The Thurston Howell III play

It is possible that while most of Planet Earth crumbles, the elite rich and powerful will enjoy their truffles and Coach bags more than ever. You and I could bother to cash in on their bootyful ways through this ridiculous new (?) ETF known as ROB.

LVS at pivotal point

Las Vegas Sands. Debt. Gambling. Overage (buildout). However you describe it, LVS is true to its DNA. They risk big, win big, lose big. Quite awhile back, I took a look and found that LVS was interesting but not attractive. That was about $100 ago.

Now, even after rising from an all-time low of 1.38 to a recent intraday high of 9.05, it's a risk. Not everything has been resolved, though I tend to think LVS will bounce back strong. Just a hunch. It'll be a long, long time before the stock returns to 120. For now, resistance at 9 is a thick ceiling. If and when LVS busts through, it has to take out 16.81. Then it might be off to the races.

For anyone who bought below 5, you're sitting pretty, I think. I got in a little at 5.77, sold at 6.95, forgetting that Guy Adami had handicapped LVS to hit 8.00-8.50. Now that LVS is at 8.00, it could sell off again and get buyers a better price. Then again, it's sold off since hitting 9.05 on Thursday.

Never took a close look at WYNN or MGM. Why? I never stayed there. My only trip to Vegas, I was put in the Venetian (work-related conference). That stuck.

I'm long LVS just a bit and may add if it dips to 7ish. Holding for 10. Maybe 16.80. Possibly 50.

Is the run done? LVS is a gamble

Up close, too close to the fire, it's always disappointing not to register profits while the market is spinning and springing up and down. But given time, there's a better perspective. I don't feel bad about holding C, STP and WFC for more than a day or week or month.

I liked Las Vegas Sands more than a year ago, almost two. I never bought any -- it was pricey with a high of 138 in November of 2007. The foray into Macao (along with competitor Wynn) was a big question mark. Today, the question is whether the run is done for LVS, which hit a low of 1.38 last month, but has since run to 4.40 after the CEO bought $7.7 million of stock. Barron's played it up yesterday, noting that the CEO bought shares at 2.95.

Now that it's up 50% since Tuesday, I can't touch this. But if the economy truly is recovering, if the recession really is over, then LVS is not a 4-dollar stock. Or is it? Even at this bottom-of-the-barrel level, LVS is trading at 29 times future earnings. Yoikes. The Co is also strapped for cash.

People like to gamble and I don't see LVS going out of business, so I'll keep close watch. This might've been more of a yes/buy below 2 or 3. Tomorrow's unemployment numbers might just knock a lot of stocks down to buyable levels again.

More bull about Macao gaming

Hard to argue against the booming world of gaming in Macao.

Goldman Sachs Bets On Wynn, MGM and Las Vegas Sands

There is also an increased likelihood that these three major players will be able to create future growth by capitalizing on new opportunities in the U.S. and abroad – in places like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, the analyst said in a note to clients.

A rare Monday down day

So much for fears over the People's National Congress in China. While Chinese stocks held ground and some even soared to new highs — unexpectedly in the eyes of some concerned investors and traders — it was the U.S. market that folded a bit. The Dow Jones fell 108 points (0.77%), Nasdaq dropped 25 points (0.91%) and S&P 500 dipped 13 points (0.84%). The Dow fell under 14,000 to 13,984. Was it Citigroup's dismal earnings report? Possibly, but the Co had already warned about lower earnings. Was it crude oil, which finished the day above $86 a barrel? Not really. The market has gained significantly on oil's up days in the past few weeks.

Maybe it's just a little more fear and profit-taking than usual. More financials will report this week. But with Yahoo (Tuesday), eBay (Wednesday) and Google (Thursday) reporting this week, the Nasdaq will have some volatility. I'm not expecting much from the first two, though Yahoo's earnings from Asia could be significant. How soon will eBay penetrate the Chinese market? I won't be holding my breath. Google failed to meet expectations last quarter, but their game plan is sound. Spending on R&D and new hires as they expand in China is acceptable in my book. The G-phone is a bonus.

