kerkorian takes hits from MGM and Ford originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For those of you who have been following the blog for a while you know my fascination with Las Vegas as part of the American fabric and as an economic indicator. We predicted a level of localized recession that was to be far more brutal than they had seen in a long time, by a confluence of events - both cyclical (recession) and structural (our "Pooring of America" theme). (Stuff I've Been Negative on Since Last Fall) When we have a true rebound I have a group of markers I am looking at that will[More...]

Filed under: Deals, Trump Entertainment Resorts (TRMP), Financial Crisis

Donald Trump hates to appear the loser, at anything. It damages his reputation as a business superman. It may prevent him from getting a fourth wife. He could lose his TV series. Success is Trump's way in the front door and always has been.

One place where Trump has stumbled is his gaming and gambling business. He is not alone. Many casino companies, including MGM Grand (NYSE: MGM), have been hurt by too much debt, over-building and the recession.

Trump Entertainment Resorts (NASDAQ: TRMP) has already missed a $53 billion debt payment. According to the FT, "The group, which operates three properties in Atlantic City, is saddled with $1.7bn of debt, of which about $1.2bn is bond debt." The paper says that one of Trump's options is to take the company private and give creditors stock in the new business. In the midst of a credit crisis they may rather do that then get pennies on a dollar in Chapter 11.

Who gets screwed? Why the common shareholders, of course. Two years ago, Trump shares were above $23. Now they trade at 21 cents.

Trump may get out of this without it costing him a dime to restructure the debt. People who bought the stock, perhaps because his name was attached to the company, will get zilch.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com

Trump may try to save gaming business originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Deals

MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) has reached a deal to sell its Treasure Island Hotel & Casino to Phil Ruffin for $500 million in cash. The deal has a total value of $775 million including $275 million in secured notes. In a press release announcing the deal, Ruffin said that "We are very excited to be in a position to acquire such a stellar property in Treasure Island. The property is in pristine condition, ideally located in the heart of the Strip and benefits from a wonderful team of outstanding employees. We are financially positioned to close on this transaction once all of the necessary approvals have been received."

MGM said it anticipates recording a "substantial gain" on the sale of the property, which was purchased as part of MGM Grand's acquisition of Mirage Resorts in May of 2000.

Shares of MGM Mirage are up about 11% on the news, although they were up more than 23% in earlier trading. Given the state of the economy and MGM's leveraged balance sheet, the proceeds of the deal are likely to be used to pay down the company's substantial debt load.

MGM Mirage unloads Treasure Island for $500 million originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MGM MIRAGE (Public, NYSE:MGM) is down a massive 72% in the last 52 weeks. However, today the stock is up 7% thanks to help from WYNN resorts. Let’s take a look and see if the stock is worth a long buy, or if MGM still has room to slide.

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Mark Fightmaster takes a look back at news that drove the major market indices today.

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Ian Stansel takes a look back at news that drove the major market indices today.