Investors holding casino stocks and related exchange traded funds may need to muck their hand as tepid growth in Asia could weigh on big gambling hubs.
Steve Cortes, founder of Veracruz TJM, argues that the good news out of China will be short lived, reports Lawrence Lewitinn for Yahoo! Finance.
“It’s all about Singapore [and]Macau,” Cortes said in the article. “And, that’s my problem.”
Cortes points to continued weakness like China’s purchasing managers index below 50 for the fourth month in a row – readings below 50 indicate a contraction.
“There are all kinds of credit risks in China,” Cortes added. “So, because I am too bearish on China and Asia to believe in these stocks here, I think if anything, you want to use this lift to take profits or even consider shorting names like LVS.”
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) has declined 1.1% over the past month but it is up 1.4% year-to-date. [Gaming ETF Hits Rough Patch as Sands China Looks at Junket Operators]
Richard Ross, global technical strategist at Auerbach Grayson, also argues that there is greater downside for casino stocks like Las Vegas Sands ahead. “The technicals are bearish, just as are the fundamentals,” Ross said in the article.
Most observers peg China’s economy to expand 7.3% on average this year, its slowest expansion since 1990, before dipping to 7.2% in 2015.