China held up, which still sounds a bit surprising. Just a little. New Oriental Education and Technology (EDU) launched to a new high after announcing earnings before the open. EDU closed on Friday above 66, opened today at 71 and closed at 75. That was a nice response to the PNC's first day. Nearly all the Chinese stocks that I watch are virtually the only greenies on my lists. CMED is at 42 (after hours). FMCN is up 1.7% to 59.15. CHL is up 1.9% to 88.80.

China and oil continue to be a glorious combination. PTR is up 9.2% to 236 and CEO is up 5.7% to 188 (after a mid-day high of 192). CEO was at 92 on subprime meltdown day (August 16). The stock was up big in premarket on less than 10,000 shares, triggered by crude oil's gain. I think.

CHL is up 1.9% to 88.80. STV was surprisingly positive, now at 50.15 (up 2.1%).

No, China wasn't perfect. BIDU dropped 2.7% to 314. SINA and YGE were down. Even Macao plays LVS and WYNN were down.

Note to self: don't fight the trends. Oil rules. China energy and pollution are going to be Quarry Logic fixtures for decades to come. The Chinese middle class will not be deprived.

Quarry Logic: Growth that can't be stopped

As Mo'ili'ili Quarry was dug out to pave the roads of Waikiki and greater Honolulu 60 years ago, there are necessities across America and the globe that cannot be denied. So, I'm going to keep a tidy little list to remind myself of what's important not to me, but to the rest of the world. The blossoming may not happen next week or next month, but sooner or later, these companies will bear fruit. Big, juicy, awesome fruit.

• China Internet. Computers are not affordable to the vast majority of mainland Chinese. Cellphones are vastly more popular already, as is instant messaging. I once underestimated the role of China's leading wireless king. No more. The players: China Mobile (CHL), Alibaba (40% owned by Yahoo), Research in Motion (RIMM).

• China Energy. Whether it is in house "old energy" or alternative, China needs it. With gas prices just 1/3 of what we pay in the West, consumption will be rampant. But oil alone won't be enough. The players: PetroChina (PTR), CNOOC Ltd. (CEO), Suntech Power (STP), Yingli Green Energy (YGE).

• E-commerce. Yep, it's a hokey term that should've died out a decade ago, according to every bear and naysayer. And yet, Amazon has proven them all wrong, and there will continue to sprout new ideas for retail over the internet, save for Fed intervention and online taxes. Couple e-tailing (yes, another late '90s tag) with China's growing economy (up 11.9% in Q2), and there's no end in sight. Yet. The players: Amazon (AMZN), eBay (EBAY). X Factor: China still doesn't have a reliable, trusted system of online payment. PayPal China (eBay) anyone?

• Search/Advertising. Of course. The possibilities are endless in the West, but in China, we're seeing just the tip of the iceberg. (I am loaded to the gills with cheesy cliches this morning.) BIDU at $324? Scary to think it, but imagine this: 12% of China still has no internet access, and BIDU is fully protected by the government. So much growth is possible, no, probable, which means Baidu's stock is still in its first inning. The players: Baidu (BIDU), Google (GOOG).

• Fast Food. Huh? Larger salaries mean more disposable income in China. Inflation? A big factor, but not so much when families have only one child. Single children will spend, hang out at Starbucks, eat at KFC and McDonald's. I see no end in sight to the fattening of New China, Mexico, India, Brazil... The players: Yum! Foods (YUM), McDonald's (MCD), Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Starbucks (SBUX).

• Macao Gaming. Chinese are notorious gamblers, even taking discount junkets from the mainland to Macao. What Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands have done in Macao is utterly unmatched anywhere in the world. So much for Mao's version of communism. The players: Wynn Resorts (WYNN), Las Vegas Sands (LVS).

• Handhelds. The demand is insane, though I don't really relate to it. A cellphone is all I want and need, but the rest of the world is koo-koo for gadget-loaded handhelds that tell us what time it is, who's calling, where we are, while giving us songs to listen to and directions to get here and there. The players: Research in Motion (RIMM), Apple (AAPL), Garmin (GRMN), Navteq (NVT), Trimble (TRMB), Nokia (NOK), Google (GOOG), Synaptics (SYNA).

More later. I'm gonna hit the sack and try to get up in 90 minutes.