Never mind the ocean of red on the trading screens this morning, dear readers, as Hong Kong-listed gaming stocks continue to be hammered after Friday’s selloff. If it is the persistence of a silly rumor that more visa restrictions are on the way, then whomever started it ought to be taken out and shot. Seriously. If it is just profit-taking after the recent runup, then fine. If it is because of fears for the global economy, then we would suggest investors brush up on the link between Macau gaming revenues and US unemployment figures. We will keep focusing on our target of US$100bn for this market by end-2015.

Anyway, back to more cheerful topics. It was Dragon Boat festival in this part of the world yesterday, which was why you didn’t hear from us. It was a day of fun in the sun on Nam Wan Lake, as Galaxy Macau rubbed salt into the wounds of its competitors: after taking so much of their market share in two weeks after opening, the plucky concessionaire whacked them all at the Dragon Boat competition too, taking home no fewer than nine trophies from the three-day event that finished yesterday.

It was also, naturally, a good time for executives to schmooze the media. Though she wouldn’t have been caught dead in the sun, Angela Leong, aka No. 4, took the opportunity yesterday to tell local media that SJM believes the peninsula’s gaming market is “saturated” and Cotai is the future. She would like it very much, therefore, if the government would grant her company its land out there so it can get on with doing what it does best – building casinos that cater to the needs of a Chinese visitor.

Now, given that the lady does not have much experience being a public spokesperson for the group – a job usually handled by CEO Ambrose So – we have to cut her some slack and not ask the obvious question, which is: “Which SJM parcel are you referring to, m’dear? The one that will be part-owned by you and run under the SJM flag, or the one (or two) owned by SJM Holdings, the Hong Kong-listed entity?” We assume she means the latter.

But this would be to miss the bigger point, which is that she is having to go through the media to voice her frustration (dare we call it that?) with the government over the approval process for land in Cotai. OK, so it may not come out sounding like frustration, as she actually said she believed SJM would get the land before the end of the year. It is, however, unprecedented for SJM to have to say something like this in a hopeful, rather than declarative, manner through the media.

We may be reading too much into these tea leaves. But it does strike us as odd that everyone seems to be pushing so hard for the land grants to be awarded in Cotai, and are being met by a resounding silence from the government. Used with permission & copyright IntelMacau.com