Analysts applauded the move but it did not appear to help thecompany's share price, which ended Wednesday at $31.32, down 13.27%on the day, and was off by another 13% in afternoon trading onThursday, taking its share price to $27.23. Part of the concern isbelieved to be the company's ongoing need to refinance amulti-billion dollar loan that is coming due and find billions moreto complete multiple projects in Macau.

Shares of Las Vegas Sands have fallen 77% from late September2007, when the company's share price stood at approximately $120.The company is not alone. MGM Mirage, Boyd Gaming and PinnacleEntertainment have all seen their share prices fall approximately70% over the past year and several others – Wynn Resorts, PennNational Gaming, Ameristar Casinos -- have seen their share pricesfall by approximately 50%.

A gaming index that includes all those companies has fallen 44%since hitting a high of 667.09 in October 2007. The index waslaunched in 1998 with a value of 100. Including a 10% drop thispast month, the Applied Analysis gaming Index now stands at 371.91and is expected to head even lower in October.