Consumer >> Sector Roundtables >> April 19, 2010

Las Vegas Vs. Regional Casino Trends & Outlooks

Joel Simkins is a Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Discretionary & Healthcare Research at Macquarie Capital (USA). In 2009 Institutional Investor named Mr. Simkins one of the best up-and-coming gaming and lodging analysts on Wall Street. Prior to joining Macquarie in 2007, Mr. Simkins was a Senior Vice President and Senior Gaming & Leisure Analyst at Prudential Equity Group. From 2003 to 2006, he managed a long/short investment portfolio at Slater Capital Management, a consumer hedge fund. Mr. Simkins previously worked as an Associate Analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities and Bear Stearns on a number of Institutional Investor-ranked gaming and lodging equity and fixed income research teams.Steven M. Wieczynski is a Principal of Equity Research at Stifel Nicolaus & Company, where he is the firm's Leisure and Gaming Equipment Research Analyst. Mr. Wieczynski joined the Stifel Nicolaus research team in connection with Stifel's acquisition of Legg Mason's Capital Markets Group in December of 2005; he joined Legg Mason in December 2000. Prior to initiating coverage of the gaming/casino industry in May 2004, he worked as an Associate Analyst in the industrial group, covering homebuilding and construction material companies. Before joining Stifel Nicolaus, Mr. Wieczynski worked at T. Rowe Price Associates for two years in their investment-grade research department. Mr. Wieczynski received a B.S. in finance and accounting from Clemson University. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the Baltimore Security Analysts Society. Profile
TWST: Let's start with a quick snapshot of your coverage universe.

Mr. Simkins: We have a diversified universe of stocks under coverage. We currently cover the casinos, cruise lines, movie theaters