By 2012, Morgan Stanley expects the Singapore casino market will hit 6-10 billion in revenue, basing on the time taken by Macau to hit that same target. While it is simple to equate Macau to have a backyard of a billion China tourists, the fact is irrelevant. Perhaps some China tourists prefer to go "overseas" rather than Macau. And perhaps Singapore as a stop-point and central destination, will get better spillover effects - from Australia, from Europe, from all over South East Asia, all the flight paths just intersect there conveniently. And also family - family is essential and the Universal Studios theme park at Genting Singapore will certainly shine.

So now back to insider information, as from my previous write-up of All Things Genting - here is a short word with a very powerful financial effect - tax.

Good news is the tax regime for the casinos in Singapore is about 5% to 15%. Incredibly low. Plus wages are low too. The cost of building and maintenance is much lower compared to say an Australian Casino. And even if Macau had cheap labour, the tax regime on casinos is a high of over 39%. Elsewhere in the world too, casino operations are seen as cash-cows that are rightfully taxed to the max. But in Singapore apparently they see the benefits of creating jobs and boosting tourism and hotel industry as a better measure of successfully milking the cash cow - so to speak.

The competition Las Vegas Sands has just ramped up. But how big a competition is it against each other? I doubt so. Casinos are casinos. Visitors do not visit one because it is "cheaper" or prettier. Well they may do if one casino is offering more winnings on the roulette table like 39 to 1 instead of 36 to 1! Competing against the government. 2-0 score - not only government is supportive, even the tax regime is helpful. Competing against Macau. Target market is very much different. Macau could be just for China tourists and hence very China oriented. While in Singapore, it is a multi-cultural experience. There are tons of cheap Indian food, international flavour and multi-level Chinese dialect food.

So lastly, a quick look at some charts. Here you can see how the stocks stack up in their respective market. No surprise that Genting is moving upwards. While a look at Las Vegas Sands is rather astonishing. From a high of over $100 to current levels of $30.

A good point to note is that in the NYSE or US stocks in general, the trading lot is 100 units. While Genting Singapore is trading at 1000 unit lots. Therefore, currently LVS is trading at say USD3.00 or about SGD4.00. Comments, suggestions, welcome!