IN BRIEF

Cantor Gaming buys LV Sports Consultants

Cantor Gaming, which is trying to bring mobile gaming devices into the Las Vegas market, announced Thursday it had acquired Las Vegas Sports Consultants, an oddsmaking company that provides point spreads and odds to all major Nevada sports books.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Cantor, an affiliate of the global financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald, was the first company licensed as a manufacturer, distributor and operator of a mobile gaming system by Nevada.

Tracinda Corp. will drop tender offer

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. said Thursday it is dropping its planned tender offer for 14 million shares of Delta Petroleum Corp., citing the steep decline in Delta's share price and uncertainty in the stock market.

Tracinda on Oct. 31 announced its intent to buy the shares, saying there was "significant value in the oil and gas industry." The $11-per-share offer represented a nearly 21 percent premium to Delta Petroleum's closing stock price just prior to the announcement.

Tracinda is already Delta's largest shareholder, with a roughly 35 percent stake in the Denver-based oil and gas exploration company, and would have raised its position to 48.5 percent if it had completed the tender offer.

But Delta's shares, which closed Thursday down $2.93, or 30.55 percent, at $6.66 on the Nasdaq National Market, have lost 27 percent of their value in the last week.

NEW YORK

Slump forces Mattel to eliminate 1,000 jobs

Mattel Inc. said Thursday it is cutting about 1,000 positions worldwide because of the economic downturn that is clouding the holiday outlook for toy makers.

Mattel, which makes Barbie, American Girl and Fisher Price products, among others, said the positions amount to 3 percent of its worldwide work force and will reduce its professional and management staff by 8 percent.

The company said the cuts will come from a combination of layoffs, attrition and retirements and will not affect holiday toy production.

Mattel did not break down the numbers by region but said about 170 positions were cut at its El Segundo, Calif., headquarters. Some 70 job cuts are at the company's Fisher Price unit, which has a total staff of 900.

Allegiant increases flier count in October

Somebody forgot to tell Allegiant about the recession.

The Las Vegas-based airline carried 243,715 passengers in October, a 14.2 percent increase from the same month in 2007.

It also increased the number of revenue passenger miles flown by 6.7 percent and decreased the available seat miles by 5.6 percent.

The figures show Allegiant managing to increase the number of customers and fly fewer miles with fuller aircraft, which translates to increasing revenue and cutting costs simultaneously.

The figures were part of a monthly traffic report by Allegiant Travel Co., which specializes in vacation packages to Las Vegas, Arizona and Florida.

Shuffle Master Gaming loses No. 2 executive

The No. 2 person at Shuffle Master Gaming left the company earlier this week, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Paul Meyer, Shuffle Master's President and COO, left the company at the expiration of his employment contract on Nov. 1, "to pursue other opportunities," according to the one sentence SEC filing.

Shuffle Master shares delcined 59 cents, or 14.46 percent, Thursday to close at $3.49 on the New York Stock Exchange.

HOUSTON

As reports point toward recession, oil prices dip

Oil prices neared $60 a barrel Thursday, their lowest point in about a year and a half, as a growing number of economic reports point to a long and painful recession.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 7 percent, or $4.53, to settle at $60.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices tumbled as low as $60.16 at one point, a level last seen in March 2007.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices higher as stocks head down

Treasury prices rose Thursday as stock indexes plunged.

The 10-year note rose 0.03 points to 102.5 and yielded 3.69 percent, down from 3.73 percent.

The 30-year bond fell 0.5 points to 105.03 and yielded 4.20 percent, up from 4.19 percent Wednesday.