IN BRIEF
Wynn Resorts shares slide after news of loss
Shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd. fell the most in almost five months in Nasdaq trading Wednesday, the day after the company posted a fourth-quarter loss.
Wynn's net loss was $159.6 million, or $1.49 a share, compared with profit of $65.5 million, or 57 cents, a year earlier. Profit excluding some items was 7 cents, missing the 43-cent average of 16 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Wynn reported a fourth-quarter loss Tuesday after markets closed. Revenue fell 13.6 percent to $614.3 million.
The results show Chief Executive Officer Steve Wynn's high-end casinos aren't immune to a gambling and travel contraction that led to Las Vegas's worst annual gaming decline on record last year.
Shares of Wynn Resorts fell $4.05, or 15.7 percent, to $21.75 on the Nasdaq National Market, the biggest one-day drop since Oct. 15.
Nevada Power sells $500 million in notes
Nevada Power Co., a Las Vegas-based unit of NV Energy Inc., sold $500 million of 10-year, 7.125 percent notes, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The notes are priced to yield 4.25 percentage points higher than similar-maturity Treasuries.
Karl Walquist, a company spokesman, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
The notes are rated Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service, the lowest level of investment quality, and one step higher at BBB by Standard & Poor's, Bloomberg data show. JPMorgan Chase & Co., RBS Greenwich Capital and Wachovia Corp. managed the sale.
Reno-based NV Energy owns utilities in Nevada and Northern California. NV Energy shares fell 9 cents, or 0.97 percent, Wednesday to close at $9.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Mississippi casino win rises from prior month
Mississippi casino gambling revenue rebounded in January, increasing more than 8 percent from the prior month.
Mississippi State Tax Commission records show revenue totaled $221 million in January compared with $204.3 million in December.
Compared with January 2008, however, statewide revenues were down $3 million.
Tax Commission records posted Tuesday show the Gulf Coast casinos grossed $99.1 million in January, up from $95.4 million in December but down about $7 million from January 2008.
DENVER
Conviction reinstated for ex-Qwest executive
A federal appeals court reinstated the insider trading conviction of former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio in a split decision Wednesday and lifted the stay that had spared him from starting a six-year prison term.
Nacchio's attorney strongly suggested she would appeal.
A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year had overturned the conviction.
NEW YORK
Price reductions help send Saks to loss
Saks Inc. reported a loss for the fourth quarter Wednesday as the luxury retailer was forced to slash prices to hold onto affluent shoppers who have sharply cut their spending in the recession.
The New York-based retailer, which operates Saks Fifth Avenue, said it lost $98.75 million, or 72 cents per share in the quarter ended Jan. 31, reversing profit of $39.47 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier.
Sales fell 15 percent to $835.5 million.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices decline as bank worries ease
Treasury prices fell Wednesday as the government eased some of investors' worries about banks.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 1.13 points to 98.44. Its yield rose to 2.94 percent from 2.79 percent.
The 30-year bond fell 1.91 to 98.31, and its yield rose to 3.60 percent from 3.49 percent.
