"We likely will see the index in March remain down to flat given the market's performance," he says. "Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts will likely dictate the performance of the index in March because some of the other players within the index--Harrah's and Stations--will have price points that remain flat due to pending transactions."

The index was launched in 1998 with a value of 100. February's 1.5% (7.6 points) decline to 494.21 is largely attributable to the drop in valuation by Las Vegas Sands (LVS), which maintains a larger-than-average weighting on the overall index given it high market capitalization relative to the other companies in the index, Gordon says. The company's share price posted an all-time-high share price on the first day of February at $105.7. It closed the month at $86.3, a decline of more than 18%.

The performance of Las Vegas Sands put more than 23 points of negative pressure on the index. That was offset by nearly 13 points of positive pressure by MGM, which saw its average daily share price rise in February from $65.88 to $71.30, and a combined six points of positive pressure by Harrah's Entertainment and Wynn Resorts, which each saw their average daily share price rise slightly during the month.

Through the first five days in March, however, despite Tuesday's rebound, the current share price of seven of the nine companies in the index is moderately-to-significantly below their daily average in February.

The gaming sector's performance during February moved in the opposite direction of the broader market when computed on a similar basis (daily average price). The S&P 500 was up a modest 1.6 % while the AAGI fell by roughly the same amount. Compared to the prior year, the AAGI remains up 52.1%, which compares to the broader market's rise of 13.4%.