Las Vegas Sands (LVS, $6.65, down $1.35) still hasn’t “officially” opened this morning for trading although it was down 17% in premarket activity. The stock has been halted as the market prepares for the company’s public offering of 182 million shares of stock that will be hitting the floor when trading gets underway. The company priced the shares at $5.50 so look for a much lower open.
LVS is trying to raise $1 billion in cash and the company’s president is either gonna hit it big or go broke trying to save the struggling casino operator. The company warned last week that it was in danger of violating loan agreements and, as I mentioned earlier, the company suspended construction in Macau.
The only problem I have with this is that LVS gets two-thirds of its revenue from its China joints so why wouldn’t you finish them first? Not only are they diluting shareholder value, they aren’t even concentrating on where their biggest profits come from. Geez.
Las Vegas Sands is scrambling to raise cash and is in trouble of defaulting on $5 billion worth of debt. The November 7.50 puts (LJJWU, $1.90) I mentioned earlier will likely open a lot higher than $2.00. Be careful with them. If they are higher than $2.00, stay away until the stock rebounds. If you can get into the puts for under $2.00 after the stock opens than we could get a quick ride to $3.00.
The fall from grace has been swift for LVS as its stock traded as high as $150 a little more than a year ago. The market may except the offering wth open arms and who knows if this band-aid is gonna work. At least LVS is trying to raise cash instead of going to the government.
Rick Rouse
Rick@OptionsMentoring.com
