Casino Stocks Soar on Vaccine News, Dow and S&P Close at Record Highs

Casino stocks traded in the United States went along for the Wall Street ride today, as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 closed at record highs.

Vaccine optimism rallied US equity markets, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield delivered investors an early Christmas present. The CDC boss said a COVID-19 vaccine will become available in the US  “probably by the end of the second week in December.”

The DJIA climbed 454 points (1.54 percent) to close at a record 30,046. The S&P 500 rose 58 points to close at a record 3,635.

No casino stocks are part of the 30-component DJIA. But three gaming industry companies are on the S&P 500 — Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts. The three casino giants all saw their shares increase on Tuesday.

Other casino stocks also went upwards. Caesars Entertainment increased 4.8 percent, Penn National Gaming 1.8 percent, Boyd Gaming 3.8 percent, and Red Rock Resorts 4.7 percent.

Tourism Cure

The CDC says COVID-19 is responsible for more than 257,000 deaths in the US. The national public health institute is warning Americans that new coronavirus cases are surging nationwide. It is urging people to stay home and celebrate Thanksgiving this year only with the people you live with.

COVID-19 has devastated the tourism and hospitality industries, both domestically and worldwide. Air travel remains largely grounded, and international leisure travel on hold.

A vaccine is considered essential by experts for a successful rebound for tourism-dependent areas such as Las Vegas — where Sands, MGM, and Wynn are all invested. A study conducted last summer found that 65 percent of people will not travel to Las Vegas until there is a widely available coronavirus vaccine. That could be coming sooner than later.

I do think we’ll have about 40 million doses of vaccine before the end of the year,” Redfield told Fox News. However, it will be first issued to frontline health workers, nursing home residents, and high-risk individuals.

“Hopefully by March, we’ll start to see a vaccine available for the general public,” Redfield added.

Politicking Continues

President Donald Trump made a quick appearance in the White House Briefing Room today to celebrate the historic milestone of the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking the 30,000 mark.

“That’s the ninth time since the beginning of 2020, and it’s the 48th time that we’ve broken records during the Trump administration. And I just want to congratulate all the people within the administration that worked so hard. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the people of our country, because there are no people like you,” Trump concluded.

Political pundits and adversaries to the president wasted no time in countering Trump’s pre-election claims that a Biden victory would be devastating to the markets. It should be noted that the election is still being contested.

Remember when @realDonaldTrump warned during the campaign that your 401k’s and stocks would “disintegrate and disappear” if @JoeBiden won? Well, the Dow Jones industrial average just reached a record high of 30,000 points. And it’s 3 weeks since Election Day.

— Wolf Blitzer (@wolfblitzer) November 24, 2020

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